Planting stories
Jane Milliman, Upstate Gardeners’ Journal
By Ron Ehmke
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Photo courtesy of Rochester Democrat and Chronicle.
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What’s your story—what inspired you to start such an ambitious endeavor? How did you go about building up UGJ, distributing it, selling ads, and so on?
My background was in photography, but I had been taking courses in horticulture and was working in the wholesale bedding plant business in 1994 when I started getting very itchy to write—I’d always enjoyed writing papers in school and editing others’ work—so I started thinking about pitching story ideas to publications around town. Then one night I woke up suddenly knowing I had to start a local gardening magazine. It was kind of strange, really. I went around to my contacts in the industry, explained what I wanted to do, and asked, “If I do this, will you support me?” I don’t think anyone actually thought it would succeed, but enough people were willing to take the gamble that I could afford a first print run. I sold every ad and wrote almost every word in the magazine for the first few years. My husband, who had publishing experience, did the layout—he still does. I dropped the books at every nursery, public garden, and coffee shop I could find.
How/where do you find your writers?
I’m lucky enough that they usually find me. Gardeners are a passionate lot and they love to share their knowledge. I accept stories from garden writers on every level, from enthusiastic amateurs to my usual stable of professionals, including Sally Cunningham and Michelle Buckstrup.
Are you really a staff of one?
I’m the only full-time employee, but the magazine in its present form would not be possible without Maria Walczak, who is our Western New York sales rep and has years of sales and marketing experience behind her. She does a lot more than just sell ads: she advises me on every aspect of the business, is the UGJ’s most enthusiastic cheerleader, and she’s very involved in and supportive of the green industry community in Buffalo. My husband Dean is an ad agency art director in real life, but he devotes eight weekends a year to making the magazine look beautiful, and he covers me at home, too, when I’m off at shows, leading tours, working late, etc.
I imagine one perk of the job must be learning all sorts of information about gardening that you didn’t know when you began. Can you share a totally unexpected tip or two that you’ve discovered over the years?
With the magazine, my column at the Democrat and Chronicle, and the freelance work I do, I interview so many gardeners and learn so much that sometimes I think my head will explode. One of my favorite subjects, Jerry Kral, whose Rochester garden is a testament to the powers of plant obsession and brute strength, recently schooled me on the subject of raised beds—it’s a whole new world. With tiered, raised beds, you can fit twice as many plants, reduce maintenance dramatically, and create tiny microclimates almost anywhere.
Do you have a suggestion or two for Buffalonians who want to do some exploring outside Erie County?
For inspiration, my favorite destination is Cornell Plantations in Ithaca; whatever your garden conditions, you’re sure to find dozens of ideas to take home and implement—the containers especially are exquisite. Rochester’s Highland Park is a great place to learn about woody plants, because everything is labeled. Any day of the year, a visit there is a DIY lesson in plant ID—the same goes for Sonnenberg Gardens in Canandaigua. The Rochester Civic Garden Center offers up a wide array of classes each season, many of which go way beyond basic gardening instruction. I get all kinds of story ideas just reading their course catalog. The building itself, housed in Highland Park, is a miniature castle with an Alling DeForest sunken garden right outside the back door. Each spring the RCGC holds a symposium featuring national and local speakers, and in the fall the Monroe County Master Gardeners follow suit with their Gathering of Gardeners. Both events are held at the Rochester Museum & Science Center.
Finally, how would you describe your own garden? Do you even have time to maintain one? Any plants/design elements you’re particularly proud of—or blunders you care to share?
I do wish I had more time for my own garden, but I try to make the most of what time I have. We’ve only lived in this house a few years and I tackled the front first. I like the results—it’s a good mix of small deciduous and evergreen shrubs and tough perennials. The spot is very dry and is shaded except for at mid-day, when it gets blasted by the high noon sun, so it’s been interesting to see what thrives there: hellebore, corydalis, euphorbia, hardy geranium, pulmonaria, campanula, that adorable dwarf Solomon’s seal, Astilbe chinensis pumilla, lily of the valley, Digitalis lutea. Every year I stick things in and see what melts. In the back, I’m just starting to spread out from the house. We have a gravel area that’s ostensibly for the picnic table, but is also because I’m fascinated by scree. The plants that fared the best there last year? Self-sown heirloom tomatoes. They engulfed the Adirondack chairs, and that truly shocked me. Design-wise, I’m really into shrubs and small trees, especially dwarf evergreens, in with perennials for texture, rhythm, height, mass, and a place for the eye to rest. (For more on this, pick up Tracy DiSabato-Aust’s The Well-Designed Mixed Border.) I’ve tried to have enough foresight to plant some good trees way out back but aside from that, it’s chaos.
Ron Ehmke is a Tonawanda-based writer who is gradually beginning to favor many plants over most humans. For more info on Upstate Gardeners’ Journal, visit www.upstategardenersjournal.com.
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