Age in a garden is a wonderful thing – worthy of celebrating. Age in a gardening publication in my mind is to be celebrated equally because it is through gardening publications that the ephemera of gardens and gardeners live on in perpetuity. Pacific Horticulture, one of the preeminent publications for gardeners in the West Coast states, turns 35 this year. And as with good gardens and gardeners generally, this gardening publication just gets better with age. Photo: Brunnera macrophylla ‘Jack Frost’ on the cover of the first 2010 issue of Pacific Horticulture, which sports the magazine’s bold new type face.

Richard Turner, Jr., longtime editor of the magazine explains that Pacific Horticulture began life as “a continuation of the quarterly Journal of the California Horticultural Society, begun by Sydney B. Mitchell in 1940. It mostly served gardeners in the Greater Bay Area, the home base of that seven-year-old society. The Pacific Horticultural Foundation, formed in 1968, took over publication of that journal, incorporating Notes from Strybing Arboretum and changing its name to the California Horticultural Journal; its scope widened to cover both Northern and Southern California. Color began to appear on its pages in the 1970s, but the foundation envisioned a still more polished journal, with even more color and serving the entire West Coast. The first issue under the title of ‘Pacific Horticulture‘, published quarterly by the non-profit Pacific Horticultural Foundation,’ appeared in January 1976. Under the editorship of George Waters, the expanded journal’s popularity spread quickly to include the Pacific Northwest in its range.”

Since first moving to interior Northern California, I have subscribed to Pacific Horticulture. I read each every quarterly issue from cover to cover. Editor Richard Turner has been a subscriber to the magazine since its first publication under the title Pacific Horticulture in 1976, when he was still living and gardening in Michigan. It was in 1976 that Richard met George Waters, the first editor of the publication under its current title, at a rock gardening conference in Seattle. “George slid some copies of the new magazine across the table to me one of the events, and subscribed on the spot!” Richard told me, still remembering his initial excitement.

As an avid gardener, Richard was already considering a move from Michigan to a climate more conducive to year-round gardening and ultimately he re-located to the Bay area in 1977. There, he served as a volunteer for the Strybing Arboretum, and then became the education director and served on the board of directors for Pacific Horticulture four years. He led the large San Francisco landscape show for a time and ultimately became the director of the well-known Ruth Bancroft Garden in Walnut Creek for four years.

In 1996, while Richard was visiting with an old friend, he was told that George Waters had just announced his retirement as editor of Pacific Horticulture and by the July 1997 issue, Richard Turner, Jr. was the name listed in the mast-head as Editor.

Richard is a gregarious and engaging speaker and I have had the opportunity to hear him speak publically at several educational gardening and horticulture events co-sponsored by Pacific Horticulture over the years. Most recently, I heard him speak at the Gardening Under Mediterranean Skies: Lessons in Sustainable Gardening in Santa Barbara in October of 2009 and Growing Natives: Celebrating California’s Beauty in Dry Times, a two day symposium in March of 2009 Lafayette and Berkeley in March of 2009 – both of which were informative and enriching events for me as a gardener.

Since its inception, the mission of the Pacific Horticultural Foundation, and therefore of its journal, has been to “stimulate and inspire gardeners in the art and science of horticulture on the West Coast through quality publications and related activities.” Richard elaborates that “West Coast refers to California, from Sierran foothills to the coast, and Oregon and Washington, from the Cascades to the coast.”

“The territory we cover spans a long reach from North to South, but these diverse regions are linked by one common characteristic: wet winters and dry summers. I try to balance the editorial input in each issue of the magazine so that readers will hear from gardeners or about topics relevant to each of our regions: the Pacific Northwest of Oregon and Washington, and the distinct areas of Northern California and Southern California. Some issues – for instance water, Mediterranean climate, native habitats and fire – are of constant concern throughout our whole area.”

For the radio portion of my interview with Richard, he described the beginning of the original society newsletter back in the 1940s as a group of “serious gardeners getting together and trying to address the lack of substantive gardening information being published specifically for and/or by gardeners in the West.” Most serious gardening and horticultural information was still being generated from the East Coast and just hoping to translate for West Coast gardeners, which as we all know just does not work – or does not work to anyone’s (or any plant’s) real satisfaction.

And while “serious” is an accurate description of Pacific Horticulture, it only partially sums up the publication and the foundation’s many educational events sponsored around the region throughout the year.

“What I look for in articles and contributors is PASSION and personal experience,” Richard tells me, describing his editorial process. “So much passion that a gardener is willing to put pen to paper, do their research and put themselves out there. Pacific Horticulture is for people who like to read about gardens and gardening as much as they like to garden.”

