Imagine the ecstasy if airline travel actually included a periodical of substance for the plant-lover in the seatback pocket? On a recent trip back to southern Florida, I was flabbergasted to find that in my in-flight magazine the crossword puzzle was tomato-variety themed. Granted, two of the varieties in the puzzle I had never heard of, but I gave the puzzle writer some "wiggle room" since I'm sure he made up a name so that the bottom right corner actually turned out. Nonetheless, it had me thinking about my recent thoughts of garden-oriented magazines to that now I only subscribe.

Late summer is an ideal time for you to trial, evaluate and then subscribe to garden magazines. Since it takes upwards of four to six weeks for your first mail-delivered copy to arrive, ordering now ensures a juicy, (hopefully) photo-rich and non-redundant informative magazine by late October. There's nothing worse than winding down to winter and have nothing to read! Luckily, Learn2Grow is online 24/7, but there's still nothing as pleasing as cracking open the freshly-arrived edition of a magazine on the couch. Wouldn't you agree?

As a professional horticulturist that got his first gardening magazine when 12, I today have little time or interest in what I call the "fluff" magazines. Although this definition will vary among people, "fluff" is what anyone would see as being redundant, out-dated, plagiarized, or over-hashed topics (and plant types) wasting the pages of a magazine once again. "Garden lifestyle" magazines merely remind you to buy a petunia or select a patio table umbrella--not for me.

Novice to Intermediate Gardener, Pleasantly Met

I have a love-hate relationship with Horticulture magazine (www.hortmag.com), but it is always great to thumb through. It's difficult for publications to remain in print and have as broad of a consumer base to remain solvent, but I think Horticulture is the best for those that have a basic hunger for gardening and have potential in the craft.

The photography in Horticulture is always grand, and I particularly love it when a plantsmen/women finally gets ink to spill about a range of new or proven cultivars of a particular plant species. Even though I "ho-hum" when I (once again) see a cover with a tulip, peony or (yuck!) a Japanese maple, I usually am interested in the perspectives mentioned by gardeners in other North American regions. Often I yearn to see landscape vista photos merely to gorge on the design and color/texture compositions.

Horticulture arrives every month.

The Serious Gardener, Loaded Up

Unfortunately this periodical can only find its way into my snail mailbox four times a year: The American Gardener. The quarterly magazine provided to members of the American Horticultural Society (AHS), I am also certain to come across something that will intrigue my short-attention span. Whether a thought-provoking or "how dare you" letter to the editor by a troubled garden reader, to horticultural news and research tidbits, to literary snapshots into garden design, eco-greening ideas, and lists of recommended plants, books and sources to buy these things, The American Gardener is worthwhile. Don't worry, even a novice gardener or plant-killer would find the photos and writing still interesting and flowing.

Again, my only complaint is that I can only get a new one every three months, not monthly (or gosh even weekly!). There's something to add to my "Ultimate Christmas Wish List". To make the world a better place...

Visual Lovers of Ideas and Design, Drool Cups

Although this third magazine to which I subscribe is seemingly a more professional-oriented one for landscape architects and designers, the photography alone in Garden Design  (www.gardendesign.com) can provide so many ideas for a gardener regardless of location. Most designers and featured landscapes seem to revolve around the Mediterranean or milder climates of California, but nice examples of Midwestern, woodland, alpine, rockery and eastern woodland designs readily get ink.

Published seven times a year, Garden Design is not a "reading" magazine for me, since I find the basic plant and architect commentary prosaic. The photos of the mixtures of hardscapes, plant materials (colors, textures) and overall use of the outdoor garden space no less than drool-inducing. Little by little I have noticed more features on hot, new cultivars of plants for architects to use, and they are themed nicely, such as "chocolate colored plants" or "roof top havens".

Ug, this month's issue had (to waste pages on) Japanese maples...

If you love seeing wondrous compositions of Eden in people's backyards where they have BBQs, seating, a pool or quiet cabana lounge, Garden Design will not disappoint. As an aside, I think if you were trying to sell your residence, I suspect having a strategically placed Garden Design magazine on the living room coffee table could get you a few extra $Gs in the bids.

UPDATE (Sept 14):  Honorable mention has to be given to Fine Gardening; however let's face it, NO magazine is worth $6.99. This glossy, which is filled with nice imagery and at least in the issue I found in the mass of magazines on the shelf at Border's Books had some nice plant lists. I did find made-up words and some poor grammatical edits, but the main thing that bothered me is that it included several lists and reports from California gardeners, but completely failed subtropical gardeners in Florida. I also would challenge the "loose" plant hardiness zones given to many southern/subtropical plants they reported on. Even a feature article discussion on Fuchsia shouldn't omit the importance characteristic of their intolerance to high heat and sultry humidity. Thus, simple saying "fuchsia are hardy in zone 8-11" is really only half the story. Also, hostas in zone 9? Hmmm, perhaps in California, and certainly short-lived (or an annual) in a Gulf Coast zone 9!

I'll have to mull over the thought of this magazine for a spendy annual subscription. Yes, the photos are certainly nice, but not too keen on supporting publications that aren't accurate on zone hardinesses (such as Brugmansia and Agave victoriae-reginae ONLY hardy in zone 11!?!?!). For me it's credibility.

My Regional Trepidations

There are also smaller publishers in various regions around the country that produce magazines. I have found none that really excite me (but my needs in a magazine about gardening aren't mainstream). What I do like about the regional mags (like Florida Gardening, Carolina Gardener, etc) is that they are much more specific to basic tasks, soils and needs of a region often glazed over by nationally distributed periodicals.

One drawback, regardless of your gardening level, is that you may come across writers with much less proven experience, or a lot of articles by the same authors just with a different title and verb tense. Or, that gardening lecture with 90 minutes of old slides you went to last month is now a 400 word article.

They are still worth a look as they may be in a voice or level that you need. Perhaps most valuable is that most regional mags will have specific horticultural experts/extension agents providing seasonal advisories for various "zones" in a region. That I find very useful, particularly to those gardeners that have recently transplanted themselves to a new area.

Coffee, Tea, or Garden Magazine?

Brew a pot of joe, try some hot tea with milk and sugar and plop yourself down so you can investigate and read some garden magazines this very late summer. Let that caffeine in your hot drink give you the energy and mental sharpness to pinpoint which ones are worth a trial subscription (or renewal) for a year. I wouldn't want anyone out there being deprived of info and especially some awe- or design-inspiring photography.

You know which three magazines I gotta have, comment below on any periodicals you've found worthwhile. Drop some reasons why they are a cut-above-the-average, too. A recommendation for a convenient mail-delivered magazine is always nice. No one wants to jaunt to the bookstore and once again failing to find the magazine title in the ocean of 200 glossies on the wall rack.