About Us
Since 1987, Gardens West Magazine has brought Western Canada's home gardeners practical information and the personal stories behind exceptional gardens. Published nine times a year, this leading Western Canadian gardening magazine provides relevant articles and information to our readers through both our regular edition (for south western BC) and our Prairie Edition for the prairies and northern BC. Each features private gardens from Western Canada along with zone specific advice for home gardeners from the novice to the expert.
How do we do it? First, our writers are gardeners who are also prominent in their fields. Besides offering advice from great gardeners, Gardens West Magazine is also proud to bring our readers the photography of Adam Gibbs, our award winning principal photographer.
And we're not simply about plants and flowers. Regular departments include:
Bug Bytes - Here readers find articles about the many insects found in Western Canada's gardens and how learning about these little critters can help us have healthier gardens without the need for noxious chemicals.
Bird Chatter - This humorous column helps the home gardener identify and relate to local bird species they may encounter as it shares useful information about these creatures.
Talkback - Always a favourite among readers, our readers share their experiences, ask questions, answer other readers' questions and give us valuable feedback about our magazine.
We respect our readers, and strive to keep our place as the number one choice in Canadian gardening magazines. More than just a pretty face, this magazine helps people become better gardeners. Happy readers are the reason Gardens West's renewal rate remains over 70% year after year.
| Dorothy Horton | Adam Gibbs | Ingrid Hoff | ||
 Thirty years experience took our award winning Editor and Publisher from a background in newspapers to official guides to arts magazines. After several years publishing in the arts community, Dorothy decided it was time for a little fresh air. Gardens West was the happy result. |
 Our principal photographer for over a decade, Adam has photographed over fifty Gardens West covers and most of our garden profiles in BC and Alberta. Achievements include a British Gas Wildlife Photographer of the Year award and the Grand Prize at Photo Life's annual photo contest. He also conducts garden photography workshops at VanDusen Garden. His website is www.adamgibbs.ca. |
 Ingrid went from Horticultural Editor at Gardens West to Horticultural Manager at the University of British Columbia's Botanical Garden and Centre for Plant Research. But she's still family. Now as our Associate Horticulturalist, Ingrid brings a BSc in Plant Sciences, loads of enthusiasm, a great personality and a good deal of in-depth experience to share with our lucky readers. |
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| Brian Minter | Carol Hall | Randy Thauberger | ||
 In addition to writing regular features for Gardens West, Brian wanders the world in search of exciting new plants to bring back and share with our community. He runs the famous Minter Gardens as well as two garden centres. As if that weren't enough, he hosts two radio talk shows. No one has yet to figure out how he manages it all, but we don't question, we just enjoy the benefits. |
 Bit by the gardening bug more than 35 years ago, Carol Hall has been preoccupied with plants and gardening ever since, as has her husband Norm. Both are now full-time freelancers who write on a variety of subjects - that is, when they can tear themselves away from working in their Denman Island garden. |
 Randy developed his lifelong love of birds as a child. After pursuing the arts during his school years, he became a musician. Then he worked in television before settling down to write about birds in a friend's new magazine. His love of birdlife shines through in his writing and was soon noticed by Gardens West. Randy now regularly writes "Bird Chatter," one of our most popular and (who would believe?) controversial columns. |
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| Suzanne Anderton | Darlene Polachic | Anne Marrison | ||
 Gardening has been in Suzanne's blood since her early days growing up in New Zealand where anything will grow anywhere! Having come from a horticultural background, it was natural for Suzanne to share her interest in gardens. She finds her involvement with Gardens West another rewarding experience as do our readers. A national judge for Communities in Bloom, she is also a Master Gardener. |
 Darlene Polachic is a fulltime freelance writer who grew up surrounded by flowers. She didn't know then that the knowledge she acquired from her father's gardening passion would one day enable her to write about gardens. Thanks to Dorothy, she was also invited to become a field editor for Better Homes & Gardens Special Interest Publications. |
 Anne began gardening in England at the age of seven. Moving from North Surrey to Vancouver and on to seven acres in South Surrey, she raised children and chickens, tended fruit trees, berry bushes, shrubs, flowers and grew most of the family's vegetables. Anne joined the Royal Horticultural Society and embarked on a 27-year newspaper career. Since 1985, Anne has written a weekly garden column published by eight newspapers on the Lower Mainland. |
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| Trish Hoff | Karen Hong | Shannon McKinnon | ||
