TV gardeners hold the political balance of power, Rachel Hunter, pimp your pavement, toenails, how the media works
1. Elections are upcoming. So we asked Alan Titchmarsh who he would be voting for. He wouldn’t tell us. So we guessed. From our poll of what we think gardening TV presenters will vote, Labour will not get a landslide. It will be a hung Parliament with James Alexander Sinclair’s UKIPs holding the balance of power.
Alan Titchmarsh “couldn’t possibly say” but we think: Tory.
Toby Buckland Lib Dem-south west.
Alys Fowler: Trotskyite
Monty Don: SWP/Green
Chris Beardshaw: New Labour
Christine Walkden: Old Labour
Joe Swift: New Labour-Blairite.
Peter Seabrook: Tory I dare say
Steve Bradley: v Tory
James Wong: LibDem
Gavin McEwan: Tory/Green (former Green candidate for Auchtermuchty)
Martyn Cox: Thatcherite
Anne Wareham: Plaid Cymru
James Alexander-Sinclair-UKIP
Any other gardeners who you can match randomly with political parties? Upset about your allocation? Comment at the bottom.
2. Sports fans in Manchester urged to donate sperm, but more people garden than go to sports matches. So maybe a campaign for spunky gardeners to come forward? And what would the tagline be for gardeners? Come gardening? Who could front it? Answers below…
3. Patrick is a blogger who makes you think there’s a lovely world out there. Also says I’m
‘funny and irreverent’. or a reverend, or irrelevant.
4. Corinne Julius-latest blog fan: ‘He’ll probably just find the worst one and put it in his blog. He will you know. He’s like that.”
5. Lame so removed.
6. Rachel Hunter has recently joined Faversham House Group Ltd’s B2B retail magazine DIY Week as a Reporter. Aleksandra Wisniewska is the new Editor of Commercial Micro Manufacturing, replacing Chris Young who is now Publisher.
7. Can your 12 month old swing and clap at the same time?
8. How the media works part 101
January MA writes piece for Telegraph (not any more!) on how everyone will run piece on Kew early flowering data this spring.
12.3 HW publishes story on Kew, er, late flowering data. Piece is trailed to papers on 10.3.
13.3 Telegraph runs it as does Times.
15.3 Mail and Express run it.
16.3 Guardian run it.
9. Richard Reynolds is a key figure in the guerilla gardening movement and author of On Guerilla Gardening; and this year he is joining the London Leaders programme with his new project, Pimp Your Pavement. Richard’s project aims to bring the grassroots activism behind guerilla gardening together with London’s local councils to create community planting schemes across London. The first target for Pimp Your Pavement is a set of newly-created tree pits on Great Dover Street. Local residents of a nearby block of flats asked Richard to pimp the bare earth in the tree pits for them, and after seeking permission from Southwark council, Richard will be bringing his green fingers to Great Dover Street. Richard is planning to plant a mix of easy-to-care for perennials, herbs and bee-friendly plants such as lavender, forget-me-nots and wallflowers, which will bring seasonal colour and fragrance to the street; and provide a habitat for some of London’s wildlife.
10. Sally Drury is getting her toenails removed.
11. Evening Standard’s Pattie Barron’s inimitable blog.
About Pattie: “Do garden writers actually garden? You bet they do. I’m passionate about plants and spend every moment I can out there. In summer, I might as well pitch a tent under the apple tree… Low-maintenance? I don’t know the meaning of the word… we gardeners can never know it all, but we have such a good time learning.”
12. Apparently there’s a risk to Kew says Evening Standard 18 March. I may have mentioned this on 19 February.
