I met the coolest woman recently - smart, honest, warm and real. All that on first impression. When she casually mentioned her job editing a local magazine I naturally (and innocently) asked "Which one?" and then had to suppress my squeals when she said "Washington Home and Garden". Well then, need a garden writer?
Readers, long story short, I have an assignment for their August issue! Wish I could tell you the subject but in the long-lead-time world of magazines and books, everything is kept under wraps (I’m learning). But it’s safe to say it will be outside of the world of plant swaps, folksy garden clubs and park clean-ups that are my usual haunts. Oh, yeah. Now it’s luxury gardens of Greater Washington, D.C., here I come.
So friends, readers, lend me your ideas. What would YOU write about for a decidedly upscale suburban readership, besides garden and plant profiles? And does anybody know of a similar metro-area home&garden magazine that does a particularly good job?
{ 10 comments… read them below or add one }
Christopher C in Hawaii 02.17.07 at 11:08 pm
If you are fishing for article ideas for the upper middle class and rich suburbanites who are going to have well maintained “by the help” gardens I can launch a few your way. When Tiffany reads Washington Home&Garden she is going to need some good ideas for keeping up with the Brzezinskis.
Let’s see, how about plants that will be able to take climate change in stride. No need to worry about dead plants in the garden.
Another topic might be why bugs are good in the garden and regular pest control services are bad. I would really love to see rich ladies get over their fear of bugs. You can mention the danger of pesticides to really small dogs.
For those folks in giant houses on tiny lots a list of columnar and linear growth habit plants would be good.
The latest fashion trends in outdoor furniture, pottery and art would be good. A trip to Bali may be in your future. Teak day beds and carved stone statues would look fabulous on the back lanai.
Pools and spas that look like natural pools and are low salt content instead of chlorine cleaned.
A quick list for you.
Miz S 02.18.07 at 7:52 am
YAY!
I have no ideas for you. But, YAY!
Sylvana 02.19.07 at 12:38 am
Congrats!!
One idea I would have is creating outdoor living space that is integrated with your indoor space.
Also, gardens that create getaways.
(That’s because those are goals of mine for my garden!)
Kathy Jentz 02.19.07 at 12:21 pm
I see they’ve greatly updated their web site - which is nice to see - now if only I could find a copy on a regular basis - usually I stumble across it by chance like at the local paint store.
Peggy 02.20.07 at 12:00 pm
Congratulations. Check out the web site for Chesapeake Home magazine at http://www.chesapeakehome.com. I write for them as well as other gardening magazines. This particular one is similar to yours and you can see that the gardening articles should be the same for your magazine. Although the homeowners may be upscale they still need to know about specific plants and local public gardens and events. You may want to explain issues to them such as organic gardening or native plants.
Pam L 02.20.07 at 3:00 pm
I was thinking of an article explaining to newer gardeners about hardiness zones and perennials. Many plant places here will sell what they claim are perennials but they are not for my zone, which I didn’t always find out until I got home so I basically ended up paying more for an annual as this plant was not coming back next spring. Also how hardscaping can affect zones as in my back yard where the upsloping hill and rock wall have created a microclimate to where I can bump it up a zone from 5 to 6 as it is sheltered from the wind and the ground stays warmer. And doing research before putting money into trees and shrubs such as siting them. Last year I really wanted a Tri-color Birch and the woman at the nursery told me it couldn’t take full sun and when we explained that we wanted to put it in the middle of the yard where it would indeed get full sun and she said “Oh, I’m sure that would be fine” Huh? The ones on the lot weren’t looking too well and they were in full sun. These trees are quite pricey for their size and I think we would have been mighty disappointed if we had listened to her.
Alixann 02.25.07 at 10:31 am
I like the idea of celebrity gardens. I’m a fan of the who-sold/bought which million-dollar-mansion and other gossipy stuff in the Washingtonian. So why not a celebrity garden page?
Landscaping and landscape design are good subjects as well as new perennials and annuals that do well in our area (humidity resilient but winter hardy)that are available for purchase–perhaps pinpointing each garden center that has the best selection for certain varieties.
Carol M 03.01.07 at 9:53 am
Have you thought about going in depth on one topic? Give the history of pinks and how the name for the color came from the flower, for example. Or perhaps you can get into the whole issue of exotic wood. Since teak must be certified as grown responsibly, a lot of strange sounding new comers have come along. You could provide a primer on the quality of all those teak substitutes. I think readers like to learn about the back story of things they own.
Juno888 06.18.07 at 2:25 am
..thanks for this site..!i got so many ideas in this site,,,!
thank you very much..1
Garden Lover 08.08.07 at 10:24 am
Congratulations. Since variety is the spice of life, I am going to write from an entirely different perspective than the views articulated by your other commenters (who, by the way, made some excellent suggestions and comments)
I am very concerned that certain rock solid, healthy, meaningful, productive, rewarding, and therapeutic activities such as gardening are dying a slow death. Let me explain. Right now in our country there are millions upon millions of people who have gardens. Thousands of these individuals will go out-of-state to visit other well-known gardens and countless others will go online everyday to read about gardening. These people have what I call “the gardening imagination.” These are the people who have been bitten by the “gardening bug.”
With such a vibrant gardening “base,” you may ask, where’s the evidence that gardening is dying a slow death? Please continue reading for the answer to this question.
Anything, including gardening, needs to be passed on to future generations if it is to survive and prosper. I recently read a blog post about a farmer/gardener who is in his 50s or 60s and who fondly remembers getting involved in gardening at seven or eight years old because he “wanted to garden badly.”
Does anyone out there get ANY indication, with extremely few exceptions, that the youth of today want to “garden badly”? My sense is that the vast majority of today’s young people don’t want to do much of “anything” badly except drive around with their friends, watch TV, party with their friends, listen to music on their iPods, talk on their cell phones for hours with their friends, play online games, and “hang” with their friends.
Perhaps I am missing something here but what in the world is so “special” about doing absolutely nothing that can be called productive or meaningful with your friends? To me, this is just an extreme example of the “blind leading the blind.” The result: many, if not most of our young people are staying away from healthy outdoor physical activities (such as gardening) similar to the way they would avoid the plague. Let me state the obvious: this is NOT progress, this is NOT healthy, and this is NOT making a meaningful contribution to society. It is, however, to use a gardening term, a great example of “horse manure.”
Perhaps you can address the points made above with a post on your blog or with an article in a magazine. The reality of the situation, however, is this: if the “older” generation does not make a gigantic effort to teach today’s youth about gardens and gardening, then today’s young people will NEVER discover the magic about working with their hands in the soil and they will not feel and experience the special “connection with the earth” that is intrinsic to gardening. In short, without such an extensive educational effort, the “magic of the garden” will have lost its appeal on our youth. And when this happens, there will be no opening for a “garden writer” at “Washington Home and Garden” or anywhere else.