Wilder Quarterly Volume I Corrections
I'm a really nice person, but I turn into a tough perfectionist when it comes to getting plant information right. If it's wrong or subpar, it drives me crazy. I take my plants seriously; I know my stuff; I've worked hard to know my stuff; I want to share good gardening information with the public.
So when the first issue of Wilder Quarterly came out laden with copious plant ID errors, in captions and text relating to my articles, I had a cow. (Teach plant identification on the college-level as I did for years, or manage a huge plant database as I do now, and you will understand the gross, pukey feeling the misinformation gave me.) I resigned from my position as WQ Horticultural Editor once my writing and preliminary edits were complete, but I offered to help with final edits to keep content clean. Sadly, I was excluded from making final edits or adding photo captions, but that can be remedied. In the spirit of definitude, I offer corrections to readers who value accuracy. (I know this may tick off a few young, pseudo-erudite, NYC garden publishing upstarts, but oh well. I need to wash my soiled hands and free my inner plant snob.)
I first noticed the incorrect captions in the Carrot and Dahlia Plant Profiles (pages 12 and 14). I said to myself, "WHAT?! Absolutely NONE of the identifying plant captions match the plants in the pictures!? Crap! What if people actually want to find and grow these plants?" Captions on four other pages are totally wrong too. I guess the editors hoped nobody in the know would notice. Pretty magazine pictures are nice, but they're pointless if they don't provide the right information. On point, here are the right captions for those with bad information:
So when the first issue of Wilder Quarterly came out laden with copious plant ID errors, in captions and text relating to my articles, I had a cow. (Teach plant identification on the college-level as I did for years, or manage a huge plant database as I do now, and you will understand the gross, pukey feeling the misinformation gave me.) I resigned from my position as WQ Horticultural Editor once my writing and preliminary edits were complete, but I offered to help with final edits to keep content clean. Sadly, I was excluded from making final edits or adding photo captions, but that can be remedied. In the spirit of definitude, I offer corrections to readers who value accuracy. (I know this may tick off a few young, pseudo-erudite, NYC garden publishing upstarts, but oh well. I need to wash my soiled hands and free my inner plant snob.)
I first noticed the incorrect captions in the Carrot and Dahlia Plant Profiles (pages 12 and 14). I said to myself, "WHAT?! Absolutely NONE of the identifying plant captions match the plants in the pictures!? Crap! What if people actually want to find and grow these plants?" Captions on four other pages are totally wrong too. I guess the editors hoped nobody in the know would notice. Pretty magazine pictures are nice, but they're pointless if they don't provide the right information. On point, here are the right captions for those with bad information:
- Carrots (page 12): The plant names given are not those depicted in the photo. The correct carrots in the picture are of Kaleidoscope Mix, which contains the five cultivars 'Atomic Red', 'Bambino', 'Cosmic Purple', 'Lunar White' and 'Solar Yellow.'
- Dahlias (page 14): The plant names given are not those depicted in the photo. The correct Dahlias are (clockwise from the left): 'Jason Matthew', too miserable to ID, 'Miss Delilah', a past-peak 'Hakuyou', 'Pooh'
- How to Grow: Cauliflower (page 26): Once again, the plant names given are not those plants depicted in the photo. The picture shows the orange 'Cheddar' and what is most certainly 'Snow Crown', or the like. (White cauliflowers all look the same, but the caption manages to name no white-headed forms.)
- Keep Houseplants Healthy with a Thorough Cleaning (page 32): This bylineless article of mine shows two plants being cleaned. These plants are a variegated Philodendron and Boston fern rather than a false aralia, rubber tree or Dracaena as the inaccurate photo caption suggests.
- Seasonal Pest: Nip Loopers in the Bud (page 19): This awesome article by Longwood IMP master and APGA director Casey Sclar lacks a much-needed byline, but it also strangely identifies the cabbages in the pictures as red monkey flowers (Mimulus coccineus).
- Plant Life: Q&A with Russell Stafford of Odyssey Bulbs (page 51): The picture of Russell Stafford is captioned as being six named bulbs instead of a human.
