2009 AHS Book Award Winners

Each year, the American Horticultural Society recognizes outstanding gardening books published in North America with its annual Book Award. Nominated books are judged by the AHS Book Award Committee on qualities such as writing style, authority, accuracy, and physical quality. This year’s four recipients, selected from books published in 2008, are listed below.

The 2009 Book Award Committee was chaired by Marty Ross, a regional contributor for Better Homes & Gardens and writer for Universal Press Syndicate who lives in Kansas City, Missouri, and in Hayes, Virginia. Other committee members were Scott Calhoun, a garden designer and author based in Tucson, Arizona; Thomas Cooper of Watertown, Massachusetts, former editor of Horticulture and The Gardener magazine; Jane Glasby, associate librarian for the Helen Crocker Russell Library of Horticulture in San Francisco, California; Doug Green, a garden writer and online media entrepreneur based in Stella, Ontario; Doreen Howard of Roscoe, Illinois, a former garden editor for Woman’s Day who writes for various garden publications; and Irene Virag, a Pulitzer Prize-winning writer for Newsday who lives in Fort Salonga, New York.
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Hardy Succulents by Gwen Moore Kelaidis. Storey Publishing, North Adams, Massachusetts.

“Hardy succulents finally get the close-ups they’ve long deserved,” says Irene Virag. “Saxon Holt’s photographs are a stunning complement to Gwen Moore Kelaidis’s words - together they inform and inspire,” Virag adds. “This book pushes the boundaries beyond what has been done before on this subject,” says Doug Green. “There was a real effort to pay attention to gardeners in colder climates where succulents are a challenge,” notes Tom Cooper. “I was also struck by the effective use of boxes and captions, which have lots of useful information in them,” he adds.
 

Heirloom Tomato by Amy Goldman. Bloomsbury USA, New York, New York.

“Much like Amy Goldman’s previous award-winning books on melons and squash, this book is pretty enough to be a coffee- table book, but it is also a first-rate gardening book,” says Marty Ross. “It is authoritative without being academic, and its photography and layout are exceptional,” says Scott Calhoun. Jane Glasby notes that this book is “a celebration of biodiversity, with notes on origins and physical details, and best uses with appropriate recipes included.”



 

Native Ferns, Moss & Grasses by William Cullina. Houghton Mifflin, Boston, Massachusetts.

“This timely contribution to works on native plants gathers information on important but neglected groups of plants not readily found elsewhere,” says Jane Glasby. She also found the book’s appendices useful, “particularly the descriptions and tables about cultivation and propagation.” “Cullina’s plant portraits are fun to read as well as informative, which makes this more than just a reference book,” says Irene Virag. Doreen Howard adds, “It’s a gorgeous book with first-class photography.”
 

Plant-Driven Design by Scott Ogden and Lauren Springer Ogden. Timber Press, Portland, Oregon.

“This book bucks a big trend in garden design that emphasizes hardscaping over plants,” says Scott Calhoun. “I was particularly impressed by the extensive plant lists and the authoritative, compelling tone of the book,” Calhoun adds. “The authors constantly bring up the idea of drawing influence from nature, reminding us we are all part of something larger,” notes Marty Ross. Tom Cooper notes, “It’s a useful and adventurous book, with terrific photography to illustrate its ideas.”

Citation of Special Merit

The AHS Book Award is given to publishers for a single book published in a specific year. However, the AHS Book Award Committee is also recognizing two reference books, whose various editions have made significant contributions to horticultural literature over time, with a Citation of Special Merit..

The Garden Primer by Barbara Damrosch. Workman Publishing, New York, New York.

First published in 1988, this book has become a gardening classic, presenting a wealth of gardening knowledge in a clear and concise manner. The new edition, published in 2008, builds upon the original’s strong foundation while incorporating the latest organic practices.

Herbaceous Perennial Plants by Allan M. Armitage. Stipes Publishing, Champaign, Illinois.

Like the two previous editions released in 1989 and 1997, the 2008 edition of this treasured reference on perennial plants is a definitive guide to the hundreds of herbaceous perennial species and cultivars known and grown in North America. .

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