Garden Writers Association: 2011 GWA Gold Awards

Written by Garden Writers Association

2011 GWA Gold Awards for Best Talent and Best Product Award Links 2011 Recipients 2010 Recipients 2009 Recipients 2008 Recipients  The recipients of the 2011 Gold Awards for Best Talent or Product were a carefully guarded secret until the Annual Banquet at the Indianapolis Symposium. GWA is proud to recognize the winners of the top award for achievement in excellence in garden communications.   Talent Awards Gold Award for Best Magazine Writing Sarah Chase Shaw for "The Art of Autumn" published by Garden Design Gold Award for Best Newspaper Writing Abbie Zabar for "A Vine in the Sky" published by The Forward Gold Award for Best Book Writing Jeff Lowenfels for Teaming with Microbes (Revised Edition) published by Timber Press Gold Award for Best Photography Vaughn Sills for the book Places for the Spirit: Traditional African American Gardens published by Trinity University Press Gold Award for Best Illustration Clyde Philip Wachsberger for the book Into the Garden with Charles self-published Gold Award for Best Graphic Design Jane Jeszeck for the book The Revolutionary Yardscape published by Timber Press Product Awards Gold Award for Best Magazine Organic Gardening: Dec./Jan. 10/11 published by Rodale, Inc. Gold Award for Best Electronic Media Growing a Greener World produced by The joe gardener Media Network Gold Award for Best Trade "Seed Savers Exchange 2010 Summer Edition" published by Seed Savers Exchange   Congratulations to all award recipients for their outstanding work in 2010. Look for details on the 2012 Media Awards program in the Q&T Newsletter and on the GWA website. If you have any questions, please contact Jennifer Gillette at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or 703.257.1032.

2010 GWA Gold Awards for Best Talent and Best Product - Garden Writers Association

2010 GWA Gold Awards for Best Talent and Best Product Award Links 2010 Recipients 2009 Recipients 2008 Recipients The recipients of the 2010 Gold Awards for Best Talent or Product were a carefully guarded secret until the Annual Banquet at the Dallas Symposium. GWA is proud to recognize the winners of the top award for achievement in excellence in garden communications.   Talent Awards Gold Award for Best Magazine Writing Irene Virag for "Ultimate Eater" published by Nature's Garden Gold Award for Best Newspaper Writing Mariana Greene for "A Bit of the U.K. in Bloom" published by The Dallas Morning News Gold Award for Best Book Writing Julie Moir Messervy for Home Outside published by Taunton Press Gold Award for Best Bulletin Writing Wendy Scott for "Our Urban Forest" published by Delaware Center for Horticulture Gold Award for Best Electronic Media Writing Irvin Etienne for "Indianapolis Museum of Art Blog" published by the Indianapolis Museum of Art Gold Award for Best Photography Roger Foley for the book A Clearing in the Woods: Creating Contemporary Gardens published by Monacelli Press Gold Award for Best Illustration Sharon Lovejoy for the book Toad Cottages & Shooting Stars published by Workman Publishing Gold Award for Best Graphic Design Robin Horton for "Urban Gardens Blog" published on www.urbangardensweb.com Product Awards Gold Award for Best Magazine (over 100k circ.) Garden Design: Sept./Oct. 2009 published by Bonnier Corporation Gold Award for Best Book The American Meadow Garden published by Timber Press Gold Award for Best Technical Book Rain Gardening in the South published by ENO Publishers Gold Award for Best Electronic Media www.gracedesignassociates.com created by Grace Design Associates Gold Award for Best Trade "David Austin Handbook of Roses 2010" published by David Austin Roses   Congratulations to all award recipients for their outstanding work in 2009. Look for details on the 2011 Media Awards program in the Q&T Newsletter and on the GWA website. If you have any questions, please contact Jennifer Gillette at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or 703.257.1032.

Yvonne Savio - LA County Horticulturist of the Year 2010

Congratulations to one of our featured experts Yvonne Savio! You can learn more about Yvonne and all of our featured experts here.

Master Gardener Coordinator Yvonne Savio is Horticulturist of the Year 2010

Yvonne Savio, manager of the Urban Garden Program and Master Gardener coordinator for UC Cooperative Extension in Los Angeles County, is the recipient of the Southern California Horticultural Society's distinguished award, Horticulturist of the Year 2010.  The award has been presented since the 1950s to individuals and organizations for significant achievement and leadership in horticulture and gardening.  The intent of this year's award is to highlight Savio's efforts in advancing gardening as well as transforming lives through the encouragement of gardening for low-income residents of Southern California.  Savio will receive the award at the society's award banquet on September 9, 2010 at the Huntington Botanical Gardens in San Marino, California.

"We are very proud of Yvonne's work helping low-income residents of LA County grow their own food," said Rachel Surls, UC Cooperative Extension county director.  "Yvonne and her army of Master Gardener volunteers have helped thousands of Angelenos with limited resources become vegetable gardeners."

Savio, who has been with UC Cooperative Extension in Los Angeles since 1994, is considered to be an expert in all things vegetable gardening in Los Angeles County.  She revitalized the Master Gardener Volunteer Training Program in the county, which is unique in California due to its mission to help low-income people grow their own food.  Her volunteers, as well as numerous local residents, truly benefit from her seasonal gardening workshops and decades of experience.  In addition, she edited the third edition of "Children's Gardens:  A Field Guide for Teachers, Parents and Volunteers," the authority on how to start a children's garden.  Working with county residents, Savio oversees school and community garden programs in LA County, and recently, she has helped to spearhead a new and exciting gardening project, "Grow LA Victory Garden Initiative."

Prior to UC Cooperative Extension in Los Angeles, Savio worked in the Botany and Vegetable Crops Cooperative Extension departments at UC Davis, and contributed weekly gardening columns, features and photographs to Northern California and national newspapers, magazines, journals and letters.  She earned degrees in journalism, literature, art, photography and horticulture.

Currently, Savio lives in Pasadena, California with her husband, who is a travel writer and photographer.  She loves growing vegetables, fruits, annuals and drought-tolerant perennials, cactus plants, succulents, bromeliads, ground covers, and roses.

For more information on Cooperative Extension's offerings in gardening and horticulture, please visit http://celosangeles.ucdavis.edu/Common_Ground_Garden_Program/. As part of the University of California, Cooperative Extension was established in 1914 to connect local communities to their state's land grant university.  An office in each county in California responds to the changing needs of its local populations, designing and carrying out research-based programs in the areas of food, health, agriculture, horticulture and the environment.

The Urban Garden Program, known locally as the Common Ground Garden Program, has been federally funded since 1976 to provide low-income residents of Los Angeles County with the skills they need to grow their own fresh vegetables.

Yvonne Savio, manager of the Urban Garden Program and Master Gardener coordinator UC Cooperative Extension in Los AngelesCounty, is the recipient of the Southern California Horticultural Society’s distinguished award, Horticulturist of the Year 2010.  The award has been presented since the 1950s to individuals and organizations for significant achievement and leadership in horticulture and gardening.  The intent of this year’s award is to highlight Savio’s efforts in advancing gardening as well as transforming lives through the encouragement of gardening for low-income residents of Southern California.  Savio will receive the award at the society’s award banquet on September 9, 2010 at the Huntington Botanical Gardens in San Marino, California.

Contact:  Dohee Kim, MPP, (323) 260-3880, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

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Written by The Mulch Team