- Bulb Planting (page 157): Bad captions aren't the problem here. Hyacinth (Hyacinthus orientalis) and grape hyacinth (Muscari armeniacum) are each inexplicably given the Latin name, Fritillaria meleagris, which is not what was written in the original text I submitted.
I hope those at Wilder Quarterly do a better job with the next issue. Securing a new horticultural editor (and giving that person due respect, pay and recognition) would certainly help. A few really stellar plant photographers might make their garden publishing efforts a bit easier too. They could also stand to take tips on botanical Latin formatting from my blog, Botanical Latin, the Language of Gardeners.
(If I come across as a big plant snob, I mean to. Spread the word.)
Posted by Jessie Keith at 1/25/2012 4:11 PM 
Categories: Garden Writing
Tags: Wilder Quarterly Wilder Quarterly Jessie Keith Wilder Gardening Magazine Wilder Magazine Wilder Quarterly subscriptions Wilder Wilder Quarterly
Categories: Garden Writing
Tags: Wilder Quarterly Wilder Quarterly Jessie Keith Wilder Gardening Magazine Wilder Magazine Wilder Quarterly subscriptions Wilder Wilder Quarterly
LOL! They don't call you "Botanical Brain" for nuthin.
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Correct plant info is my bread and butter. I have no choice but to be proactive about this. It's been such a thorn in my hind end.
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It took a while for you to say something. Why don't you mention all the other writers wilder quarterly jerked around? There are probably enough for you to start your own magazine.
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As much as I'd like to rant on behalf of others, I'll let folks speak for themselves. I just pulled an article from Wilder Quarterly's winter issue. My hands are washed. There are too many really good gardening periodicals out there run by knowledgeable, professional, people that value and respect the writers and content as much as they do clout, appearance, and hobnobbing with "influencers." Give me a real, in-the-dirt gardener any day.
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LOL! "Hobnobbing with "influencers!" How trendy and chichi mon ami.
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Crabby, crabby, crabby. What are a few plant names? Does it really matter?
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To the gardener, plant names mean everything because plant names aren't just for flowery effect; plant names define biological entities with unique desirable or undesirable characteristics. And be reasonable. If I write about tiny, crisp, round, orange 'Parmex Baby Ball' carrots, it looks stupid to proffer an erroneous corresponding picture showing loads of gloriously long, pointy, multi-colored roots. And cabbages identified as rare western native red monkey flowers? C'mon. You can't just throw names at pictures in this business.
At Learn2grow.com I've personally identified plants in over 60,000 photos over the years. It's my specialty. Would it have killed the WQ editors to let me ID plants in the photos? I offered to numerous times. And if not me, how about another plant nerd? Clearly, they didn't care. The knew they were throwing false names at pretty pictures.
So, yes I'm crabby. Crabby enough to want to thoroughly disassociate myself from these silly, discrediting mistakes.
Wilder Quarterly is otherwise a pretty, eloquently written garden magazine. But, I should never have allowed them to call me horticultural editor when they would not allow me to properly edit ALL horticultural content. (So, maybe I'm a little crabby with myself too.)
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but your drawing attention to the problems. I doubt readers noticed if editing was right or wrong.
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I'm a professional horticulturist and educator first, garden writer second. I'm not going to knowingly feed ANYONE false information. If loads of mistakes are made in association with my work, it's my job to correct them.
Anyway, professionals notice, and the garden writing world is small. This is a shout out to garden savvy folks as well as those just learning the basics.
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Everyone who knows and has worked with you knows what a talent you are. They lost out. Move on.
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Thank you. I'm moving.
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Good to know. If it makes you feel any better they have no season sense either. Spring is in the air and the winter wilder missed the boat.
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Spring is certainly in the air. My crocus, early daffodils and species tulips are making their garden appearance earlier than they ever have before. I'll have to post a shot of my first fresh-from-the-garden spring bouquet. Fine Gardening and Leaf are both good and reliable.
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