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Maimya

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Dec 19, 2002, 8:10:42 PM12/19/02
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Just taking a informal poll. Who thinks, like I do, that Susie Cuello, the
host of HGTV Suprise Gardener is a hottie. Incredible set of sweater
puppies.

Sugarchile

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Dec 19, 2002, 9:06:48 PM12/19/02
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I probably shouldn't dignify this with a reply, but apparently you and the
late Sonny Bono think alike....

I do know that, regardless of the host, I sure as heck wouldn't want them
coming in and messing with MY garden. I would not be amused by their
wholesale rearranging.

Sue

"Maimya" <n...@this.time> wrote in message
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Roz...@cox.net

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Dec 19, 2002, 9:21:34 PM12/19/02
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Agreed, but not nearly as bad as what they do on Trading Places!
Hay glued to the walls?!?! uk.
Stay out of my house!
Roz
az usa


madgard

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Dec 19, 2002, 10:25:12 PM12/19/02
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I tend to agree with you. However the original British version (and you can
see it on the American British Channel) is excellent. They actually do some
pretty wonderful stuff to people's yards and such. On the other hand, I
think her nose passages are way too huge and fear that small children would
be sucked into her nasal and sinus cavities given a good
inhale...................and by the way, SWEATER PUPPIES???????? (I'm
getting too old.............................$%^$^%$%^........) madgardener
slipping back into the dead perennial foliage now..............
"Sugarchile" <sugar...@earthlink.net> wrote in message
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dr-...@wi.rr.xx.com

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Dec 19, 2002, 10:55:23 PM12/19/02
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but they start with absolute horrors in almost all cases. a bomb in the back yard
would generally be an improvement over 95% of the cases. remember the concrete back
yard? Ingrid

"madgard" <mad...@bellsouth.net> wrote:
>I tend to agree with you. However the original British version (and you can
>see it on the American British Channel) is excellent. They actually do some
>pretty wonderful stuff to people's yards and such.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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madgard

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Dec 20, 2002, 12:55:11 AM12/20/02
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that was horrid........................I'd forgotten that one. how about
when they do murals on walls.................give me some time and a nice
espalier'd tree maddie
<dr-...@wi.rr.xx.com> wrote in message
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Valkyrie

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Dec 20, 2002, 1:44:20 AM12/20/02
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"madgard" <mad...@bellsouth.net> wrote in message
news:%byM9.8553$C06....@news.bellsouth.net...

> that was horrid........................I'd forgotten that one. how about
> when they do murals on walls.................give me some time and a nice
> espalier'd tree maddie
> <dr-...@wi.rr.xx.com> wrote in message
> news:3e0394c4...@news-server.wi.rr.com...
> > but they start with absolute horrors in almost all cases. a bomb in the
> back yard
> > would generally be an improvement over 95% of the cases. remember the
> concrete back
> > yard? Ingrid
> >
> > "madgard" <mad...@bellsouth.net> wrote:
> > >I tend to agree with you. However the original British version (and you
> can
> > >see it on the American British Channel) is excellent. They actually do
> some
> > >pretty wonderful stuff to people's yards and such.

The producer must have the same opinion of Ms. Cuello's "puppies", she sure
as hell isn't a gardener in my opinion.
I love watching the BBC programs of Trading Spaces but I wouldn't let them
in MY house. Ground Force comes up with some pretty nice stuff but if Alan
started dumping his pebbles, stones, gravel (as far as I'm concerned rocks
iz rocks) in my garden, I'd have that boy's head on a plate. Wouldn't mind a
few days watching Tommy work in my yard though. I'd sure love to see those
gardens they do a year later. I can't believe anyone who is so "gardening
impaired" would have it looking much better than the "before" as time goes
by.

Val


KrisHur

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Dec 20, 2002, 7:19:01 AM12/20/02
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I agree, lets see them a year later. When they put full sun plants in some
of the shadiest spots always gets me. NTM, I have yet to see them do
something that looks good, but in most cases it is an improvement.

--
Kristen
Zone 6, SE NY


"Valkyrie" <Yaw...@YahBetcha.org> wrote in message
news:1040367104.576016@yasure...

madgard

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Dec 20, 2002, 9:42:00 AM12/20/02
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The producer must have the same opinion of Ms. Cuello's "puppies", she sure
as hell isn't a gardener in my opinion.

nope, I tend to agree with you there.

I love watching the BBC programs of Trading Spaces but I wouldn't let them
in MY house. Ground Force comes up with some pretty nice stuff but if Alan
started dumping his pebbles, stones, gravel (as far as I'm concerned rocks
iz rocks) in my garden, I'd have that boy's head on a plate.

