PAST HORTICULTURIST OF THE YEAR (HOTY) AWARD WINNERS

2024     Nancy Goslee Power (click here for link to the recording)

(b. 1942) Santa Monica-based garden designer Nancy Goslee Power has stretched the vocabulary of Southern California public and private landscape design with exquisite compositions of plants from summer-dry climates. Of her many collaborations with prominent architects, the elegant installation surrounding the Frank Gehry-designed Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena is one of her most admired.

Among other honors, Goslee Power received the Henry Francis du Pont Medal in landscape design and was an artist-in-residence at the American Academy in Rome. Throughout her internationally lauded career, she has mentored young designers, cultivated creative teams, designed numerous children’s gardens, and stressed the importance of hands-on horticultural education. She authored two books: The Gardens of California: Four Centuries of Design from Mission to Modern (with Susan Heeger) and Power of Gardens, an award-winning monograph of her design work.

2023     Richard Schulhof (no recording available)

(b. 1957) Richard Schulhof’s enduring love of plants inspired him to follow many horticultural paths, beginning in and leading back to Southern California. Early work in San Diego and Los Angeles nurseries led to distinguished internships, as well as degrees in landscape architecture from UC Berkeley, botanic garden administration from University of Delaware, and forestry from Harvard University.

In public gardens and their diverse collections, Schulhof found a base for both plant science and community education. He served as deputy director of Harvard’s esteemed Arnold Arboretum, executive director of Descanso Gardens, a fellow at Longwood Gardens, and CEO of the Los Angeles County Arboretum and Botanic Garden. Before retirement, he and his team created unique gardens and innovative programs for the LA Arboretum’s 600,000 annual visitors.

Schulhof’s impressive 50-year career steadfastly advocated for garden-based education and the preservation of landscape and garden history.

2022     Dave Fross (no recording available)

(b. 1946) Nurseryman, plantsman, educator and author Dave Fross is a champion of remarkable flora for mediterranean-climate gardens. In 1979, he founded Native Sons, an Arroyo Grande-based wholesale nursery offering mostly California natives. Inventory quickly grew to include a large and varied assortment of garden-worthy gems from California and other mild-winter, summer-dry parts of the world. The nursery’s grasses, succulents, flowering perennials and shrubs are sought-after specialties for both professional landscapers and home gardeners. Popular introductions include Arctostaphylos ‘Austin Griffiths’, Salvia leucophylla ‘Point Sal’, and Sesleria ‘Campo Azul’.

For 25 years, Fross taught horticulture at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, where he and his students developed the California native collection in the university’s Leaning Pine Arboretum. He has co-authored three books: the award-winning California Native Plants for the Garden, Reimagining the California Lawn (both with Carol Bornstein and Bart O’Brien), and Ceanothus (with Dieter Wilken).

2021     Posthumous awards to Bill Baker, John Dourley, and Virginia Hayes (click for link to recording)

Bill Baker (1947-2009)
William Warren “Bill” Baker was a nurseryman, plant hunter and landscape designer. His San Fernando Valley nursery, California Gardens, was a collector’s paradise of bulbs, bromeliads, cacti, epiphytes and many other specialty plants. He was considered the world’s preeminent breeder of Dyckia and introduced popular hybrids of that genus, as well as Hechtia, Haworthia and Gasteria.

His excursions into Latin America yielded scores of rare bromeliads and succulents, which he donated to The Huntington Botanical Gardens for identification and cultivation. In 1991, a beautiful succulent collected by Baker in Bolivia was described as a new species and named Echeveria bakeri in his honor.

Baker shared his knowledge widely, gave talks, and brought plants to myriad meetings and plant shows. He distributed his creations to other nurseries for evaluation and propagation.

His distinctive residential landscape designs emphasized the joys of California outdoor living with uncommon plants, flowering trees and eye-catching stonework.

John Dourley (1922-2015)
Horticulturist and plantsman John Dourley was born in Scotland and received formal training from the Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh. He emigrated to the United States in 1952, where he oversaw estate gardens in New York and Ohio, and served as superintendent at University of Pennsylvania’s Morris Arboretum.

In 1967, Dourley became superintendent of horticulture at Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden (now California Botanic Garden) in Claremont—and quickly became an expert in California native plants. He held that position for 20 years.

Dourley excelled at keeping plants vigorous and healthy. He influenced how gardeners, designers and nursery growers viewed natives by displaying them as attractive garden plants and by generously sharing his knowledge on how to best grow them.

He also consulted with public and private clients, advising on plant care and maintenance.

Dourley coauthored (with Lee Lenz) the important book California Native Trees & Shrubs: For Garden and Environmental Use in Southern California and Adjacent Areas. A well-loved manzanita was named Arctostaphylos ‘John Dourley’ in his honor.

Virginia Hayes (1950-2018)
Virginia Hayes grew up on a family farm in Modesto, California. Her early horticultural career focused on aquatic plants, landscape design and maintenance. She earned a BS in botany and an MS in Ecology, Evolution and Marine Biology from UC Santa Barbara and became an authority on Nelumbo (lotus).

For 25 years, Hayes was curator of the living collection at Ganna Walska Lotusland, where she also tended the garden archives and those of the garden’s owner. Hayes developed curricula and public garden protocols and trained every docent during her tenure.

As a teacher, expedition leader and plant collector, Hayes stressed the importance of conservation, provenance and accurate record keeping.

