''The Plant Review'',

publish Publishing is the activity of making information, literature, music, software and other content available to the public for sale or for free. Traditionally, the term refers to the creation and distribution of printed works, such as books, newsp ...

ed quarterly by the

Royal Horticultural Society The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), founded in 1804 as the Horticultural Society of London, is the UK's leading gardening charity. The RHS promotes horticulture through its five gardens at Wisley (Surrey), Hyde Hall (Essex), Harlow Carr (Nort ...

, is a 68-page

magazine A magazine is a periodical publication, generally published on a regular schedule (often weekly or monthly), containing a variety of content. They are generally financed by advertising, purchase price, prepaid subscriptions, or by a combinatio ...

The Plant Review
at the Royal Horticultural Society website. Accessed 5 June 2022. containing "fascinating in-depth articles for everyone who loves plants". Its authoritative articles are written by acknowledged experts on plant-related subjects, and include plant profiles,

horticulture Horticulture is the branch of agriculture that deals with the art, science, technology, and business of plant cultivation. It includes the cultivation of fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, herbs, sprouts, mushrooms, algae, flowers, seaweeds and no ...

botany Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek w ...

and the development of garden plants, focusing on ornamental plants grown in

temperate In geography, the temperate climates of Earth occur in the middle latitudes (23.5° to 66.5° N/S of Equator), which span between the tropics and the polar regions of Earth. These zones generally have wider temperature ranges throughout t ...

gardens. It also reflects the scientific work of the RHS, as well as

research Research is "creativity, creative and systematic work undertaken to increase the stock of knowledge". It involves the collection, organization and analysis of evidence to increase understanding of a topic, characterized by a particular att ...

conducted by other horticultural and botanical institutions and individuals. First published in 1979 as ''The Plantsman'', it was renamed ''The Plant Review'' from September 2019. The RHS website describes ''The Plant Review'' as "Written by people who know and grow plants, each 68-page, colour issue balances an exciting mix of news, gardens and profiles of plants you will long to grow".

Subject matter

Its subject matter includes: * Profiles and evaluations of plant

genera Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nomenclat ...

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

and

cultivar A cultivar is a type of cultivated plant that people have selected for desired traits and when propagated retain those traits. Methods used to propagate cultivars include: division, root and stem cuttings, offsets, grafting, tissue culture, ...

s of horticultural merit * Recent plant introductions and descriptions of new plants * New or advanced cultivation and

propagation Propagation can refer to: *Chain propagation in a chemical reaction mechanism *Crack propagation, the growth of a crack during the fracture of materials *Propaganda, non-objective information used to further an agenda *Reproduction, and other forms ...

techniques * Detailed accounts and findings from RHS

trials In law, a trial is a coming together of parties to a dispute, to present information (in the form of evidence) in a tribunal, a formal setting with the authority to adjudicate claims or disputes. One form of tribunal is a court. The tribunal, w ...

* Developments in plant

taxonomy Taxonomy is the practice and science of categorization or classification. A taxonomy (or taxonomical classification) is a scheme of classification, especially a hierarchical classification, in which things are organized into groups or types. ...

and changes to names of garden plants * Plant exploration and travel * Opinions and viewpoints of prominent horticultural figures *

Conservation Conservation is the preservation or efficient use of resources, or the conservation of various quantities under physical laws. Conservation may also refer to: Environment and natural resources * Nature conservation, the protection and manageme ...

of garden plants and wild plants of horticultural interest * Advances in

plant breeding Plant breeding is the science of changing the traits of plants in order to produce desired characteristics. It has been used to improve the quality of nutrition in products for humans and animals. The goals of plant breeding are to produce cro ...

and development of new garden plants * Profiles of plant experts, breeders and horticultural personalities * Botanical illustration and its development

History of the magazine

''The Plantsman''

''The Plantsman'' magazine was first published in June 1979. The quarterly began as a

scholar A scholar is a person who pursues academic and intellectual activities, particularly academics who apply their intellectualism into expertise in an area of study. A scholar can also be an academic, who works as a professor, teacher, or researche ...

ly spin-off from '' The Garden'', 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, then HHL 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

RHS Garden, Wisley RHS Garden Wisley is a garden run by the Royal Horticultural Society in Wisley, Surrey, south of London. It is one of five gardens run by the society, the others being Harlow Carr, Hyde Hall, Rosemoor, and Bridgewater (which opened on 18 May ...

