Hi all,

I'm just curious as to how many folks see value in subscribing to
gardening magazines. I have subscribed to two of the biggies for a
little over a year now. There are some beautiful pictures, however
often the plants in large vignettes are not identified. One magazine
always highlights some rich couple's gardens, the ones done by
professional landscapers, and the ones that you really need to have some
$$$ to afford. Well, it is nice to see these photos, but I'd like to
see some pictures of gardeners more like me. A few more practical
gardens. The other magazine has too many articles and ads for garden
furniture. For either, when a plant is identified, I find it is not
something carried in the local nurseries where I live.

Do you all think they are worth it? Anyone else get annoyed that the
featured gardens always show some wealthy couple lounging around in
pricey furniture, next to their outdoor shower, which is being fed by
their faux waterfall, etc...

Heidi

For years the few over-the-counter garden mag rags have been nothing but
fluff pieces with nothing of real substance. When I see them in book stores,
I look them over but have rarely felt the urge to buy them. It seems that
none of the "big names" in the study of plants are involved with the
publications any more and all they do is rehash the same old yarns with a
bunch of glossy pictures. What a waste, especially when one considers the
many innovations in the study of plants in recent years. Very little new
info reaches the public. Specialist mags and periodicals have been much
better sources for plant info but they are not sold over-the-counter.


Heidi wrote in message
. com...
Hi all,

I'm just curious as to how many folks see value in subscribing to
gardening magazines. I have subscribed to two of the biggies for a
little over a year now. There are some beautiful pictures, however
often the plants in large vignettes are not identified. One magazine
always highlights some rich couple's gardens, the ones done by
professional landscapers, and the ones that you really need to have some
$$$ to afford. Well, it is nice to see these photos, but I'd like to
see some pictures of gardeners more like me. A few more practical
gardens. The other magazine has too many articles and ads for garden
furniture. For either, when a plant is identified, I find it is not
something carried in the local nurseries where I live.

Do you all think they are worth it? Anyone else get annoyed that the
featured gardens always show some wealthy couple lounging around in
pricey furniture, next to their outdoor shower, which is being fed by
their faux waterfall, etc...

Heidi

On Thu, 28 Aug 2003 19:31:24 GMT, "Cereoid-UR12-"
wrote:

For years the few over-the-counter garden mag rags have been nothing but
fluff pieces with nothing of real substance. When I see them in book stores,
I look them over but have rarely felt the urge to buy them. It seems that
none of the "big names" in the study of plants are involved with the
publications any more and all they do is rehash the same old yarns with a
bunch of glossy pictures. What a waste, especially when one considers the
many innovations in the study of plants in recent years. Very little new
info reaches the public. Specialist mags and periodicals have been much
better sources for plant info but they are not sold over-the-counter.


Any you would care to recommend? I do enjoy "Pacific Horticulture."
--

- Charles
-
-does not play well with others

We don't get that one in the eastern US, for obvious reasons.

Both Horticulture and American Horticulturist have gone downhill in recent
years. What a shame that is. As was said previously, most of the other ones
you see over-the-counter have little to do with plants and are just excuses
for off-topic advertisements.


Charles wrote in message
...
On Thu, 28 Aug 2003 19:31:24 GMT, "Cereoid-UR12-"
wrote:

For years the few over-the-counter garden mag rags have been nothing but
fluff pieces with nothing of real substance. When I see them in book
stores,
I look them over but have rarely felt the urge to buy them. It seems that
none of the "big names" in the study of plants are involved with the
publications any more and all they do is rehash the same old yarns with a
bunch of glossy pictures. What a waste, especially when one considers the
many innovations in the study of plants in recent years. Very little new
info reaches the public. Specialist mags and periodicals have been much
better sources for plant info but they are not sold over-the-counter.


Any you would care to recommend? I do enjoy "Pacific Horticulture."
--

- Charles
-
-does not play well with others

Heidi wrote:

I'm just curious as to how many folks see value in subscribing to
gardening magazines. I have subscribed to two of the biggies for a
little over a year now. There are some beautiful pictures, however
often the plants in large vignettes are not identified. One magazine
always highlights some rich couple's gardens, the ones done by
professional landscapers, and the ones that you really need to have some
$$$ to afford. Well, it is nice to see these photos, but I'd like to
see some pictures of gardeners more like me. A few more practical
gardens. The other magazine has too many articles and ads for garden
furniture. For either, when a plant is identified, I find it is not
something carried in the local nurseries where I live.

