For many years, I quickly leafed through most of the beginning pages of magazines, pages that included the editorial, letters to the editor and the contributing writers and photographers. Boring. I was in a hurry to get to good stuff like features and photos.

Now, though, those are some the liveliest and preferred pages, especially when the editor is an excellent writer with a dry, keen wit.

Let me introduce Steve Aitken.

First of all, Aitken edits Fine Gardening, my favorite gardening magazine. The story mix, concern for accuracy and educational content that are so evident have to be due to Aitken.

Plus, I even like his photograph. He's a middle-aged, average-looking guy. He has kindly eyes and a bemused expression. He's wearing a rumpled oxford shirt under a dorky, argyle sweater vest. (Who wears sweater vests these days?)

Finally, and this is the litmus test, Aitken is the kind of gardener who would be fun to meet over a couple of tall, cold beverages.

In a recent editorial titled "Good gardening excuses," Aitken starts with a white lie about why he doesn't grow lavender: "I just don't have the drainage." He continues: "Though not necessarily true, the answer was good because it left my companion with the impression that I knew something about lavenders and my garden."€

His final paragraph is wonderful. "Nothing is as refreshing as a gardener admitting, 'That's a weed' or 'I killed it'...Even the greatest of gardeners screws up from time to time. It's nothing to be ashamed of--it's just gardening."