Rufus, canine star of German television



My gardens (my old garden in London and the new one in the Cotswolds) have been featured on two television programmes, and I'm always intrigued by what the director wants to show, and what they don't show.

Unfortunately, the BBC Gardeners' World episode is no longer available, but it featured garden designer and television presenter Joe Swift, talking about exotic, or sub-tropical gardens.
Filming was great fun, partly because Joe (seen here in my London garden with the BBC film crew) is very friendly and funny.
The latest programme, MDR Garten, which is like a German version of the BBC's Gardeners' World, hardly showed anything of my garden in the Cotswolds, precisely because they had used long lingering shots of the Oxford gardens, and wanted something a bit more hands-on and active by the time they came to me. So there are lots of shots of me supposedly planting and/or weeding, or pottering around with the dog.

You can't actually hear much of what I am saying because the German translation drowns me out, but you do get a glimpse of my friend Claire Jones (below) who happened to be visiting my garden at the time, leading a tour from Maryland, USA.



Here are the MDR Garten crew at work (above). They were incredibly unobtrusive and I really enjoyed having them in the garden. They were much more critical of my scruffy appearance than they were of the plants ("Perhaps you might like to powder your nose, Victoria - your face is very shiny"). But I think my dog Rufus is the real star of the programme.


I've tried unsuccessfully to upload the episode here, so if you want to see it, here's the link instead.
Enjoy!

Comments

I just watched it, Victoria, and I kept smiling - it was so nice to see you! Your nose looks just fine, but Rufus' nose is pretty shiny, ha-ha! It was such a treat to see your garden, especially the views from above. I got better understanding of its structure. Beautiful garden with healthy plants! You look great! Congratulations!
Rock rose said…
I'm sorry we can't catch up with your London garden. It looks delightful. But I did watch and could hear most of your comment on this recent video. That is too funny about powdering your nose. I noticed the book reading shots with Rufus-nice but can we get to the garden bit. When they filmed my garden for Southern Living they asked me to put something different on. And another filming for TV , would I like to put on some lipstick. I did change clothes but ignored the lipstick thing. I never got to meet Claire Jones but now recognize her from the Fling. Maybe next time.
Margaret said…
Oh, Victoria - I loved that! Your garden is simply wonderful - a true reflection of the gardener :). I just smiled when you said that bit "once I'm outside, that's it - I'm happy". I'll say I'm going outside for a "few minutes" to do this or that in the garden and next thing you know, it's been a couple of hours and my family is wondering why dinner isn't ready!
I will look forward to watching! I have been on TV a couple of times and always appreciate the powder-your-nose or put-on-lipstick comments -- anything to look a little less oily or washed out on TV -- ha!

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