Do you all think they are worth it? Anyone else get annoyed that the
featured gardens always show some wealthy couple lounging around in
pricey furniture, next to their outdoor shower, which is being fed by
their faux waterfall, etc...


Dunno what mags you guy's have over there.. Here in the UK we can get
the reasonably good BBC gardening mag..

The RHS does a more Horticultural biased mag as part of their
subscription (I think it may be included in the International verison
check the website)

I've also found Organic Gardening (both the original US version and the
UK equivalent (different publisher same title) well worth the cash..)

For specific plants though, I do tend to use smaller specialist
nurseries where I know I am more likley to get specific advice..
Plants tend to have their own specialist publications to go with them..

If you're really into bamboos, theres mag on them! Likewise if you're
into Passiflora etc etc.. Someone soemwhere will be keen and these are
the places to seek out ideas and information..
A lot of the garden centres in the UK are just 'design shops' and match
many of the glossy mags. Rather than being into any serious
plantsmanship or gardening that is.. Whatever floats your boat!

//
Jim

My mother likes to read "garden gate" which is a pretty good gardening
magazine that has lots of ideas and tips for gardeners. Horticulture is one
that I have tried a few times but they seem to focus too much on herbaceous
plants and I am more of a nursery person. For professionals or gardeners who
have lots of experience, I would reccommend american nurseryman, though it is
available my subscription only. It is put out twice a month and has lots of
info about what is going on in the industry and has good articles about new
introductions and things. It is packed with techinical terms however, so some
may not find it easy to read.

Toad

Where my parents live, there is a monthly "community" gardening magazine
called Hampton Roads Gardening and Home, an excellent little magazine for
the average gardener. It is a small magazine using newsprint, but with lots
of color photographs. More importantly, the content is relevant to the
region and zone. And best of all, it is free! It even has its own website
(http://www.dailypress.com/features/home/garden) You should try to look for
a similar magazine in your region.


"Heidi" wrote in message
. com...
Hi all,

I'm just curious as to how many folks see value in subscribing to
gardening magazines. I have subscribed to two of the biggies for a
little over a year now. There are some beautiful pictures, however
often the plants in large vignettes are not identified. One magazine
always highlights some rich couple's gardens, the ones done by
professional landscapers, and the ones that you really need to have some
$$$ to afford. Well, it is nice to see these photos, but I'd like to
see some pictures of gardeners more like me. A few more practical
gardens. The other magazine has too many articles and ads for garden
furniture. For either, when a plant is identified, I find it is not
something carried in the local nurseries where I live.

Do you all think they are worth it? Anyone else get annoyed that the
featured gardens always show some wealthy couple lounging around in
pricey furniture, next to their outdoor shower, which is being fed by
their faux waterfall, etc...

Heidi

In article , Heidi
writes:

For either, when a plant is identified, I find it is not
something carried in the local nurseries where I live.

try mailorder

Do you all think they are worth it?

Not many mags are worth the price today,( Why I remember when a mag
cost............).But I do enjoy many of them . With a tall glass of iced tea
or
a cold Sierra Nevada Summerfest, and a comfy seat on the patio, it's fun
to look and dream. And nice to see many kinds of plants, even though I
don't have room any more for most, or they wouldn't like this climate.
I enjoy seeing what other peope in other parts of the country are planting
in their gardens. New trends in plants, etc.

Anyone else get annoyed that the
featured gardens always show some wealthy couple lounging around in
pricey furniture, next to their outdoor shower, which is being fed by
their faux waterfall, etc..
Now Heidi, we must be tolerant, the poor dears can't help it if they're
wealthy!
No, I like to see those, too. I usually can find some little thing they have
done,
that's kind of quirky or fun, that I can adapt in my own little frugal way.

I too like Pacific Horticuture for a more professional, botanical view.
But it's only quarterly, wish it were published more often.

Birds and Blooms always has more "grass roots" type gardens, done by
the owners. The plant ID is not always the best, relying on common names
a lot, and some of the gardens are not quite my style. But it's nice to see
what people can do own their own.

Emilie
NorCal



Heidi

I'm just curious as to how many folks see value in subscribing to
gardening magazines. I have subscribed to two of the biggies for a
little over a year now. There are some beautiful pictures, however
often the plants in large vignettes are not identified. One magazine
always highlights some rich couple's gardens, the ones done by
professional landscapers, and the ones that you really need to have some
$$$ to afford. Well, it is nice to see these photos, but I'd like to
see some pictures of gardeners more like me. A few more practical
gardens. The other magazine has too many articles and ads for garden
furniture. For either, when a plant is identified, I find it is not
something carried in the local nurseries where I live.

