Washington Gardener Magazine - Making Gardening Happen

Let's consider the state of regional gardening magazines here in the U.S.  The successful Carolina Gardener, published since 1988, has a large readership throughout the South.  Texas Gardener uses a giveaway business model.  But the most interesting business model has to be Louisiana Gardener because its publisher also creates state versions of the magazine for Virginia, Alabama, Kentucky, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Tennessee, Georgia and Mississippi, using primarily Extension Service writers to localize each state version.  (And what about Garden and Gun, you ask?  I've had enough scathing comments since the last time I wrote about it, so I'll demur.  Well, except to suggest it must really piss them off that googling the magazine name delivers GardenRant's mockfest in the number one spot.)

Outside the South, there's Upstate Gardeners Journal published for Upstate New Yorkers since 1995, Michigan Gardener, and Northern Gardener (a product of the Minnesota Horticultural Society.) Chicagoland Gardening uses a tabloid format and is distributed free of charge.   An Ohio gardening mag covering both edibles and ornamentals had been funded by an Ohio newspaper, which newspaper abruptly pulled its funding, causing the magazine's demise, so maybe that's not the winning financial model it appeared to be.

Now wedged between North and South we have Washington Gardener Magazine, started in 2005 by Friend of GardenRant Kathy Jentz.  To her credit, she hires local writers and photographers exclusively and focusses on really local gardening advice and stories.  Now here's what else Kathy's been doing since quitting her job in association publishing and striking out on her own.  You know, in her spare time.

• Held two very successful Seed Exchanges, the first in conjunction with the National Arboretum and the next year without them (after they withdrew their offer of space at the last minute!  Kathy prevailed by finding even better space.)
• Started a Yahoo group for other regional gardening magazines.
• Created the first Washington Garden Photography Contest.
• Lead a trip to the Philadelphia Flower Show and is planning more trips in the future.
• Created the Washington Gardener website, blog, free e-newsletter, and subscriber Yahoo Group.
• Arranged to have our own Amy Stewart talk to local garden clubs.
• Appeared regularly on both CBS and NBC local affiliates.
• Written a twice-a-month gardening column and calendar of events for Washington Examiner newspaper.
• Manned booths at just about every garden and environmental gathering within 100 miles - home shows, plant sales, you name it. 
• Assumed the presidency of the venerable (oldest in U.S.) Takoma Horticultural Club, recently vacated by yours truly.

All I can say is Whew (and I haven't touched on her nongardening life, of which there actually is one).  And all this activity doesn't just sell subscriptions; it builds a gardening community, a culture of gardening here in D.C., and that's a Good Thing.  But I wonder:  Does it take all this for a local gardening magazine to succeed?  And how about the challenge of supporting yourself full-time as a garden writer?  I wonder what our readers think.

TRENDS
I caught up with Kathy recently to ask how it's going ("great") and if she's noticed any trends in gardening in the D.C. area.  She reports that interest in native plants is still growing, ditto for tropical plants, including summer bulbs.  Vertical gardening and containers are increasingly popular for city-dwellers with less land (or just a balcony or rooftop).  Other hot topics are Less Lawn (a trend we GardenRanters are stoking as fast as we can) and the growing of edibles.

FINAL THOUGHTS
Kathy thinks it would sure be nice if the folks at People Places and Plants Magazine, which ceased published of its Mid-Atlantic edition two years, would finally reimburse its subscribers and pay its writers.  That kind of detritus can saddle a successor magazine with some bad karma, ya know.

Kathy says that the most important thing to tell non-gardeners is not to worry about perfection, just to get started.  People blame themselves for failures, when it could just be a "crappy plant."

And for a quick example of the need for gardening information to be LOCAL, Kathy cites some advice given in the Rebecca Kolls Magazine.  It seems that Rebecca recently advised her readers to plant new shrubs "if your garden is ready."  Maybe she should have added: "For help in interpreting this advice, consult your local Cooperative Extension Service."

Comments

[chuck b.]

I never get any sympathy from anyone when I play the crappy plant card. Which is so unfair because sometimes it IS the plant. Not the plant selection, the plant.

[Kathy, Washington Gardener]

Thanks for the coverage!
And yes, Chuck, often it is NOT the gardener but the plant condition upon purchase that is fully to blame. I mean with all the hell a typical garden center or mass-merchandiser offering goes through before it ever gets into your shopping cart, it makes you wonder how incredible it is that many of them actually do survive. Plants should be labeled with where they were grown and when they were potted up and shipped. Wouldn't you love a "best by" date! And then there is the "care" they are subjected to by some employees. How would one ever know by looking that the poor things were so over-fertilized and over-watered that they are stressed out and on a long, slow road to decline? IMHO, most plants are just bred and groomed to be sold -- not for the purpose of actually living and thriving in your home garden.

[Jenn]

"Started a Yahoo group for other regional gardening magazines."

How do I find this? Using Yahoo search was not helpful.

[Kathy, Washington Gardener]

Jenn & others - The Regional Garden Mag yahoo group is a private invite-only list so is not listed in their public searches.
We are trying to keep it to those currently publishing a regional garden mag or getting ready to launch one (i.e. no printer sales reps, pr pitches, etc.) Discussions are sticking to Editors/ Publishers issues mainly, but other staff are welcome to participate. If you would like to join up, please send a note to me at Editor@washingtongardener.com and include a bit about yourself, such as your title and a link to your regional garden publication.