And this interplay between “serious” and “passionate” much more closely sums up Pacific Horticulture – and why I read it, enjoy it, and learn from it.

The publication itself is a diminutive journal measuring just 7 inches wide and 10 inches tall – it fits nicely on the bookshelf. Each issue runs around 64 pages and includes anywhere from 8 to 12 in-depth feature articles, none of which is cluttered up with advertising, but all of which are supplemented by lovely and instructive photography. Regular elements in each issue also include a monthly calendar insert providing highlights from the longer calendar now found on the re-vamped web site; a section with book reviews, a regular column titled Garden Allies and each month describing a different animal or insect that is helpful to our gardens, and a dedicated advertising and event announcement section at the back of the magazine.

With 35 years under its belt, Pacific Horticulture has their sites set on the future. “We are looking forward, implementing and exploring the many new technologies that are available to us,” Richard tells me, citing the revamping of the website and the expansion of the on-line calendar as prime examples, “and we are also delving into and being re-informed by our past. Two amazing men from the Los Angeles area, known as Bob & Rob, consulted with us on the reworking of our website and one of the wonderful things they pointed out to us was the relevance of most of the articles written in past issues – from 35 years ago to 10 years ago. That our articles are ‘evergreen’ as it were.”

These “evergreen’ articles from the print archives will soon be appearing on the new Pacific Horticulture website and in some cases paired with a new and complementary article. These “evergreen articles” speak to the timeless nature of gardening and its lessons, the premise on which Pacific Horticulture stands, and to the consistency of the message that it strives to send: “1. Well-chosen plants whose needs are understood and met will be beautiful and healthy. Well-chosen plants will be suited to the site and climate and will most likely feed you, be a positive contribution to the ecology of your location, be an aesthetic joy and an inspiration.”

The Pacific Horticultural Foundation, under current president Judy Bradley will continue to sponsor and host entertaining and educational events, symposia, workshops, field trips and horticultural travel packages and the foundation and publication will continue to be a presence at other regional events such as the Northwest Flower & Garden Show in Seattle and the San Francisco Flower & Garden Show each year.

But you can have Pacific Horticulture delivered to your mailbox, or your local library, each season. It’s inspiring. It’s worth checking out.

If you or your gardening organization has a class or plant/gardening related event you’d like posted to the on-line Calendar of Regional Gardening Events at jewellgarden.com, send the pertinent information to me at: Jennifer@jewellgarden.com

Did you know I send out a weekly email with information about upcoming topics and gardening related events? If you would like to be added to the mailing list, send an email to Jennifer@jewellgarden.com.

In a North State Garden is a weekly Northstate Public Radio and web-based program celebrating the art, craft and science of home gardening in Northern California and made possible in part by the Gateway Science Museum - Exploring the Natural History of the North State and on the campus of CSU, Chico. In a North State Garden is conceived, written, photographed and hosted by Jennifer Jewell - all rights reserved jewellgarden.com. In A North State Garden airs on Northstate Public Radio Saturday mornings at 7:34 AM Pacific time and Sunday morning at 8:34 AM Pacific time. Podcasts of past shows are available here. Weekly essays are also posted on anewscafe.com a regional news source that is simultaneously universal and positively North State.

Wow – How about that rain and snow? And more is on the way. Which is wonderful for our plants, soils and watersheds, but when it comes in long stretches of gray days, it can play havoc with my mood (and the power in much of our region). Even a few minutes of fresh air and weak sunshine does me a world of good. You don’t want to walk on planted ground when it is very wet if you can help it, because you will compact the soil to the point of harming its structure. But you can get out and walk on unplanted ground – such as paths. I got so stir crazy in the latest long gray stretch that in the pouring rain I rebuilt my whole compost system and weeded all my pathways. Weeds come out of wet soil so nicely – slick as snot as my father likes to say. Photo: Gray skies hand low and tulle fog fills in the valleys looking southwest from Mt. Shasta in January. Read the rest of this entry »

This epic wet weather in the North State over the past few weeks has me holed up and dreaming about my spring planting of seeds. I am working on expanding my raised beds for vegetables from the existing two to a productive six beds - each about 3 feet wide, 12 feet long and 2 feet deep. Photo: Raised beds framed in cedar in an enclosed and formal home garden.
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How’s the pruning going for you?

I’ve just finished pruning my ‘Pink Lady’ apple and ‘Santa Rosa’ plum trees. I am still working on the roses and grapes, but the fruit trees are done. It went pretty well this year – but then, I was really inspired this year. Photo above: The historic Camden House at Whiskeytown Recreation area seen through a shroud of 100 - 150 year old ‘Lady’ apple tree branches.