Do you all think they are worth it?

Overall I'd have to say ... nope! Every so often I'll see a mag on the
newstand that has an article in it of interest -- I'll usually just take it
over to the bookstore's seating area to give it a quick read, if not stand
there and read it. I've subscribed to several over the years but they just
seem to have more and more advertisements -- NOT what I am buying the
magazine to see. My favorite used to be Horticulture and it's still not bad
but it seems to have gotten a bit light in actual reading material. About
the only thing I subscribe to these days is This Old House magazine and even
that one is getting heavier with advertisements while having less articles.
:-(

FWIW, if you want to get a wide variety of plants in your landscape you're
going to have to break out of the nursery and hit the mailorder catalogs.
In some cases you can ask the nursery to order certain plants for you, but
they simply cannot carry the wide range of diversity that mail order
companies carry. The reason is fairly straightforward -- nurseries have a
particular clientele to service and as a storefront they have to stock what
commonly sells; when they do pick up something outside their normal stock it
doesn't really last long or it never sells. Mail order companies have a
wider range of tastes among their clientele -- with a larger market, they
can sell a wider variety.

Anyone else get annoyed that the featured gardens always show some
wealthy couple lounging around in pricey furniture, next to their outdoor
shower, which is being fed by their faux waterfall, etc...

Chuckle Yes, this does seem to be the trend. My big pet peeve with this
is a different media -- namely TV. The landscaping shows on HGTV only do
projects on obviously well-to-do homes and they're all in the LA vicinity.
The vast majority of the plants they utilize in their shows only grow in
climates where winter is when the mercury hits 65 degrees farenheit -- not
very practical for 3/4ths of the continent (or even 2/3rds of the US). I
wrote the production company and they made it clear they're not interested
in the rest of us at this time. It would be nice to see a show that focuses
on colder climates (i.e., Z-7 and lower) and people with less than a
$20,000+ budget. Some of the shows aren't bad, but when I hear "...and all
on a budget of no more than $80,000" I have to cringe.

James

"Heidi" wrote in message
. com...
Hi all,

I'm just curious as to how many folks see value in subscribing to
gardening magazines. I have subscribed to two of the biggies for a
little over a year now. There are some beautiful pictures, however
often the plants in large vignettes are not identified. One magazine
always highlights some rich couple's gardens, the ones done by
professional landscapers, and the ones that you really need to have some
$$$ to afford. Well, it is nice to see these photos, but I'd like to
see some pictures of gardeners more like me. A few more practical
gardens. The other magazine has too many articles and ads for garden
furniture. For either, when a plant is identified, I find it is not
something carried in the local nurseries where I live.

Do you all think they are worth it? Anyone else get annoyed that the
featured gardens always show some wealthy couple lounging around in
pricey furniture, next to their outdoor shower, which is being fed by
their faux waterfall, etc...

Heidi


For what it's worth, and to me it's worth something, I have subscribed to
some pretty decent and big gardening magazines now for well over 20 years. I
started out years ago with Mother Earth Magazine, then to Rodales Organic
Gardening until Mike McGrath left as editor. Somewhere I outgrew my need
for Organic Gardening, but what I learned from them was worth it and has
surfaced in my knowledge since then despite that I haven't felt the need to
subscribe in awhile. It used to be a good publication for learning and
checking out information and new plants.

Once my level of gardening and knowledge increased, I ventured out and tried
Horticulture Magazine. I still subscribe to it. There has never been an
issue that hasn't taught me something, made me smile, showed me a plant I'd
love to have, (they give sources for those plants if it's at all possible
and I think were the first gardening magazine to do that). It doesn't
matter that I don't have a natural grassland in Marin County, California, I
enjoy reading and learning how other gardeners accomplish and solve their
various problems and dreams. I stumbled onto Garden Designs when it first
came out because for awhile I was quite insatiable when it came to ANY
gardening magazine and I read and sampled just about every one. I still
subscribe to it as well because despite that there are things in it that
don't appeal to me personally, it is a very well thought out magazine. I
love the little snippets at the bottoms or sides of the pages in the front
and back that pertain to the article or subject on that page.