 Trish spent her life creating and caring for gardens. After moving to BC from the Prairies, her career included raising a family, teaching high school, running a family business, but always gardening. This Master Gardener has her BSc from UBC. Living on Mayne Island in a large woodland garden, Trish loves to propagate plants, which led to Valhalla Gardens, a specialty nursery. Managing her garden and nursery, writing articles and designing gardens for Mayne Islanders keeps Trish on the go. |
 Karen is a garden writer and photographer who gardens in Prince George, BC (Zone 3). In addition to writing for Gardens West, she scouts out northern gardens, gardening news and potential contributors. Karen combines her Horticulture and Landscape Design background with her interest in cold-climate, earth-friendly landscaping to help others create their own sustainable 'northscapes'. A provincial Communities in Bloom judge, Karen is inspired by the perseverance, creativity and skills of northern gardeners. |
 Shannon hasn't lived her entire life in the Peace River country because she isn't dead yet. Her roots run deep in the frosty firma of Zone 2a. Living so far north makes gardening much more than merely passion - it's a necessity for survival. Shannon maintains that without a Gardens West subscription and a hefty pile of seed catalogues, the long winter could not be endured. Shannon's humour column "Slice of Life" appears weekly in several Canadian newspapers. You can read her columns online at www.shannonmckinnon.com |
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| Don Burnett | Janice Lustig | Anne Birthistle | ||
 Born and raised in the Okanagan valley, Don is a Certified Arbourist and a private garden and landscape consultant. Heard on AM1150 in Kelowna and seen on CHBC weekly from April to September, this busy garden speaker is involved in the Guisachan Gardens as well as the Hospice Society’s Serenity Gardens. Don's web site is www.thegardenexpert.com. |
 Janice Lustig is a recent "transplant" to Vancouver from the Prairies, where she taught high school English and puttered in her perennial garden. A lover of both words and flowers, she enjoys the opportunity to combine the two in her monthly to-do-lists in the regular and prairie editions of Gardens West. |
 Anne Birthistle is delighted to be drawing "Dottie Potts" once again for Gardens West. One of the above mentioned lives in North Vancouver & loves spending time in the garden with her beloved cats: the other is a cartoon character. You decide! |
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| Ward Teulon | Niki Jabbour | Larry Hodgson | ||
 Ward grew up in Southern Saskatchewan where his interest in agriculture took root. He completed a BSA in Agriculture and has worked as a Professional Agrologist in agriculture and landscaping industries since 1989. He started City Farm Boy Ventures in 2006. It is committed to promoting urban agriculture, farming & gardening as a viable, environmental way to enhance landscapes and lifestyles. City Farm Boy offers gardening and urban farming workshops, private consulting, vegetable garden design and installation. City Farm Boy operates an urban farm in private backyard gardens throughout Vancouver, including a large rooftop garden. The food is sold at local farmers markets and through a Community Supported Agriculture program. For more info visit www.CityFarmBoy.com |
 Niki grew up in Halifax and played in her mother’s garden. After graduating from Dalhousie University and the Nova Scotia Agricultural College, she began working in the Maritime horticultural industry. She spent 12 years as the gardening columnist for several provincial newspapers including, The Halifax Daily News and The South Shore Clipper. She also hosts The Weekend Gardener, a call-in radio show that airs throughout the Maritimes every Sunday from 11 am to 1 pm. The two-hour show features guests from across North America, as well as local experts on a range of gardening topics. She also lectures on an array of gardening topics and offers workshops and seminars throughout the winter months. Her passion is her family kitchen garden, which supplies much of the family food from May till January. The garden boasts over 40 types of heirloom vegetables, herbs and flowers. For more info, please visit: yearroundveggiegardener.blogspot.com |
 Larry Hodgson is a full time garden writer working out of Quebec City in the heart of French Canada where he grows well over 3,000 species and varieties, both indoors and out, on a cramped suburban lot. Larry is a regular contributor to garden magazines, speaks frequently to horticultural groups throughout Canada, the United States, and Europe and is a regular garden commentator on French-language television and radio. His book credits include Making the Most of Shade, The Garden Lovers Guide to Canada, Perennials for Every Purpose, Annuals for Every Purpose, Houseplants for Dummies, and Ortho’s Complete Guide to Houseplants, as well as 25 other titles in English and French. If you ever find him hard to reach, it’s because he regularly leads garden tours to various spots around the world. He’s the winner of the Perennial Plant Association’s 2006 Garden Media Award. |
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Our Friendly Office Team |
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| H. Young Subscription Manager |
Melissa Cornwell Managing Editor |
Elaine Murphy Office Administration |
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Mariz Manansala Sales Coordinator |
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