Sunset Magazine

The Sunset Western Garden Book is the definitive reference for anyone gardening in the west, but if you're expecting Sunset Magazine to be the definitive periodical for gardening in the west, you'll be disappointed.

Each issue includes sections on gardening, travel, foods, home, and even books. After you subtract the ads, gardening content is down in the 10% range. And within that small section, the magazine tries to have something relevant for all western areas, from Alaska to Arizona to Idaho to Oregon, and everyplace in between. When they omit an area, the following month you'll see a letter to the editor complaining about it.

The other sections have similar issues. The travel section has to have destinations in every region. The food section has to have regional cuisine from every region. The home section even has to feature homes in every region.

Living alone, I don't cook much, let alone prepare fancy dishes. My biggest decorating issue is keeping the clutter down. The only travel I do is the commute to work. And I'd rather read books than read about books. I also don't care much about gardens in climates vastly different than my own, so I have no interest in the obligatory tropical plants covers. That leaves only a handful of pages that interest me.

If you're a well-rounded person, with interests in more areas than just gardening, you may well find Sunset an interesting magazine. The articles are all well written. The whole magazine is the highest level of quality. They do a great job of writing about everything they write about. It's just that their scope is just far too wide to be a comprehensive guide to living in such a diverse area as the west.

If you like Better Homes and Gardens, and you live in the west, you'll love Sunset Magazine. If you're looking for an extension of their definitive books on gardening in the west, you'll be disappointed by how little relevant content you'll find each month.

One other thing to mention: Sunset Magazine has made most of their website available only to subscribers, unless you're on AOL. So if you want to get to any of their excellent online content, you might want to subscribe even if there only is enough content in the print magazine to hold your attention for the walk from the mailbox to the door.

Overall, it's a great magazine that simply spreads itself too thin by trying to cover too much for too many different people. You may even find you can finish the parts that interest you while waiting in line at the grocery store check-out counter.

On the other hand, if your interest include all of the departments (gardening, food, home, travel and books), and you're interested in all the regions that make up the western United States, then don't hesitate a minute longer. Subscribe. I'm just not that well rounded.