The quarterly began as a scholarly spin-off from The Garden, the monthly journal of the RHS, which was then widening its editorial scope and popularizing its approach, in response to the wider audience provided by the society's rapidly increasing membership.
The magazine was printed in black and white, with one colour plate as a frontispiece (as well as many finely detailed line illustrations) until February 1994.
[7] In March 2002 the publication reverted to its original title (with a New Series suffix) during the editorship of botanist and author Christopher Grey-Wilson.
[8] In 2005 the magazine received a refreshed design under its new editor, Mike Grant, previously a botanist at RHS Garden, Wisley.
Its faultless production, clean layouts, great writing and commissioning and a generally light touch on what might appear a rather scholarly content make it deserving of a much wider audience.In November 2008 the same organisation awarded The Plantsman News Story of the Year for an item entitled 'Greece wants her plants back' in the March 2008 issue.