Hayes was active in local, national and international horticultural societies. A prolific writer, her work appeared in botanical journals, Pacific Horticulture magazine, and, for decades, she was a regular columnist in the Santa Barbara Independent and Lotusland publications. She co-authored (with Steve Timbrook) the book The Gourmet Gardener

2020     Posthumous awards to Dara Emery, Denis Kurutz, and Manny and Bert Singer (click for link to recording)

Dara E. Emery (1922-1992) Horticulturist and plant breeder Dara Emery received his degree in horticulture from Cal Poly. He joined the staff of Santa Barbara Botanic Garden in 1955 as its first horticulturist and officially retired in 1990—a remarkable tenure during which he collected and propagated California flora for the garden’s living collections. He launched the garden’s retail nursery, plant sales and plant introduction program, and helped develop the grounds. He also taught professionals and home gardeners how to propagate natives and use them in gardens. He patiently mentored many respected horticulturists.

Emery introduced 20 popular cultivars, among them Arctostaphylos ‘Canyon Sparkles’, nine Heuchera, and the award-winning, much-admired Iris douglasiana ‘Canyon Snow’. Two plants, Fremontodendron ‘Dara’s Gold’ and Salvia ‘Dara’s Choice’, honor him by name.

His book Seed Propagation of Native California Plants, reprinted in 2021, is an invaluable reference.

Emery’s horticultural contributions and interests extended beyond California natives, with leadership in various plant societies, garden clubs and professional organizations, including the International Plant Propagators Society. 

Denis L. Kurutz (1942-2003)
Landscape architect Denis Kurutz studied at UCLA and USC. He created major installations worldwide and in Southern California, most notably the landscape at The Getty Villa in Malibu. This meticulously researched re-creation of the gardens surrounding Villa dei Papyri, a Roman country house buried by the eruption of Vesuvius in AD 79, carefully incorporated classical architectural elements with plants grown in ancient Herculaneum.

With the Los Angeles firm of Emmet L. Wempel and Associates and later his own Pasadena consulting practice, Kurutz was known for his drawing skills, plant knowledge, and devotion to each project. His exquisite sketches, construction documents, and planting plans ensured that every component realized his exact vision and intent.

As landscape manager on the Getty’s Brentwood site, Kurutz specified a buffer of California trees and chaparral shrubs to slow fire and prevent erosion. His career also included work at the U.S. Embassy in Japan, Magic Mountain and other theme parks, Joshua Tree National Park, and many private estates.

Manny Singer (1919-1993) and Bert Singer (1919-1999)
Manny and Bert Singer appreciated the natural sciences, from shells and rocks to animals and plants of all sorts. In 1966, following unrelated careers and with no botanical training, they established Singers’ Growing Things, a nursery specializing in rare and unusual plants, mostly little-known succulents from South Africa, Madagascar, and Baja California, Mexico. Signature offerings included succulent euphorbias and quirky caudiciforms from diverse plant families.

The nursery inventory stayed interesting, thanks to adventurous collecting trips, and plants and seed received from eminent international botanists and plant explorers. Annual illustrated catalogs detailed hundreds of species, with care advice for collectors. The joys of curiosity and learning were shared with horticulturists the Singers mentored and with customers who still treasure long-lived plants purchased from the nursery.

The Singers were active in the Cactus & Succulent Society of America, as well as its Los Angeles and Sunset Succulent chapters. Manny Singer co-founded the San Fernando Valley Bromeliad Society. He was a keen propagator and long-time member of the International Plant Propagators Society.

2019     Mike Evans

2018     John Schoustra

2017     Randy Baldwin

2016     Carol Bornstein

2015     Kathy Musial

2014     Donald R. Hodel

2013     Dave Lannom

2012     Richard Turner

2011     Gilbert Resendez

2010     Yvonne Savio

2009     Laurel Woodley

2008     Shirley Kerins

2007    Tom Carruth

2006     James P. Folsom

2005     Bart O'Brien

2004     Joan De Fato

2003     Virginia Gardner

2002     John Greenlee

2001     John R. (Dick) Dunmire

2000     Scott Wilson

1999     Bob Perry

1998     Harold Lachs

1997     Ernest Hetherington & Lili Singer

1996     Don Walker

1995     Robert Smaus

1994     George Harman Scott

1993     Harlan Lewis

1992     Chris Rosmini

1991     Gary Hammer

1990     Elmer Lorenz

1989     Paul Hutchinson

1988     Grace Heintz

1987     Ruth Shellhorn

1986     Morgan (Bill) Evans

1985     Leonid Enari

1984     Fred Lang

1983     John Catlin

1982     Barbara Joe Hoshizaki

1981     David Verity

1980     Horace Anderson

1979     Myron Kimnach

1978     Philip E. Chandler

1977     Edward Hummell

1976     Bill Paylen

1975     Sanford Martin

1974     Harry Johnson

1973     Maria Wilkes

1972     Victoria Padilla

1971     Nuccio's Nursery

1970     Betty Marshall & Donald P. Woolley

1969     Howard Asper

1968     James Giridlian

1967     no award

1966     Valley Knudsen

1965     Lovell Swisher

1964     Fred Roewekamp & Ralph Cornell

1963     Dr. Mildred Mathias (first award dinner)

1962    Samuel Ayres

1952    Theodore Payne

 Past award winners (dates unknown)
           William Hertrich
            Hugh Evans
            Edward O. Orpet
            Percy Everett