LOL yep, I hafta agree with you there too. I have more than plenty of my
OWN rocks thank you very much, imbedded and hidden in the red clay I have
for soil. At least once I get the stuff up with a spade, it eventually
crumbles (about a week or so if left alone, and some rain, bone dry leaves
clods forever).

Wouldn't mind a few days watching Tommy work in my yard though. I'd sure
love to see those gardens they do a year later. I can't believe anyone who
is so "gardening impaired" would have it looking much better than the
"before" as time goes by.

More often than not it appears it's some people that AREN'T gardeners who
want these things because they want them. What we need is a REAL garden
makeover show with someone like Paul James <G> who throws out ideas and
actually does a real makeover of someone's yard or makes a nice little
garden room for someone who is overwhelmed............like me.....<g> I
have sent HGTV my comments about "Surprise Gardener" on two occaisons. I
think real gardeners aren't really impressed with it, and if you noticed,
it's not part of their "Green Street" line up of garden shows on Saturday
adn Sunday, thank goodness!

madgardener

Val

KrisHur

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Dec 20, 2002, 9:54:11 AM12/20/02
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I love Paul James! Funny and smart!!


"madgard" <mad...@bellsouth.net> wrote in message

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Ub Iwerks

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Dec 20, 2002, 10:16:23 AM12/20/02
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No, not a hottie.

Take a look instead at Charlie Dimmock of the BBC series Ground Force.

"Maimya" <n...@this.time> wrote in message
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Vox Humana

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Dec 20, 2002, 10:41:06 AM12/20/02
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<dr-...@wi.rr.xx.com> wrote in message
news:3e0394c4...@news-server.wi.rr.com...
> but they start with absolute horrors in almost all cases. a bomb in the
back yard
> would generally be an improvement over 95% of the cases. remember the
concrete back
> yard? Ingrid

That is the part that irritates me the most. They show two lazy morons who
don't have enough ambition to cut the weeds or pick up some trash before the
camera crew comes over. If it were my show, the real surprise would be that
the homeowners would be required to do the work themselves. "You want a
pond? Ok, here are two shovels. Let me know if you need anything else."


dr-...@wi.rr.xx.com

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Dec 20, 2002, 12:00:45 PM12/20/02
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that is why they use so much gravel!!!
my absolutely most fav garden they did was the one chock full of water gardens
winding thru the whole thing. Ingrid

"Valkyrie" <Yaw...@YahBetcha.org> wrote:
I'd sure love to see those
>gardens they do a year later. I can't believe anyone who is so "gardening
>impaired" would have it looking much better than the "before" as time goes
>by.
>
>Val
>

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Philip Lewis

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Dec 20, 2002, 12:26:46 PM12/20/02
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"madgard" <mad...@bellsouth.net> writes:
>and by the way, SWEATER PUPPIES???????? (I'm getting too
>old..$%^$^%$%^..) madgardener

When you get old, do they become "sweater dachshunds"?
:)

If nothing else, they usually clean up the backyard and give a few
nice plants.

I watch the show for the occational good idea/plant they throw out
there..... but i really *hate* the format. Susie can't deliver lines
to save her life.... give that woman some reading lessons. Also, i'd
like to see the "recaps" given at the end of the show... rather than inline....

eh...


--
be safe.
flip
^___^ Just on the border of your waking mind, There lies... Another time
\^.^/ Where darkness & light - are one. And as you tread the halls of sanity,
==u== You feel so glad to be, Unable to go beyond. ELO - Twilight Prologue

Suja

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Dec 20, 2002, 3:00:06 PM12/20/02
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Sugarchile wrote:

> I do know that, regardless of the host, I sure as heck wouldn't want them
> coming in and messing with MY garden. I would not be amused by their
> wholesale rearranging.

I consider myself a novice gardner, and even I can do better. People
pay these folks to do horrible things to their yards? Not surprised,
though, as I can usually tell when someone has had a "professional"
landscaper do their yard. Absolutely no imagination - either in design
or in the use of plant material.

Suja

Pam

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Dec 20, 2002, 3:43:32 PM12/20/02
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Suja wrote:

I have to take a small bit of offense to this statement - as a "professional"
landscape designer, I design according to my clients' wishes. Unfortunately,
the largest portion of my client base are non-gardeners and they are hiring me
because they have no design skills and limited plant knowledge. However, they
usually have very definite opinions about the type of plants they like/want and
almost without exception, they want a very low maintenance landscape. As a
result, my plant palette is often limited - they want evergreen azaleas (which
I hate), rhododendrons and photinia (which are so ubiquitous as to be boring in
the extreme), shy away from dwarf conifers (which I love), and are unfamiliar
with most durable, drought tolerant, low maintenance shrubs and perennials. And
without fail, they want flowers (i.e., roses), which tend to be fairly high
maintenance. And they want it done CHEAP. You try designing constantly under
those types of restraints and see how creative you can be!

