...for a starting price of only £4.99. However, if you need it quicker, it'll cost you.
Continuing with my current obsession with Pippa Greenwood (see Nominative Determinism post), I see that she has started an answer service for all your horticultural questions.
I would be interested to know what level of interest she gets in this service. After all, it appears to be an internet based service and the internet is itself a fantastic resource of free information. True, the information available freely in the net isn't necessarily from an ex-RHS plant pathologist, but there are a whole host of websites, blogs and forums available where you can just register and post a question, including photos of any garden nasties that you need identifying. Generally, within half an hour, you'll have several (and often several dozen) replies.
I suppose that the service that Pippa is providing is winnowing out the irrelevant and sometimes just plain bonkers answers you sometimes get in reply to your query on a forum, and giving you the definitive answer. I hope it works for her. Mind you, there is one thing I hold against Pippa - I note in the 'about Pippa' section, that she was gardening consultant for that appalling gardening/private detective TV series 'Rosemary and Thyme'. Oh dear.
Monday, March 23, 2009
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11 comments:
Rosemary and Thyme!? Not a great credit really!
I think that given the choice between £4.99 for a question answered or a post on a forum . . . the latter would win out every time!
http://ryans-garden.blogspot.com/
Alternatively there's the You Ask, We Answer service, though response can be a bit slow albeit free...
I wouldn't pay for this - but I'm lucky as a lot of my friends are walking garden encyclopaedias and only too happy to call round!
I love your Picotee photos!
People are very enterprising aren't they! gail
The question is do you get your money refunded in the event the wrong answer is given?
Chris Beardshaw killed my hebe by saying on TV that it could be cut right back - which I did and it died. When I confronted him at Chelsea with this he said that clearly no-one but a complete idiot would have cut it back below the leaf growth (or words to that effect). He did agree that this bit of information might have been cut from the programme in the editing. Either way he didn't offer to refund the £7.50 I paid for the defunct hebe! Pfft!
I can't believe they consulted anyone about R&T - if they had someone would surely have pointed out that it was a pile of tosh...
And I am aghast that anyone would charge you the cost of a plant to ask you a question about it.
Arabella - I will volunteer to accompany you on any future Chris Beardshaw intimidatory stalking - he must answer for his answers... and you owe it to the Hebe!
Why would I need to pay Pippa Greenwood when I can happily browse around on t'internet instead?! No contest really!
VP - good point, I forgot YAWA!
Arabella, the hurt is still there, isn't it!
I suppose in Pippa's defence we are a pretty self-selecting group who are all keen gardeners and know where to go and find info on the internet, and perhaps not her target market.
I can't see it taking off in this age of free info available online. Strange idea - nearly as strange as Rosemary & Thyme which I tried to like given the good actresses and the gardening theme - but I failed!
Hi Happy, oh what a disappointment. I had hoped to rent some R & T for garden mystery viewing pleasure since I am a fan of that genre. Boo. As for questions, does she not know about google?
BTW, I have linked to you in my post titled Some Bulbs, for reasons that may be obvious to you. I like to let people know when a link has been inserted, as I like to know when it is done for Fairegarden.
Frances
You are right HappyM the trauma of the Hebe incident has never left me. In fact I named one of my cats after it.
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