The Plantsman (journal)
Encyclopedia
Royal Horticultural Society
The Royal Horticultural Society was founded in 1804 in London, England as the Horticultural Society of London, and gained its present name in a Royal Charter granted in 1861 by Prince Albert...
, is a 68-page magazine
Magazine
Magazines, periodicals, glossies or serials are publications, generally published on a regular schedule, containing a variety of articles. They are generally financed by advertising, by a purchase price, by pre-paid magazine subscriptions, or all three...
"dedicated to a deeper understanding and appreciation of garden
Garden
A garden is a planned space, usually outdoors, set aside for the display, cultivation, and enjoyment of plants and other forms of nature. The garden can incorporate both natural and man-made materials. The most common form today is known as a residential garden, but the term garden has...
plants." Its authoritative articles are written by acknowledged experts on plant-related subjects, including plant profiles, horticulture
Horticulture
Horticulture is the industry and science of plant cultivation including the process of preparing soil for the planting of seeds, tubers, or cuttings. Horticulturists work and conduct research in the disciplines of plant propagation and cultivation, crop production, plant breeding and genetic...
, botany
Botany
Botany, plant science, or plant biology is a branch of biology that involves the scientific study of plant life. Traditionally, botany also included the study of fungi, algae and viruses...
and the development of garden plants, focusing on ornamental plants grown in temperate
Temperate
In geography, temperate or tepid latitudes of the globe lie between the tropics and the polar circles. The changes in these regions between summer and winter are generally relatively moderate, rather than extreme hot or cold...
gardens. It also reflects the scientific
Science
Science is a systematic enterprise that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe...
work of the RHS, as well as research
Research
Research can be defined as the scientific search for knowledge, or as any systematic investigation, to establish novel facts, solve new or existing problems, prove new ideas, or develop new theories, usually using a scientific method...
conducted by other horticultural and botanical institutions and individuals.
The RHS website describes The Plantsman as "in-depth yet accessible" and its target readership as "keen gardeners, botanists and horticulturists" - in other words, plantsmen and plantswomen
Plantsman
A plantsman is an enthusiastic and knowledgeable gardener , nurseryman or nurserywoman. "Plantsman" can refer to a male or female person, though the terms plantswoman, or even plantsperson, are sometimes used....
.
Subject matter
Under its current editorEditing
Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, visual, audible, and film media used to convey information through the processes of correction, condensation, organization, and other modifications performed with an intention of producing a correct, consistent, accurate, and complete...
, Mike Grant, the journal, now printed in full colour
Color printing
Color printing or Colour printing is the reproduction of an image or text in color...
on every page, continues to broaden its scope. Its subject-matter includes:
- Profiles and evaluations of plant generaGenusIn biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...
, speciesSpeciesIn biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...
and cultivarCultivarA cultivar'Cultivar has two meanings as explained under Formal definition. When used in reference to a taxon, the word does not apply to an individual plant but to all those plants sharing the unique characteristics that define the cultivar. is a plant or group of plants selected for desirable...
s of horticultural merit - Recent plant introductions and descriptions of new plants
- New or advanced cultivation and propagationPlant propagationPlant propagation is the process of creating new plants from a variety of sources: seeds, cuttings, bulbs and other plant parts. Plant propagation can also refer to the artificial or natural dispersal of plants.-Sexual propagation :...
techniques - Detailed accounts and findings from RHS trialsExperimentAn experiment is a methodical procedure carried out with the goal of verifying, falsifying, or establishing the validity of a hypothesis. Experiments vary greatly in their goal and scale, but always rely on repeatable procedure and logical analysis of the results...
- Developments in plant taxonomyTaxonomyTaxonomy is the science of identifying and naming species, and arranging them into a classification. The field of taxonomy, sometimes referred to as "biological taxonomy", revolves around the description and use of taxonomic units, known as taxa...
and changes to names of garden plants - Plant exploration and travel
- Opinions and viewpoints of prominent horticultural figures
- ConservationConservation biologyConservation biology is the scientific study of the nature and status of Earth's biodiversity with the aim of protecting species, their habitats, and ecosystems from excessive rates of extinction...
of garden plants and wild plants of horticultural interest - Advances in plant breedingPlant breedingPlant breeding is the art and science of changing the genetics of plants in order to produce desired characteristics. Plant breeding can be accomplished through many different techniques ranging from simply selecting plants with desirable characteristics for propagation, to more complex molecular...
and development of new garden plants - Profiles of plant experts, breeders and horticultural personalities
- Botanical illustration and its development
History of The Plantsman
The Plantsman magazine was first published in June 1979. The quarterly began as a scholarly spin-off from The GardenThe Garden (journal)
The Garden is the monthly magazine of the British Royal Horticultural Society , circulated to all the society's members as a benefit of membership. The magazine has gone under this title since 1975, before which it had been The Journal of the Royal Horticultural Society...