These magazines don't go out for the rich and well off. They are there to
inform us, to show us ideas and yes, they advertise products that some of us
can't afford, but that's life in general honey. I don't fault them for
that. It's like a given that if I want to watch regular television I have to
put up with the commercials for things I don't buy or want. The commercials
pay for that programming I'm watching. Well the ads and products that run
those nice ads pay for the bulk of the magazine that allows me to buy it and
read it each publication.

I also subscribe to Fine Gardening. I have every issue. And that last part
is thanks to another gardener when I first came onto this newsgroup putting
his collection up for sale and we struck a deal across the country. (I sent
him advance money for half of the issues which surprised him and he sent me
the second half before I sent the next payment, as I was in short financial
straits at the time but really wanted those back issues. My honesty paid off
and my best friend got the duplicates). I still subscribe to Fine Gardening
and it's never let me down for articles and information either.

I also subscribe to another absolute favorite that I stumbled upon after
moving over here to Eastern Tennessee but which is available to anyone. I
happened to hear one Tuesday morning the voice of a nice gentleman on the
NPR station I had discovered over in North Carolina reading a short piece
out of his quarterly magazine. It was a riot. And I could relate to it
completely. At the end of the 12 minutes he closed with what later turned
out to be the normal closing every Tuesday for another year and a half, that
if anyone wanted a copy of the article he had read, to send a SASE to him
care of the radio station or him at his P.O. box and he'd send it out ASAP.
It was Pat Stone, former writer and editor of an older Mother Earth Magazine
who had decided when ME had temporairly ceased publication in the early 90's
to start up his own magazine. But not your normal publication. He wanted
something different. His baby? Green Prints/The Weeders Digest.

His was not HOW to garden or gardening, it was ABOUT gardening and such.
Like this newsgroup is. And he didn't publish but four times a year, or
seasonal which was fine with me except once I subscribed to his quarterly
publication (I also got my first article published with him and it was
incredibly moral lifting. Enough to inspire me to keep attempts at writing
to this day regardless of wheather or not he prints it g) I really wished
he published more because the writings were excellent. I wanted more.

In between all of those tried and true magazines and such I have tasted
various successes and failures. There was a brief shining star of a
gardening magazine called Beautiful Gardens that was awesome, but it was
ahead of it's time. There were no ads and I suspect that is why it died it's
rather quick and untimely death.

Bottom line, to ME I will say that the big gardening magazines are worth the
money. I adore that Fine Gardening features tight shots of someone's garden
combinations. Something that became obvious to me one day as I was looking
at the back of one. I realized in my own way I was trying to achieve the
textural and visuality the featured picture was sharing. I was thrilled.
It might seem simple, and obvious but that's how I felt.

Don't let the majority rule you on this one. I personally think that good
garden magazines don't appeal to the "rich and yuppie" as much as they
appeal to gardeners who like a good read, a good laugh or idea. Oh and
just to let you know, I not only subscribe to those I mentioned above, but I
also KEEP all the issues on my shelves for later accessing for a plant, an
article, information for how to (one nice thing that Horticulture did was
starting in 1987 they began the illustrated Step by Step which was
incredibly informative to me) not to mention that Roger Swain contributes
still to Horticulture magazine despite that he's no longer hosting Victory
Garden on PBS. (I STILL miss him!!)

I hope this helps despite that the majority still thinks they're a waste of
money. I always make a concerted effort to keep my subscriptions up on my
select magazines. It's nice to get something in the ol' mailbox, not to
mention concerning so much about what I love to do, garden and stories about
gardening. Might I suggest you take stock again and check out Fine
Gardening, give Garden Design a lookie see, and get a year's subscription to
Green Prints? Pat's compilations of garden stories is incredible and worthy
of the investment. (I have all of those too, and getting the first issue
was difficult, I had to beg adn plead his wife to make me a Xerox copy of it
since it was out of print and I sent her $10 for her trouble. She complied
and put the lion's share of that ten spot onto another few issues.

Of course, this is just MY opinion........GBSEG
madgardener up on the ridge, back in fairy holler, overlooking English
Mountain in Eastern Tennessee zone7, Sunset zone 36

Heidi wrote:

I'm just curious as to how many folks see value in subscribing to
gardening magazines. I have subscribed to two of the biggies for a
little over a year now.

I don't know what you consider a "big" gardening magazine.

Most of the Better Homes and Gardens magazines about gardens are not
worth the money, at least in my opinion. The pictures are pretty, but
you don't get a lot of information about how those nice people actually
created their lovely gardens. They're more interested in products than
instructions. However, they occasionally have good articles, and their
plant lists for different types of environments or objectives might give
you some ideas. Either subscribe at a deep discount or scan the table
of contents thoroughly before buying.

