That was the question posed to professional garden writers recently. And the opinions were as varied as the woman everyone loves to hate! The truth of the matter is that Martha Stewart has a virtual monopoly on garden, crafts and home projects.
I mean, turn on network TV and you’ll see her. Turn on HG TV, the Do It Yourself Network and any other network that a satellite dish will pull in, and you’ll likely to see even more of her!
Martha-bashing is in vogue. I mean after all, doesn’t Martha Stewart make women feel inadequate? How many women have the luxury of putting together an elaborate dried-flower arrangement after coming home from a full work day, picking up the kids and going through the drive-thru at McDonald’s?
And who believes that Martha actually plans all those projects and does them herself? Haven’t we all heard the rumors of how nasty she is to her staff, who actually do most of the work that she passes off as the fruits of her own labors?
Lon Rombough, a garden communicator in Oregon, adds, “I can’t fault the ideas Martha Stewart presents much of the time, but I’d enjoy it a lot more with a mix of other people. It would give her publications/shows more authenticity. No one believes one human being comes up with all those ideas by themselves.”
Jeff Ball, a professional garden communicator who has appeared on The Today Show, has first-hand experience having appeared with Martha on evision. He says, “It was not pleasant. I would say she has very little to do with selling gardening and certainly does nothing to improve the garden writing business. She is selling a dream that is filled with style and she is very good at it. Most everything Martha sells makes money or Martha stops selling it.”
Gerri Bauer, garden editor at the Daytona Beach News-Journal, says she did an informal reader’s poll last year before adding Martha Stewart’s column to their newspaper. “I got 87 calls in four days, a record,” she says. “It was a landslide of ‘yays,’ a few virulent ‘nays’ and one ‘undecided,’ who said she’d like to see it only if we didn’t have to pay for it because ‘Martha makes too much money already.’”
Yvonne Cunnington, another garden writer and the owner of a perennial gardening consulting business in Canada, concedes, “I think Martha has been amazing in drumming up enthusiasm for
Go To Page: 1 2
