gardening publications

Oooh, do I ever have spring fever!!!! What are everyone's favorite gardening publications? Anybody know any that specialize in regions? (of course I am selfishly concerned with western gardening, being in Los Angeles). Fortunately, I laid down black plastic last year to kill the weeds, so the rains haven't washed away my yard......

http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/485548/#new

For California and the West, Sunset Publishing is a valuable resource. The magazine is generalized to include travel, building, etc but has excellent gardening articles. Many wonderful books. See if you can find a used copy of Sunset's "National Garden Book". It's out of print and I keep hoping it will be revised and reprinted, but I still refer to my copy often. The zonal system is more specific than the USDA hardiness map and the section on plant descriptions is very useful. If you grow fruit, consider joining California Rare Fruit Growers. There are chapters statewide and the organization has many excellent articles online.

I sympathize with you folks out there for the harsh ways Mother Nature has treated you. First severe yearslong drought and now all that water. Fires, mudslides. Reminds me of the many years I lived in Ontario and San Bernardino. Stay strong! Yuska

Thanks Yuska, I'll see if I can find the book on the internet. And thanks for that link paulgrow, I see this discussion is being carried on in another forum, lot's of ideas there.

I love Garden Design because of the beautiful pictures and great plant combination ideas.

Thanks MaryEv, I just bought a 4-year subscription to Garden Design on eBay for $5.49! There are amazing deals there, just type "subscriptions" into the search engine and then use the subcategories on the left to navigate. Or go to books>magazines>subscriptions.

margu, I got mine on ebay, too - but you got a far better deal than I did, I think I got 3 years for $9? Not too bad either, considering how gorgeous this magazine is. You will LOVE it!! I drool over mine and practically morn on the months it doesn't come :)

For western gardening, I tend to rely on Sunset magazine (and books). If you don't want to get the magazine, their Gardener's Annual (which compiles most? all? of the gardening articles that were in Sunset magazine the past year is nice.

My favorite gardening magazine is definitely BBC Gardener's World. It's pricy if you live in the U.S., but my wonderful in-laws get a yearly subscription for me. LOTS of fantastic photos and advice, with a wide range of topics appropriate to all levels of gardeners. I also keep finding myself buying Fine Gardening magazine -- guess I'm going to have to get a subscription to that one. The Garden Design magazine is always tempting because of the gorgeous photos, but I always end up feeling disappointed when I buy it -- it's way more style than substance, IMHO. (But gorgeous photos!)

Oops, I forgot to mention Garden Gate magazine. I just found out about that one. It's got beautiful line drawings and very helpful advice.

Terri

This message was edited Feb 25, 2005 2:01 AM

I just discovered Garden Gate too. I went to their website and ordered a sample copy. I also discovered while prowling around on eBay a mag called Garden Compass, which is for western gardners. I don't know anything about it, but ordered a subscription because it was cheap. And you can get a subscription to Fine Gardening on eBay for around $18.00 per year, which is a lot cheaper than the regular $29.95 price! ( I sound like an advertisement for eBay, don't I? Can't help it, I do all my shopping there, but had never thought of magazine subscriptions! Oh lordy, more money to spend.....)

Thanks for the info about the ebay subscriptions, margu!!!!

I had my Fine Gardening subscription request form all filled out and ready to mail out tomorrow. You've just saved me a lot of money! I had no idea you could get magazine subscriptions at ebay. Makes me wonder what else they have there that I've never thought of....

Terri

Watch it Terri, or you'll be like me....always shopping on eBay! You can find ANYTHING there, and usually much less expensive than at stores, even with the shipping. As a matter of fact, after we talked about Garden Gate magazine, I went on eBay and found someone selling a bunch of old copies, which I picked up for very little, so now I can browse through them before I get a subscription.

You know, I just can't believe that you up in Eureka are in the same growing zone as me in Los Angeles!