Fortunately, I have enough clients who are design and plant savvy to keep thing
interesting. I am a VERY good designer, but not all of my designs are
necessarily to my liking or meet my personal standards. But in order to make my
living at this incredibly misunderstood business, I need to accommodate the
wishes of my clients. I wouldn't stay in business very long otherwise.

pam - gardengal

Shrek

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Dec 21, 2002, 11:16:09 AM12/21/02
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The real hottie on HGTV is Dede from Love by Design.

Ted Byers

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Dec 21, 2002, 8:25:18 PM12/21/02
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> > I consider myself a novice gardner, and even I can do better. People
> > pay these folks to do horrible things to their yards? Not surprised,
> > though, as I can usually tell when someone has had a "professional"
> > landscaper do their yard. Absolutely no imagination - either in design
> > or in the use of plant material.
> >
> > Suja
>
> I have to take a small bit of offense to this statement - as a "professional"
> landscape designer, I design according to my clients' wishes. Unfortunately,
> the largest portion of my client base are non-gardeners and they are hiring me
> because they have no design skills and limited plant knowledge. However, they
> usually have very definite opinions about the type of plants they like/want and
Quite right! The same applies in every service industry. Try keeping
a client happy who wants custom software developed in a few weeks
when, given the functional requirements he has specified, you know
what he wants will take several months to design, implement and test.
I no longer waste my time on such nonsense: instead I let those who
have to sell my work educate our clients as to what can be
realistically expected. But given the nature of your business, you
may not have that option. My problem as a consumer in your industry,
is to find someone who actually a) knows what they're doing and b)
will actually do it on time and within the agreed budget. There are
lots of contractors in this area who, if they show up at all, are
often late and do a rotten, sloppy job; and then they wonder why they
don't get repeat business!

But you would probably love working for me. Last spring, when I put
in a small flower bed, about 4 metres by 1.5 metres, I just about
died: literally. I am diabetic, and consequently watched my blood
sugar levels closely. I was OK during the day I put the bed in,
although I could only work on it for 20 minutes before having to take
a half hour break; but the next day, when I awoke, my blood sugar was
a little on the high side. I took my medication and had my usual
breakfast, and based on experience expected that my blood sugar levels
would be near perfect the rest of the day. However, my metabolic
activity levels were much higher than normal for me, as a result of
the intensive work on the bed, and so my blood sugar levels dropped so
fast that had my neices not been present to give me candy, I would
have been in a coma by mid-morning and dead by lunchtime. Diabetes is
a dangerous, serious illness: I went to an orchid show in Guelph,
Ontario, this fall, and some ladies working in a coffee shop on campus
almost certainly saved my life by giving me a small bottle of orange
juice and an oatmeal cookie (again, I had gone into a state of low
blood sugar levels, because of the distance I had to walk to the
parking area). Therefore, if I want any gardening done that requires
such manual labour, I will hire someone, like you, to do it (or I'll
get me neices and nephews to help - if they're available and my budget
is an issue). And I would probably begin by having you amend, as
necessary, the soil where the gardens are to be, and then put in the
plants that most appeal to me (I like roses, irises, lilies, pansies,
vinca and verbena, and who knows what others I may like if I learn of
them, not to mention cattleya, dendrobium and phalaenopsis orchids -
but these I'll maintain indoors as I am not aware of any that will
take a Canadian winter). That said, once it is in, I'd probably
arrange a contract for someone like you to maintain it for me. My
health is not adequate to allow me to do all that much outside;
although I still try as much as I can.

Cheers,

Ted

Jo

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Dec 23, 2002, 11:32:33 AM12/23/02
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"Sugarchile" >

> I do know that, regardless of the host, I sure as heck wouldn't want them
> coming in and messing with MY garden. I would not be amused by their
> wholesale rearranging.
>
> Sue

It's an awful show. In one I saw they did a garden in Arizona and planted a
row of primulas in FULL SUN. They didn't come back to film the pot pourri
that would have inevitably have resulted within days. ;-)


Jo

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Dec 23, 2002, 11:34:41 AM12/23/02
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"KrisHur" <nos...@notme.com> wrote in message
news:v06bpvm...@corp.supernews.com...

> I love Paul James! Funny and smart!!

I can't stand the phoney "goofy guy" stuff. I wish he'd cut it out and get
on with the gardening.


Jo

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Dec 23, 2002, 11:41:38 AM12/23/02
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"Vox Humana" <vhu...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:mSGM9.2801$%3.43...@twister.neo.rr.com...

