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)

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

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