January / February 1996

Growing up as a baseball junkie, there was a cliche that always seemed to be used for this time of year: "hot-stove league." Having graduated to a love of plants as an adult, this time of year brings out many permutations of the cliche "Sit by the fire with seed catalogues dreaming of spring."

Do we garden in the heart of winter? Most of us do not, at least not to the extent as in the rest of the seasons. But if you yearn to extend the growing season, we're here to introduce you to Adelle Johnson, whose African violets bloom in the heart of winter, and Mayo Underwood, who spends wintry days packaging up seeds grown the previous summer.

You can also enjoy blooming plants-in "Under Glass" senior editor Pamela Wolfe reveals her special pleasure is finding that warm spot filled with plants that is as close as the nearest greenhouse. We list many you can visit. One is Orchids by Hausermann, which is a treat almost any time, but for some reason I am drawn there each year during their open house at the end of February. It is obscenely crowded but there is a feeling of camarderie-all these people have come out just to ooh and aah over orchids.

We also introduce some new voices with this issue. Connor Shaw, a leader in the native tree movement, kicks off our series of guest editorials. Annette T. Roos spins us through what we might expect at this year's Chicago Flower & Garden Show. And Cathy J. Maloney tells us of one of the founders of the Garden Clubs of America and her years in Elmhurst. The more I read of Louisa Yeomans King, the more I wondered about my own family's ties to that suburb. Sure enough, my mother's family owned a house in the next block and my uncle and mother remember many incidents there, especially their grandfather's garden that was tended by one full-time employee and a couple of others during the season. Several plants had their own beds, with the asparagus bed being the farthest from the house.

Among our own here at the magazine, senior editor Kate Jerome has won two major writing awards for columns that appeared in the Kenosha News. "Gardening with Young Hands" won the Award for Exemplary Journalism for Home Garden Communication from the National Garden Bureau, Inc. A series on lawn care won the 1995 Reel American Awards, awarded by the American Lawn Mower Company for outstanding journalism on environmentally friendly lawn care and landscaping. For our magazine, she explains how to get seeds started this winter (on Page 42) and reflects on the beauty of winter (on Page 50). Both are graced with illustrations by Patricia Burgess-Fisher, a master gardener in DuPage County.