> That is the part that irritates me the most. They show two lazy morons
who
> don't have enough ambition to cut the weeds or pick up some trash before
the
> camera crew comes over.

Unfair. Sometimes all you need is motivation. I lived in the country with
12 acres of land for six years and didn't plant a single seed. It was all
too overwhelming. A move to the 'burbs and a small garden plot seemed like
something I could handle and I tentatively began gardening. BOOM!!! Now
I'd kill for 12 acres to plant..

Roots


Warren

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Dec 23, 2002, 1:27:05 PM12/23/02
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Jo wrote:

>
> KrisHur wrote:
> > I love Paul James! Funny and smart!!
>
> I can't stand the phoney "goofy guy" stuff. I wish he'd cut it out
and get
> on with the gardening.


If it wasn't for the "goofy guy" stuff, he'd be less interesting than a
Madonna movie.

--
Warren H.

==========
Disclaimer: My views reflect those of myself, and not my
employer, my friends, nor (as she often tells me) my wife.
Any resemblance to the views of anybody living or dead is
coincidental. No animals were hurt in the writing of this
response -- unless you count my dog who desperately wants
to go outside now.


paghat

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Dec 23, 2002, 1:27:48 PM12/23/02
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In article <ZzIN9.481082$NH2.33601@sccrnsc01>, "Warren"
<who...@hotmail.com> wrote:

> Jo wrote:
> >
> > KrisHur wrote:
> > > I love Paul James! Funny and smart!!
> >
> > I can't stand the phoney "goofy guy" stuff. I wish he'd cut it out
> and get
> > on with the gardening.
>
>
> If it wasn't for the "goofy guy" stuff, he'd be less interesting than a
> Madonna movie.
>
> --
> Warren H.

Locally we have a show called Gardening with Cisco. I don't see the show
often & don't know what time it's on, but it reruns so often on cable I do
catch by accident now & then. On the occasions when I accidentally see it,
I enjoy Cisco a lot. Having met him a couple times probably helps, & when
I still lived on Capitol Hill, I'd see him at work in gardens at Seattle
University, & he's a cute little guy with a heavy Scandy accent who can
literally burst into tears when some big flowering shrub he planted at SU
is in full flower. So catching his show now & then is almost like seeing a
friend with his own show.

He cusses all the time, in person & on the show, but his cuss word is "Oo
la la!" He says it about every fifth sentence until you want to smack him,
but he giggles & bounces around so girlishly you can't help but be
delighted by him. He's the worst most childish joke-teller, but either he
doesn't know his jokes are lame, or he knows how cute he is anyway so
there's no reason to come up with better jokes. He gives lectures
regularly at all the regional garden clubs around here, & to see old lady
gardeners fawn on him before & after his talks, one realizes he's
genuinely a Sex Idol for the senior set.

I always think he's rather smart in his advice, but one reason is because
he seems always to be upholding ideals of organic woodland gardening, so
he's pretty often describing methods I use, & makes me feel I'm doing it
right. Occasionally his advice seems peculiar, but I trust him enough to
give it a try since he said so, & never been led totally astray. He's
quite often stumped by a question he can't answer off the top of his head
& unlike similar sorts of "experts", he never fakes it, he isn't
embarrassed to not know something. When an audience member makes a stupid
claim or offers ridiculous advice, he never completely contradicts, he
laughs & supports everyone even for unlikely methods, if it works for
them he thinks it's okay. So he's a little bit Pollyanna, but in this
corrupt depressing insincere callous world, we could do with a few more
Pollyannas here & there.

-paghat the ratgirl

--
"Of what are you afraid, my child?" inquired the kindly teacher.
"Oh, sir! The flowers, they are wild," replied the timid creature.
-from Peter Newell's "Wild Flowers"
See the Garden of Paghat the Ratgirl: http://www.paghat.com/

Valkyrie

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Dec 24, 2002, 5:17:40 PM12/24/02
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Ooooooooooooooooooo la la!! Aint he just the cutest liddle ol' thang?!?
Wonder if we could get a little bronzed statue of Cisco to put in the
garden. I watch him all the time, he's a hoot! Sure is a MAJOR improvement
over Ed and his "annual color spots" and "cover the world with Ortho
products" preaching.

Val


Suja

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Dec 30, 2002, 11:37:44 AM12/30/02
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Pam wrote:

> I have to take a small bit of offense to this statement - as a "professional"
> landscape designer, I design according to my clients' wishes.

My bad. I do understand the constraints you're working under - my
neighbor is a graphic designer, and tells me about all the work she had
to do a certain way (although she did not approve of the decisions
herself) because the client wanted it that way. All I ever see in the
landscaped gardens around here are liriope and azaleas - bulletproof, I
guess.

Suja

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