2013 Call for Award Nominations

Award Nominations Deadline is March 1, 2013

APGA Awards
The American Public Gardens Association (APGA) Awards is the professional horticulture industry's best showcase for the most influential, thought-provoking individuals and organizations. These award winners set a professional precedent for other individuals and organizations to follow.

The entry deadline is Friday, March 1, 2013, and winners will be honored at the 2013 APGA Conference. Nominations and questions should be sent to awards@publicgardens.org.

The APGA Awards process starts with a nomination. Whether you nominate a professional colleague, a co-worker, or a friend, take a moment to participate in the process of recognizing those individuals and organizations that deserve it. APGA Award nominations may be re-submitted if not selected.

Click here to see the 2012 award winners!

Honorary Life Member Award
APGA confers its most prestigious award, the Honorary Life Member Award, upon an individual who has provided meritorious service to the Association over a long period of time and has displayed an uncommon devotion to the field of public horticulture. The award is designed to honor an individual who has for many years supported the Association through active committee work, energetic membership, and leadership positions and whose efforts have led to the advancement of the Association. Besides working tirelessly for the Association, this individual is expected to have held leadership positions that further the missions of public gardens. This award is generally given to an individual nearing or in retirement. Given the status of this award, it is not expected to be given on an annual basis. Click here to view current honorary life members, Click here to view select Honorary Life Member in memoriam tributes.

2013 Honorary Life Member Award Nomination Form

Award of Merit
The Award of Merit recognizes an individual APGA member who has performed with distinction in the field of public horticulture and has excelled as a public garden professional at one or more institutions. The recipient's accomplishments will encompass some combination of botany, horticulture, conservation, gardening, research, extension, education, development, or administration. The intent is that this award be given to an individual during the latter part of an illustrious career.
Click here to view past recipients.
2013 Award of Merit Nomination Form

Professional Citation
The Professional Citation recognizes the significant achievements in public horticulture of an individual member who has excelled in one of the disciplines generally associated with public gardens such as botany, horticulture, gardening, conservation, research, education, extension, development, or administration. Recipients may be at any point of their prestigious career, preferably between five to twenty years at one or more institutions. More importantly, the nominee should embody great skills, innovation, and potential.
Click here to view past recipients.
2013 Professional Citation Nomination Form

APGA Service Award
Created in 2004, this award is reserved for an individual who has shown selfless service to the organization through work as a Professional Committee member, Service Committee member, and/or Board member. It is not the intent that this award be given solely to Board members (all Board members must wait four years after the expiration of their terms before being nominated) but to all who participate actively in the Association's business through their volunteer efforts. The Association's strength is based on its volunteers, and the Association wishes to recognize their contributions.
Click here to view past recipients.

Award for Program Excellence
This award is reserved for an APGA Garden member who has displayed a truly innovative spirit in the development of new programs and has pioneered in one or more of the disciplines appropriate to public horticultural institutions, including education, conservation, development, botany, gardening, horticulture, research, extension, or administration. The committee will take into consideration a garden's budget when determining the award recipient.
Click here to view past recipients.
2013 Award for Program Excellence Nomination Form

Horticulture Magazine Award for Garden Excellence
Started in 2003, the Horticulture Magazine Award for Garden Excellence is an annual award given to a public garden that exemplifies the highest standards of horticultural practices. Selected by its peers, the award recipient is a public garden that has shown a commitment to supporting and demonstrating best gardening practices. The criteria for this award include:

The best designed and most horticulturally outstanding display;
Gardening practices that are appropriate to a local or regional environment and reflect environmentally informed horticulture;
Maintenance of commitment to plant collections;
Demonstrated commitment to the national or a regional horticultural community;
Encouraging students of gardening at all levels through innovative horticultural practices.

Click here to view past recipients.
2013 Horticulture Magazine Award for Garden Excellence Nomination Form

Dorothy E. Hansell Publication Award
Category: Social Media
This award is a tribute to a woman who stood for excellence in horticultural and botanical journalism. Hansell was editor of the New York Botanical Garden's Garden Journal, the newsletter and bulletin of the Holly Society of America, the American Bonsai Society Journal, and the APGA Bulletin. Categories vary each year and are submitted to a panel of expert judges who evaluate entries and establish the criteria.

Click here to view past recipients and categories.
2013 Dorothy E. Hansell Publication Award Application and Criteria

Student Travel Award
To help students attend the APGA Annual Conferences, APGA offers Student Travel Awards that cover the registration fees and subsidize the travel costs of deserving undergraduate or graduate students.
Click here to view past recipients.
2013 Student Travel Award Application