Horticulturaish 2.0

Or: what on earth to do now that some of you are paying me

I know that in my first three months on Substack I have been somewhat prolific in my posting. One subscriber (a friend) lasted only a couple of weeks before sending me an apologetic message to let me know she had unsubscribed because she simply could not cope with the deluge of emails I was generating.

[ Chatsworth House, 21 July 2024 ]

But I have so much to say! I will keep almost all of it available for free, but if there are any of you out there (unlikely) who aren’t yet getting enough of my ramblings, you can now get even more. I know, almost hard to believe.

My hand has been somewhat forced by four of you who liked my outpourings so much that you decided to pay me money for them even though I had not asked you to. This is mind blowing, and honestly I could die happy right now (not an invitation, Grim Reaper, just a turn of phrase. Chill.).

For those four, and any others who want to send me £3.50, there will be special posts. £3.50 by the way is the minimum amount I can charge according to Substack rules. If it were less, the price would be less, believe me.

Initially (I think) I’m planning on a ‘home and away’ strategy. All the day-to-day stuff about my garden, unrelated musings, random book reports, unsolicited recommendations etc will remain free to read (and mostly aren’t even worth that).

But posts about garden visits, thick with proper photos taken with my proper camera (Fujifilm X-T5, if you must know) and searingly honest reviews (hashtag independent journalism) of said visits will be reserved for those special few lunatics willing to contribute to my questionable spending habits.

The first of these special posts went live last night. Part one of several about the four hours I spent at Chatsworth last July. A whole post just on the sweet peas in the Rose Garden…

So if that kind of minutiae is your bag and you have money to burn, please do subscribe for £3.50 / month, as I have very expensive taste in all things and am therefore expensive to run.

Other 2024 visits I’ll do special posts about:

• Chelsea Physic Garden

• RHS Chelsea 2024

• Chelsea in Bloom 2024

• Versailles and the Potager du Roi

• Brockwell Park Walled Garden

• RHS Wisley

• Scotney Castle

• Castle Drogo

• and others.

2025 visits in the works:

• Versailles again (hopefully not in the pouring rain this time)

• Monet’s garden at Giverny

• Perch Hill

• RHS Chelsea 2025

• Water Lane

• Rousham Gardens

• The Newt in Somerset (if I can figure out the incredibly confusing entrance fee / ticket system)

• Broughton Castle

• Buscot Park

• Sissinghurst Castle

• Great Dixter

• Beth Chatto Gardens

I am open to any and all other suggestions, invitations, and propositions (just in respect of garden visits and content, you understand) so please do let me know what you think and feel.

I also promise that I will learn how to use my proper camera properly because my GCSE in Photography was *cough* years ago now and having it permanently on ‘Auto’ makes me feel like the dilettante that I absolutely am. You deserve better.