I don’t know about you, but pruning can be a tricky task for me. As an enthusiastic and long-time gardener, I know that I should prune my fruit trees and vines every year – for form, for production and in many cases for the long-term health and life of my plants. But some years, the task seems more troubling than others: I diligently study the sketches and graphs in the books and articles, I even take the diagrams out to my trees. I look at the book, I look at the tree. I look back at the book. Hmm. Sometimes the tree looks so differently than the book’s sketch that I am just not sure. Other times the tree looks great – so why prune? I have been known in gardens and seasons past to look one final time at the book, shake my head and take my book, my clippers and my intimidation back into the house for another time/season/year. Photo: Rico Montenegro discussing the growth of one of the old apple trees at the Camden House site. Read the rest of this entry »

This week’s program was first published in January of 2008. Something about the mid-winter grayness inspired me to run it again - to remind us of winter’s bright spots.

Variegation is an interesting thing in a plant. And gardeners’ responses to variegation are almost as interesting. Some people love it. Some people hate it. Some people like striped variegation; others love splotchy variegation; still others like multi-colored variegations. My Aunt Bettina, Head Gardener at Ash Lawn, James Monroe’s historic home in Charlottesville, Virginia, once said to me. “Enjoying variegation comes with age.” And she may have been right, for while I am still not a total fan of all variegation – some of it absolutely stops me in my gardening tracks. Photo Above: The visually refreshing variegated Jacob’s Ladder (Polemonium caeruleum ‘Brise d’Anjou’).
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What is January without resolutions? Getting to the far side of the holidays in and out of the garden often leaves me feeling overwhelmed, over done and over the top. Perhaps this is why so many of my resolutions are variations of cutting back, cutting down, and clearing out. January in its essence is simplicity. Photo: The full moon falls on the cusp of the New Year 2010.
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The (blessed) rains (and snows) have come again to the North State and my garden rain gauge has measured 4.2 inches of rain this month. My rain barrels are full to overflowing, and this harvest gives me a small but happy sense of self-sufficiency. We’re only talking three barrels at this point, but still, their harvest provides me with a happiness along the lines of being able to build a campfire, make my own preserves or knit a sweater. Read the rest of this entry »

Camellias - also known as the Queen of Winter Flowers because almost all varieties of the genus bloom from late fall through late spring - are for many gardeners synonymous with history, beauty and refinement. These flowering evergreen shrubs or small trees, idealized in Chinese and Japanese art and literature for centuries, are indigenous in much of Asia. Camellias have been treasured in Europe since first being introduced there in the mid- 1700s, and specimens were first brought to the United States in the very late 1800s. Thriving in the American Southeast and along the American West Coast, the camellia genus is comprised of many species - including Camellia sinensis, from which black and green tea is made from the young leaves - and thousands of named varieties, cultivars and hybrids. Interest in camellias reached fervent levels early in the 20th century when Western plant hunters scoured the globe for new plants to record, collect, propagate and eventually hybridize. It was at this time that individuals and botanical organizations began collections of the prized plants. Photo: As winter bloomers, camellias provide valuable nectar and food for pollinators during the colder months. Read the rest of this entry »

Vertical gardening is any gardening that goes up and makes use of vertical space rather than using just the flat surface of the landscape. Vines growing up a nearby tree or ferns growing out of a rocky embankment are natural forms of vertical gardening. As a gardening technique, vertical gardening dates back to antiquity – the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, which were elaborate terraced gardens considered one of the Seven Wonders of the World, were written of admiringly by Greek thinker Herodotus around 450 BCE. When we stake our beans, tie up our clematis or trellis our roses, we are gardening vertically. Photo: One of Patrick Blanc’s Green Walls or mur vegetal in Paris in 2007. Read the rest of this entry »

I’m not much of a cook, not much of a seamstress, jewelry-maker, painter or musician. I’m a gardener and so when it comes to homemade gifts this time of year, I turn to the garden. Luckily, it’s not even essential that I’m much of a gardener for gifts from the garden to be easy, inexpensive and elegant. Photo: A simple wreath made from Indian Hawthorn (Rhaphiolepsis indica), of which I have a lot in my garden, inherited from previous non-gardeners. For most of the year, I unkindly think of Indian Hawthorn as highway landscaping. That said, it is an excellent broadleaf evergreen for winter structure in the garden and winter crafts such as this wreath. Not as fragrant as English box, Indian Hawthorn is not as fussy either.
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