, later Director General of the RHS), Roy Elliott (then Editor of the quarterly ''Bulletin'' of the Alpine Garden Society), Lawrence D Hills, founder (and then Director) of the

Henry Doubleday Research Association Garden Organic, formerly known as the Henry Doubleday Research Association (HDRA), is a UK organic growing charity dedicated to researching and promoting organic gardening, farming and food. The charity maintains the Heritage Seed Library to pres ...

, and David McClintock, botanist and writer of the best-selling ''Collins Pocket Guide to Wild Flowers''. 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 June 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, Kew Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew is a non-departmental public body in the United Kingdom sponsored by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. An internationally important botanical research and education institution, it employs 1,100 ...

). 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 sep07 cover

''The Plantsman'' New Series

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 Christopher is the English version of a Europe-wide name derived from the Greek name Χριστόφορος (''Christophoros'' or '' Christoforos''). The constituent parts are Χριστός (''Christós''), "Christ" or "Anointed", and φέρει ...

. For the first time, full colour became available on every page. In 2005 the magazine received a refreshed design under its new editor, Mike Grant, previously a botanist at

. The publication continued to broaden its scope. In November 2006 ''The Plantsman'' was named winner of the British

Garden Media Guild The British Garden Media Guild (formerly The Garden Writers' Guild) is a trade organisation for professional garden writers, journalists, photographers, broadcasters and members of allied trades. The Guild was established in to improve the qua ...

award for 'Consumer Magazine of the Year'; the other two finalists being ''

BBC Gardeners' World ''BBC Gardeners' World'' is a monthly British gardening magazine owned by Immediate Media Company, containing tips for gardening from past and current presenters of the television series ''Gardeners' World''. History and profile ''BBC Gardeners ...

'' magazine and '' BBC Gardens Illustrated''. In the judges' opinion: In November 2008 the same organisation awarded ''The Plantsman'' News Story of the Year for an item entitled 'Greece wants her plants back' in the March 2008 issue. In 2018 Mike Grant retired as editor, becoming Contributing Editor, and James Armitage, formerly Principal Botanist at

took on the editorship. He experimented with the content and the look of the magazine, introducing new regular features, including specially commissioned botanical illustrations as frontispieces.

''The Plantsman'' becomes ''The Plant Review''

In the June 2019 issue it was announced that the title would cease to be known as ''The Plantsman''.Armitage, James (2019) Life begins at 40 as they say. ''The Plantsman'' n.s. 18(2): 4 From the September 2019 issue it was rebranded, with a completely new design, as ''The Plant Review'', a name more in line with its sister publication ''

The Orchid Review ''The Orchid Review'', published quarterly by the Royal Horticultural Society, is a magazine 'dedicated to the celebration and deeper understanding of orchids'. It is the world's oldest existing periodical devoted to orchids and each issue feature ...

''.

Editors

Elspeth Napier 1979–1994
Victoria Matthews 1994
Sabina Knees 1995–2000
Christopher Grey-Wilson 2001–2005
Mike Grant 2005–2018
James Armitage 2018–present

External links

RHS web page for ''The Plant Review''
with downloadable indices 1979–2014 and brief summaries of main articles from 2017 onwards

References

* ''The Plantsman'' Volume 1 (1979) to volume 15 (1994) * ''The New Plantsman'' Volume 1 (1994) to volume 8 (2001) * ''The Plantsman'' New Series Volume 1 (2002) to volume 18 (2019) * ''The Plant Review'' Volume 1 (2019) * ''The Plant Review'' page of the RHS website (accessed: 22 November 2021) {{DEFAULTSORT:Plantsman Royal Horticultural Society Horticultural magazines published in the United Kingdom Botany journals Magazines established in 1979 Quarterly magazines published in the United Kingdom Magazines published in London