We all have that friend who has a heart of gold but absolutely zero filter. It was this dear person who alerted me that our peegee hydrangea (Hydrangea paniculata ‘Grandiflora’, Zones 3–8), a decades-old neighborhood landmark, looked “kind of random” all by itself at the edge of the lawn. This offhand comment stung a little, but it did make me realize that our lovely landscape survivor deserved better. Miss Peegee (photo above) instantly became my garden muse, and in the intervening years I’ve built and filled several garden beds so she wouldn’t look so lonely.
Working with established horticultural focal points is a theme that comes up a few times in this issue. In fact, one of the amuse plants that inspired a refreshing garden update by designer Scott Endres (Reinventing a Mature Garden,) is the star of our front cover. Tish Treherne (Embrace the Wild Beauty of Naturalistic Design,) also made strategic decisions about which existing screening and shade plants she should keep in her home landscape. If we garden long enough, most of us will face these kinds of choices.
Behind the scenes at Fine Gardening, we continually update our journalistic approach to keep pace with the way today’s gardeners learn, connect, and find inspiration. In recent years, we have thoughtfully reallocated resources across our editorial platforms—strengthening the print publication as well as the ever-growing library of materials available to All Access members. Beginning with this issue, the print magazine will publish four times per year, allowing us to focus even more deeply on informative, practical content while also investing in an exciting new range of enhanced digital offerings.
All Access members can now freely explore our growing catalog of e-learning courses and attend monthly webinars featuring leading experts from across North America. Membership also gives you access to an extensive archive of regional collections, in-depth how-to guides, planting plans, video garden tours, and browsable digital editions of past issues—all created to complement the inspiration and authority of our print magazine.
While there will be fewer issues annually, each one will be more robust. Issues are planned for seasonal relevance, carefully timed to coincide with the peak gardening months when you need new ideas and guidance the most. Wherever you choose to engage with us—on the page, on screen, or in the garden—you can be sure that we’ll deliver useful information and thoughtful garden journalism in every season.
– Carol Collins, Editor in Chief
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Small note · This is so satisfying to read — thank you.