, the monthly journal of the RHS, which was then widening its editorial scope and popularizing its approach, in response to the wider audience provided by the society's rapidly increasing membership. Between its inception in 1979 and its full take-over by the RHS in 1994 The Plantsman was published by New Perspectives Publishing Ltd (later Home and Law Publishing Ltd), in association with the RHS.
In his introduction to the first edition of The Plantsman, its Editorial Director, Hugh Johnson, noted that the changing editorial policy of The Garden had meant:
- "…leaving out, or at any rate abbreviating, the sort of scholarly, unhurried, lovingly minute studies of plants which are the true meat of specialist horticultural literature."
He described The Plantsman as the solution to this editorial quandary, and continued:
- "Its intention is to supplement the monthly Journal with quarterly studies for the gardener whose passion for plants will never be satisfied—the plantsman of the title."
The first editor of The Plantsman was Elspeth Napier. Among the contributors to the first issue were Christopher Brickell (then Director of the RHS Garden, Wisley
RHS Garden, Wisley
The Royal Horticultural Society's garden at Wisley in the English county of Surrey south of London, is one four public gardens run by the Society, the others being Harlow Carr, Hyde Hall and Rosemoor...
, later Director General of the RHS), Roy Elliott (then Editor of the Quarterly Bulletin of the Alpine Garden Society) and Lawrence D Hills
Lawrence D Hills
Lawrence D. Hills was a British horticulturalist, journalist, and writer, founder of the Henry Doubleday Research Association Bocking, near Braintree, Essex in 1954, now Garden Organic...
, the founder (and the then Director) of the Henry Doubleday Research Association.
The magazine was printed in black and white, with one colour plate as a frontispiece (as well as many finely detailed line illustrations) until February 1994.
The New Plantsman
In March 1994 The Plantsman was relaunched as The New Plantsman with a new editor, Victoria Matthews, previously Editor of The Kew Magazine (journal of the Royal Botanic Gardens, KewRoyal Botanic Gardens, Kew
The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, usually referred to as Kew Gardens, is 121 hectares of gardens and botanical glasshouses between Richmond and Kew in southwest London, England. "The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew" and the brand name "Kew" are also used as umbrella terms for the institution that runs...
). She was followed in the post, from March 1995, by Sabina Knees. From now onward the journal featured full-colour photographs and illustrations on alternate spreads.
The Plantsman relaunched
In March 2002 the publication reverted to its original title (with a New Series suffix) during the editorship of botanist and author Christopher Grey-Wilson. Full colour became available on every page for the first time. In 2005 the magazine was relaunched with a refreshed design under its new editor, Mike Grant, previously a botanist at RHS Garden, WisleyRHS Garden, Wisley
The Royal Horticultural Society's garden at Wisley in the English county of Surrey south of London, is one four public gardens run by the Society, the others being Harlow Carr, Hyde Hall and Rosemoor...
.
Gardening Magazine of the Year 2006 and News Story of the Year 2008
In November 2006 The Plantsman was named the surprise winner of the British Garden Writers' GuildGarden Writers' Guild
The British Garden Writers' Guild, , is a trade organisation for professional garden writers, photographers, broadcasters and members of allied trades. The Guild was established in 1991 to improve the quality of garden writing, photography and broadcasting by improving links between the gardening...
award for 'Consumer Magazine of the Year'; the other two finalists being BBC Gardeners' World
BBC Gardeners' World
BBC Gardeners' World is a British gardening magazine owned by BBC Worldwide containing tips for gardening from past and current presenters of the television series Gardeners' World. The magazine often has offers on plants, free supplements and giveaways...
magazine and BBC Gardens Illustrated. In the judges' opinion:
In November 2008 the same organisation awarded it News Story of the Year for an item entitled 'Greece wants her plants back' in the March 2008 issue.