In our most recent podcast sponsored by AHS Corporate Member Corona Tools, we chat with 21-year-old Katie Stagliano about the evolution of her Katies Krops organization. Katie’s Krops now has 100 youth-operated gardens growing across the country and has donated thousands and thousands of pounds of fresh produce to people in need. Katie was our 2018 Jane L. Taylor Award winner in the AHS Great American Gardeners Awards.
Alexandria, VA (August 13, 2019) – The American Horticultural Society (AHS) today announced it has named J. Robert (Bob) Brackman interim director of the national nonprofit organization, effective October 1, 2019.
Brackman will work closely with the AHS staff and Board of Directors while the organization conducts a national search to fill its top leadership position. AHS’s current president and CEO Beth Tuttle recently announced she is stepping down this fall.
Brackman has a long and distinguished career in horticulture, including leadership roles at several prominent botanical gardens. Early in his career, he directed the horticulture program at the Dallas Arboretum and Botanical Garden, then went on to serve as vice president and director of Cheekwood Botanical Garden and Museum of Art in Nashville, Tennessee. He then became executive director of the San Antonio Botanical Garden in Texas, overseeing its eight-acre, $22 million expansion before retiring in January 2019. Most recently, he has served as interim vice president of horticulture at Holden Forest and Gardens in Cleveland, Ohio.
“Bob’s passion for public horticulture and his outstanding leadership at some of our nation’s top nonprofit public gardens make him the ideal candidate to guide AHS through its leadership transition,” said Dr. Erich Veitenheimer, chair of the AHS Board. “We look forward to welcoming him as interim director of AHS.”
About the American Horticultural Society
The American Horticultural Society, founded in 1922, is an educational, nonprofit, 501(c)(3) organization that recognizes and promotes excellence in American horticulture. One of the most longstanding and prestigious gardening organizations, AHS is dedicated to making America a nation of gardeners, a land of gardens. Its mission is to open the eyes of all Americans to the vital connection between people and plants, to inspire all Americans to become responsible caretakers of the Earth, to celebrate America’s diversity through the art and practice of horticulture, and to lead this effort by sharing the Society’s unique national resources with all Americans.
The Amercian Horticultural Society (AHS) will hold its first-ever Giving Day on Saturday, August 17 — National Honey Bee Day.
National Honey Bee Day celebrates the bees that are necessary to pollinate more than one-third of the food we eat but whose population is declining. A combination of habitat loss, disease, and pesticide exposure is taking its toll.
The AHS is working to protect honey bees and other pollinators for future generations, but we need your help, Giving Day is an opportunity for the AHS gardening community to come together to help protect pollinators. We have set a goal to raise $10,000 to support our work to promote Earth-friendly gardening, which includes increasing public awareness about the importance of pollinators and pollinator gardening; providing learning opportunities for K-12 educators about pollinators and pollinator gardening; and modeling Earth-friendly gardening practices at our River Farm headquarters.
To give us a head start in our fundraising, MOM’s Organic Market has generously provided a lead gift of $1,000. Will you help build on this lead by making a donation today?
Thanks for any support you can provide.
The American Horticultural Society (AHS) today announced the resignation of Beth Tuttle, president & CEO, effective October 31, 2019.
In making the announcement, AHS Board Chair Erich Veitenheimer said, “Beth has decided to return to consulting to serve a range of cultural and other social benefit organizations. We are very appreciative of her work in establishing the strategic groundwork for AHS to chart a strong course in the future as we prepare to celebrate our centennial in 2022.”
Dr. Veitenheimer added that the Board will introduce an interim director for AHS while it conducts a national search for Tuttle’s replacement.
Tuttle joined AHS in October 2017 and immediately began guiding a significant research effort to understand the values and motivations of AHS members and the general population in relation to their gardening interests and activities. This work has provided new insights into the relevance of plants, gardening, and horticulture in American lives today that will help guide AHS going forward.
Under Tuttle’s leadership, AHS also established a dedicated programs and national partnerships department; delivered 4.5% year-over-year revenue growth in its national membership program in FY 2019; and grew its popular Reciprocal Admissions Program to 335 participating gardens by mid-2019.
For nearly a century, AHS has been a trusted information resource for American gardeners, garden enthusiasts, and professional horticulturists; fed their passion for plants and the natural world; and encouraged responsible stewardship of the earth. Its vision is to make America a nation of gardeners and a land of gardens.
This morning at the National Children & Youth Garden Symposium, Randy Seagraves of the Junior Master Gardener Program announced the three winners of the 2019 Growing Good Kids book awards:
* Errol’s Garden by Joan Hibbs; published by Child’s Play
* Up in the Leaves by Shira Boss; illustrations by Jamey Christoph; published by Sterling Children’s Books
* Seed School – Growing Up Amazing by Joan Holab; illustrations by Sakshi Mangal; published by Seagrass Press
The Growing Good Kids book awards program honors engaging and inspiring works of plant, garden and ecology-themed children literature.
During our 2019 National Children & Youth Garden Symposium in Madison, Wisconsin, AHS president & CEO Beth Tuttle chatted with WPR Morning Show host Kate Archer Kent about school gardens. Listen here.
The American Horticultural Society’s (AHS) director of communications, David Ellis, recently celebrated his 25th anniversary with the national nonprofit organization.
Ellis, a resident of Silver Spring, Maryland, also serves as editor of AHS’s highly regarded bimonthly member magazine, The American Gardener.
Before joining AHS as assistant editor in 1994, he was a freelance editor and writer. Earlier in his career, he was a reporter for the Shippensburg News Chronicle and a physical scientist for the U.S. Bureau of Mines.
AHS president & CEO Beth Tuttle presented Ellis with a framed certificate of recognition for his quarter century of service.
In May 2019, we were pleased to support a local Girl Scout’s project to design and and plant pollinator gardens at a police and fire station in Woodbridge, Virginia. The gardens are intended to attract bees, butterflies, and other pollinators, while enhancing the beauty around the surrounding buildings. The American Horticultural Society at River Farm donated a number of perennial pollinator plants to the Girl Scout who planted them with fellow troop members. Altogether, the 1,270 square-foot garden at Bacon Race Fire Station 26 has 22 plant varieties and 165 plants.
Looking for ideas and resources to connect kids with plants? Our National Children & Youth Garden Symposium taking place in Madison, Wisconsin from July 10-13 is now open for registration! The event will feature over 50 educational sessions, an exciting keynote presentation by Detroit Dirt’s Pashon Murray, and tours of Madison’s flourishing youth gardening community. Check out the session, speaker, and tour descriptions, and register now!
Since its initial publication in 2009, the American Horticultural Society’s Encyclopedia of Gardening Techniques has become an essential and treasured reference book. Now, in cooperation with Mitchell Beazley/Octopus Books USA, we’ve published an updated guide (2019) in a beautiful hard-back edition with new images and illustrations.
Our encyclopedia clearly outlines the key skills and concepts every gardener needs to be successful, no matter where in North America you live. Whether you want to grow vegetables, fruits, or herbs, create flower beds, or provide pollinator habitats, this book shows you how to accomplish your goal using earth-friendly techniques.
We have the freshly printed and updated 2022 edition of The Encyclopedia of Gardening Techniques in stock and ready to ship to you. Ordering is quick and easy, just reach out to the AHS Membership Department at membership@ahsgardening.org.