"Heidi" wrote

I'm just curious as to how many folks see value in subscribing to
gardening magazines. I have subscribed to two of the biggies for a
little over a year now.
snip
Do you all think they are worth it? Anyone else get annoyed that the
featured gardens always show some wealthy couple lounging around in
pricey furniture, next to their outdoor shower, which is being fed by
their faux waterfall, etc...

Looks like 'Organic Gardening' is going into the dumper again --
getting slimmer and slimmer ever issue -- but it always has some
useful, real-world info. 'Mother Earth' is a lot more homestead-y, but
again, has interesting gardening pieces. You might check

http://garden-gate.prairienet.org/garden_magazines.htm

for a list of gardening magazines.
If you live in the west, 'Sunset' mag has regionally-tailored issues
that always include a garden/plant articles. 'Southern Living' is much
the same sort of thing (except the recipes make no low-cal
concessions) with garden info for the southern US. There's probably
something similar in other areas of the country.

Heidi wrote in message .com...
Hi all,

I'm just curious as to how many folks see value in subscribing to
gardening magazines.

Subscribe? hardly worth it!
Visit the local library and thumb through them a better value.
Organic gardening is pretty much empty, Mother Earth News went yuppie
or lawyer 20 years ago. Even Scientific American has been dumbed down.
Taunton Press puts out a magazine called "Fine Gardening" I would give
as a gift but read for myself at the public library.

(Beecrofter) wrote in message om...
Heidi wrote in message .com...
Hi all,

I'm just curious as to how many folks see value in subscribing to
gardening magazines.

Subscribe? hardly worth it!
Visit the local library and thumb through them a better value.
Organic gardening is pretty much empty, Mother Earth News went yuppie
or lawyer 20 years ago. Even Scientific American has been dumbed down.
Taunton Press puts out a magazine called "Fine Gardening" I would give
as a gift but read for myself at the public library.

my sentiments also. some are very pretty and i like to see the pics,
but not enough to sub and have stacks of mags to store!! a Cherokee
friend was written up regarding her herb garden and her pic was on the
front with all the plants surrounding her.. but it was all actually a
montague and the garden was nothing like the photo!!! it did look
good; looked for real; pretty but misleading. not realistic. she is a
good herb gardner, but it was a lot of fake.
i have read a lot of literature in past years, but have really learned
more from you regulars y lurking this NG than anywhere else. Thanks to
you all.
love...granny lee(leona). oh hey! i was 75 9-1-03 and all my children
and grands and great grands came to see me into the 76th year! one
time i told my doctor that i didn't really like to spend so much time
sleeping... at 8 hours a day i would have spent 25 years sleeping by
the time i was 75... he told me i wouldn't get to 75 if i didn't sleep
the 25.... fooled him! i have reached it on about 5 hrs nightly
average which i think is about 18 years of sleep for 75 years!!..
beat his estimate by about 8 years!!! ya-nanny..ya ya !!!!!!
hehehehe!!!!

Heidi wrote:

Hi all,

I'm just curious as to how many folks see value in subscribing to
gardening magazines. I have subscribed to two of the biggies for a
little over a year now. There are some beautiful pictures, however
often the plants in large vignettes are not identified. One magazine
always highlights some rich couple's gardens, the ones done by
professional landscapers, and the ones that you really need to have some
$$$ to afford. Well, it is nice to see these photos, but I'd like to
see some pictures of gardeners more like me. A few more practical
gardens. The other magazine has too many articles and ads for garden
furniture. For either, when a plant is identified, I find it is not
something carried in the local nurseries where I live.

Do you all think they are worth it? Anyone else get annoyed that the
featured gardens always show some wealthy couple lounging around in
pricey furniture, next to their outdoor shower, which is being fed by
their faux waterfall, etc...

Heidi

Well, it depends on what you want . . . they can be great for
getting ideas that you can adapt to your own yard. However, if
you're looking for practical, step-by-step advice, they're not
much use.

BTW, you can substitute time for $$$. If you budget out for one
real splurge every year, it's amazing how fast you can get some
really nice plants in your yard. Buy ONE of that to-die-for
perennial, and make it into many by dividing. Grow from seed
instead of buying plants. And, get to know your local gardeners
.. . . we divided the german iris this year, and I gave away over
a thousand fans. In return, I've been showered with slips and
cuttings and divisions of all sorts of plants to expand my yard's
diversity.

Chris Owens




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