Home » Writing & Publishing » Magazines » Delighting in pests

Delighting in pests

© Mary Wilson

Let's get the confession out of the way first: I'm a gardener, but I like slugs. I especially like the big green banana slugs, native to my area. Snails, too. And even the neighbourhood deer, which share my passion for chard. There's something about all the so-called garden pests. I think it's their cheerful disregard for my plans. Helps with the perspective, somehow.

Some of the gardening magazines I've been browsing through lately are like that, too. A current favourite is Global Garden, an online-only publication from Australia. Horticulturist Kay Gee edits Global Garden magazine, and like gardeners everywhere she rejoices in the beauty of the world around her. For me, a gardener in North America, part of the charm of this magazine is its view of the world. There's no better way to remember just how far I am from Australia than to read about the trials of gardeners battling heat up north, and, in the June issue, the delights of the bare winter garden. And, not to forget the garden pests, an article explaining how to deter parrots!

Global Garden

http://www.global-garden.com.au/

Closer to my home, Coastal Grower is an always-reliable guide to gardening in the Pacific Northwest. The web site is a stripped-down version of the paper magazine, one of the gardening magazines I keep for future reference.

If your interest is in the classic -- or eccentric -- English garden or gardener, you do not actually need a web site. Instead, you need Hortus: A gardening journal. Even reading the articles list in the back-issues page http://www.hortus.co.uk/backissues.html is a pleasure. Reading the journal itself is a treat. It's an expensive treat, too, unfortunately, but the quality is uniformly good and the illustrations are wonderful. I've sometimes found back issues of Hortus in second-hand book stores, but not often enough: I think this is one people hold on to.

Hortus: A gardening journal

http://www.hortus.co.uk/

BBC Gardeners' World is a more typical garden magazine, with lots of information on plants and climate zones for gardeners in Britain and Ireland. There are some nice contributions to the garden wildlife theme here, too -- my favourite an article on the culinary needs of youthful hedgehogs! (Slugs are apparently one of their dietary staples -- hope nobody tells the ones that make my garden their home.)

BBC Gardeners' World

http://www.gardenersworld.beeb.com/index...

The copyright of the article Delighting in pests in Magazines is owned by . Permission to republish Delighting in pests in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.