AAS awards Medallion of Honor and Breeders Cup

The first award presented was the AAS Medallion of Honor, an award designed to recognize someone with a lifelong dedication to advancement in the field of horticulture.

 

That evening, All-America Selections announced that the 2015 Medallion of Honor recipient was Dr. Elisabeth Sahin-Georgiadou. As the co-founder and general manager, Elisabeth created a company that was known globally for quality products (what she terms “plants with a twist”) and exceptional personnel.                      

Ron Cramer, of Xiant Technologies and AAS Past President, presented the history of Elisabeth’s contributions and innovations during her career as co-owner, with her husband Kees Sahin, of K. Sahin Zaden.

 

Elisabeth's love of flowers began early on when collecting wild flowers while visiting her grandparents in Pophos, Cyprus and she continued that love through her Ph.D at Reading in the UK.  Elisabeth and her husband Kees established their breeding company in 1983 to continue to upgrade garden flowers. Their breeding was instrumental in introducing new genera. Their work created many AAS Winners throughout the years including Sanvitalia Mandarin Orange, Achillea Summer Pastel, Salvia Lady in Red, Verbena Peaches and Crème, Geranium Black Velvet Rose F1 and Agastache Golden Jubilee.  

The second award of the evening, the AAS Breeders Cup Award, was established in 2004 to recognize a plant breeder that dramatically influenced horticulture by breeding new cultivars that brought significant improvements to those classes. All-America Selections announced that the 2015 Breeder’s Cup Award recipient was Dr. Randy Gardener. Gardner, a tomato breeder, has over 32 years at the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences in Fletcher, North Carolina.

Dr. Jay Scott, professor of horticulture sciences, tomato breeding and genetics at the University of Florida Gulf Coast Research and Education Center, presented Gardner with his award. Scott talked about Gardner's extensive career as a tomato breeder.

 

Gardner has developed the majority of the vine-ripened tomato acreage that is now planted in the Eastern United States. His accomplishments include 57 tomato releases, with 22 finished hybrids and 35 breeding lines; as well as work on disease resistance, including early blight, late blight, fusarium wilt race 3 and tomato spotted wilt virus (TSWV). Many of today’s vine-ripened tomatoes carry the prefix Mountain in their names, including Mountain Merit (AAS Winner) Mountain Spring, Mountain Fresh and Mountain Pride. All of those Mountain tomatoes are successful Gardner varieties.