In an post at Garden Rant
titled "Why British Gardening magazines Are So Superior To Our Own", Amy lists the reasons why she likes them. We'll, after I read that I went out and picked up the June issue and was pleased to see a small booklet attached to the magazine titled "Plant Nurseries, Gardens Illustrated Directory." Editor Juliet Roberts says "Britain is fortunate to have a remarkable heritage of nurserymen and plant collectors and many of the nurseries included are traditional, family-run businesses handed down from one generation to the next." She also said " Narrowing down the selection (of nurseries) to fit the given space was an extremely difficult task and I apologise to the many places that we've omitted."
I assume, then, that you could not buy your way into this booklet. I love it! It looks like the little guys are given their fair share. The booklet is small enough to fit in your pocket and has maps. I know Great Britain is a small country, about the size of California, but it seems that our regional magazines, like "Sunset", could come up with something like this.
I guess what I like about the English gardening magazines, and this is the only one I am familiar with, is the respect they show to the nursery professional. Juliet says, "Many of these businesses are small, specialist and far flung and to ensure we don't loose them we must use them."
I also like the idea that they usually feature a nursery or two in the magazine, and talk to the owners to get their views. This issue, June, they talk to the owners of Pennard Plants Nursery in Somerset. One of the owners, Chris Smith said that Pennard Plants was intended to offer a gentler pace of life, after high-pressure careers in the garden center trade. They wanted to sell interesting plants to interested people. These are a couple of nurserymen after my own heart.
I do know that the English are "obsessive" about their gardens, but it would be nice to see more articles in our own magazines about interesting nurseries and the people who run them. Not that I am biased.