Ring My Bells

I decided I would cancel my subscription to Fine Gardening magazine. First, it's hard to justify getting a glossy paper magazine when so much of their content is online, some for free, some for a modest online subscription, which I pay for.

Second, nothing in the magazine related to arid high mountain cold climate gardening. The publication is a wealth of information for almost all regions of the country, it is well researched and very specific to advanced gardeners. Nothing "easy to grow" or condescending, this is a true gardener's magazine and I loved it. But very little was useful to me any more in my new home.

So I was going to let it lapse and not renew for next year.

Until New Year's Eve. I received an issue on the last day of the year with a feature on "Western Natives" and it was awesome. It was extensive, a long and well presented article about all -- and by "all" I mean every one -- of the plants in my Santa Fe garden. Full descriptions! Pictures and profiles! Western plants that grow in steppes and mountains and in arid northern New Mexico!

There was a superb long article by Panayoti Kelaidis about all the plants I am growing. He is a senior curator at the Denver Botanical gardens, and a plantsman I have followed since we moved west. Here's an article about him written by Lauren Springer Ogden (she's a profile for another day), updated recently. 

Panayoti is the reason I have scarlet monardella and fernbush and Mojave sage in my garden. He's my inspiration for growing agastache cana and pineleaf penstemon and oh my, I could go on. 

All the plants!

What fun to see all of this so well presented in the magazine. And in the magazine's section on "regional picks" a Santa Fe landscaper was featured with recommendations about his plant preferences. A local!

How did this publisher from the east (Connecticut, actually, via Taunton Press) know what would ring my bells on New Year's Eve? How did they know a lapsing subscriber would swoon for these features? 

I should re-subscribe now. Ya think?