I’ll admit I like to watch shows about gardening. I’m not talking about your “garden variety” shows on the Home and Garden channel (HGTV), which feature landscapers putting some shrubs around a pool or competing to see who has the best design. I’m talking about DVD’s like Gardens of the World with Audrey Hepburn, where she strolls through different gardens and you actually learn something about the gardens and they show outstanding footage of gardens that can truly inspire you.

I also got a new DVD called Secrets of the Rose Gardener, which features Ellen Minet tending the rose garden at the Planting Fields Arboretum in Oyster Bay, New York. By following Ellen through the seasons, starting in early spring, you can really see how to care for roses. There isn’t a lot of planned dialog, just Ellen talking about what they are doing, with good close ups as they prune, fertilize, etc. I hope someone produces more of these types of DVD’s. I get so tired of what is shown on HGTV, other than that City Gardener, which is actually a British import. They also used to have a show called the Curious Gardener, also a British import, but just as I discovered it and start to watch it, they pulled it off the air.

I do have friends who just howl with laughter that someone would actually sit and watch these garden videos. They totally can not understand it. To me, watching these videos is like flipping through a garden magazine in slow motion, with a thousand images of what gardens should look like. I find them very inspiring and relaxing. Even as I write this, I am also tuned into on Gardens of the World. I wish I could find some more DVD’s like these!!