Gardens West suddenly ceases publication -- as do companions Prairie, Central and East

Gardens West and its companion magazines Gardens Central and Gardens East, has ceased publishing. It was announced today in a Facebook post that the current issue, now on the stands will be its last. The subscriber page and online store have been closed down.

The magazine was published nine times a year for southwestern BC from Vancouver by Cornwall Publishing as was its Prairie edition for prairies and north. Gardens Central for Ontario and Quebec and Gardens East for Atlantic Canada were added in 2010.

The publisher was David Mulroney, who took over in 2013 when his mother, Dorothy Horton, retired. She had founded the magazine in 1987. The editor was Melissa Cornwell who had worked with the magazine for eight years and risen through the ranks. There are a number of contributors and columnists on plants, birds and gardening -- most of them freelance -- who are out of work with the sudden closure. 

A brief note on the magazine's website Forum page from reader Amy Aikman, dated September 30, put the situation bluntly:

"I'm so sad that the magazine is done for, and that the publisher is bankrupt. I will miss finding it in my mail box (real mail!), poring over all articles and gorgeous photos. Thank you to all of you at Gardens West who brought it to life!"