For years I have subscribed to ”The Avant Gardener,” an excellent gardening newsletter. Established in 1964 by Tom and Betty Powell, it is a concise compendium of horticultural industry articles and news, covering science, trends, new products, publications and—most of all—plants.
With its distinctive green and white typeface, “The Avant Gardener” has been a welcome arrival every month. In recent years, however, I have worried about it. The publication has always been delivered by “snail mail” and though always timely, contains no pictures or other illustrations. This isn’t a problem for me, but might be for other gardeners, especially those more oriented to electronic and visual media.
Now there is good news. After a long and successful tenure as editor/publisher, Tom Powell has retired and, as of August 2012, been succeeded by the extremely talented Derek Fell. Fell, a horticultural industry stalwart, is the author of scores of books and even more articles, all of which have been illustrated with his beautiful photographs. He has moved the publication’s editorial offices to his Pennsylvania farm, “Cedaridge,” and has converted “The Avant Gardener” to electronic format, augmenting the publication with illustrations from his extensive photo archives. This saves postal costs and provides Fell with a chance to make TAG even more interesting and comprehensive. Upcoming features will include the results of plant trials conducted at Cedaridge and at his Sanibel Island, Florida property as well.
With so many institutions struggling for survival, it is nice to see TAG launched on a new chapter. For nearly fifty years, TAG has provided professional and amateur gardeners with a firm foundation of useful information. Now Fell can build on that foundation and create something meaningful to both longtime gardeners and newcomers to the field.
For further information, go to http://avantgardener.info.