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UW-Madison Alumna Melinda Myers to Receive Prestigious National Hall of Fame Award

Gardening expert, TV/radio host, author & columnist Melinda Myers will be inducted into the Hall of Fame of GWA: The National Association for Garden Communicators, the highest honor that can be given to a member of the association, on Aug. 7, 2017 during the 2017 GWA Annual Awards and Honors Dinner at the Buffalo Niagara Convention Center in Buffalo, New York.

GWA Hall of Fame candidates are nominated by the membership, recommended by the Honors Committee and elected by the Board of Directors. Membership in the Hall of Fame is the most prestigious honor the association can bestow on a member whose life and career has materially reflected and advanced the objectives of GWA. The award has been around since 1981.

“Melinda has worked tirelessly to communicate the pleasures and life values of gardening throughout her entire career,” said Kirk Brown, President of GWA. “Her delight in the art and practice of encouraging living things to grow shines in every sentence that she’s written, every word that she’s spoken, and every colorful video she’s shot during her 35-year reign as one of America’s iconic horticultural professionals.”

“It truly is an honor to be recognized by colleagues and peers that share the same vision, energy and joy helping people have fun and be successful in their gardens,” said Myers. “I am grateful that my passion for science, people and gardening has provided me with a wonderful career and an opportunity to work with fellow garden communicators, horticulture professionals and gardeners of all ages and abilities.”
Myers has been a GWA member since 1981 and was a GWA National Board member from 2008 to 2013. She served as a GWA Regional Director from 1996 to 1998.

Through her company, Melinda Myers, LLC, Myers works to inspire and educate gardeners of all levels and ages. She has over 35 years of horticulture experience and has written over 20 books, including Can’t Miss Small Space Gardening, Midwest Gardener’s Handbook, and Jackson and Perkins’ Beautiful Roses Made Easy. She hosts the nationally-syndicated “Melinda’s Garden Moment” program, now in its 11th season and airing on more than 120 TV and radio stations throughout the United States. Myers also hosts the internationally distributed Great Courses “How to Grow Anything” DVD series, including the latest Food Gardening for Everyone DVD set.

She’s a longtime columnist and contributing editor for Birds & Blooms magazine and writes the twice monthly “Gardeners’ Questions” newspaper column for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Myers also writes a regular column for Chicagoland Gardening and Wisconsin Gardening.

Prior to her current media work, Myers hosted “The Plant Doctor” radio show for over 20 years as well as seven seasons of “Great Lakes Gardener” on PBS. She also hosted “Yardworks,” a nationally syndicated yard care and garden show where she interviewed many celebrities in their own backyards. Additionally, she was a contributing editor and columnist for Backyard Living and has written for Better Homes and Gardens and Fine Gardening.

For many years, Myers was a horticulture instructor with tenure. She graduated from The Ohio State University with a BS in Horticulture in 1979 and went on to earn a MS in Horticulture from University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1986.

For her work, community service and media presence, Myers has received recognition and numerous awards, including the American Horticultural Society’s B.Y. Morrison Communication Award. She’s also the recipient of the Garden Globe Award for radio talent and the Quill and Trowel Award for her television work, both from the GWA. She’s been awarded the Garden Communicator’s Award from the American Nursery and Landscape Association, the Gold Leaf Award for Arbor Day from the International Society of Arboriculture, and the Perennial Plant Association Garden Media Award. In 2012, Melinda became the first woman inducted into the Wisconsin Green Industry Federation’s Hall of Fame.

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