The Victoria Medal of Honour ("VMH") is awarded to British horticulturists resident in the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 whom the Royal Horticultural Society

Royal Horticultural Society

The Royal Horticultural Society was founded in 1804 in London, England as the Horticultural Society of London, and gained its present name in a Royal Charter granted in 1861 by Prince Albert...

 Council considers deserving of special honour by the Society

The award was established in 1897 "in perpetual remembrance of Her Majesty’s glorious reign, and to enable the Council to confer honour on British horticulturists." The Society's rules state that only sixty-three horticulturists can hold the VMH at any given time, in commemoration of the sixty-three years of Queen Victoria

Victoria of the United Kingdom

Victoria was the monarch of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death. From 1 May 1876, she used the additional title of Empress of India....

's reign. Therefore the honour is not awarded every year, but may be made to multiple awardees in other years.

1897 - The first 60 medallists

The first 60 medals were awarded on 26 October 1897:

• John Gilbert Baker
  John Gilbert Baker
  John Gilbert Baker was an English botanist.Baker was born in Guisborough, the son of John and Mary Baker and educated at Quaker schools in Ackworth and York....
  
   (1834–1920)
• Isaac Bayley Balfour
  Isaac Bayley Balfour
  Sir Isaac Bayley Balfour FRS FRSE was a Scottish botanist. He was the son of John Hutton Balfour who was also a botanist.-Biography:...
  
   (1853–1922)
• Peter Barr (1826–1909)
• Archibald F Barron (1835–1903)
• Edward John Beale (1835–1902)
• William Boxall (1844–1910)
• William Bull (1828–1902)
• George Bunyard (1841–1919)
• Frederick William Burbidge
  Frederick William Burbidge
  Frederick William Thomas Burbidge was a British explorer who collected many rare tropical plants for the famous Veitch Nurseries. Burbidge's first job was as a gardener at Kew Gardens...
  
   (1847–1905)
• William Crump (1843–1932)
• Richard Dean (1830–1905)
• George A Dickson (c1835 - 1909)
• Henry Honeywood D'ombrain (1818–1905)
• Charles Thomas Druery (1843–1917)
• Malcolm Dunn (1837–1899)
• Henry Nicholson Ellacombe (1822–1916)
• Henry John Elwes
  Henry John Elwes
  Henry John Elwes, FRS was a British botanist, entomologist, author, lepidopterist, naturalist, collector and traveller who became renowned for collecting specimens of lilies during trips to the Himalayas and Korea. He was the first person to receive the Victoria Medal of the Royal Horticultural...
  
   (1846–1922)
• Michael Foster (1836–1907)
• John Fraser (1821–1900)
• George Gordon (1841–1914)
• John Heal (c1841 - 1925)
• George Henslow (1835–1925)
• Hermann Carl Gottlieb Herbst (c1830 - 1904)
• Samuel Reynolds Hole (1819–1904)
• Joseph Dalton Hooker
  Joseph Dalton Hooker
  Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker OM, GCSI, CB, MD, FRS was one of the greatest British botanists and explorers of the 19th century. Hooker was a founder of geographical botany, and Charles Darwin's closest friend...
  
   (1817–1911)
• Francis Daltry Horner (c1838 - 1912)
• James Hudson (1846–1932)
• Gertrude Jekyll
  Gertrude Jekyll
  Gertrude Jekyll was an influential British garden designer, writer, and artist. She created over 400 gardens in the UK, Europe and the USA and contributed over 1,000 articles to Country Life, The Garden and other magazines.-Early life:...
  
   (1843–1932)
• Peter Kay (c1853 - 1909)
• John Laing (1823–1900)
• James McIndoe
  James McIndoe
  James McIndoe was a 19th century Member of Parliament from Dunedin, New Zealand.He represented the Caversham electorate in 1870, from 25 April to 30 December, when he was defeated.-References:...
  
   (1836–1910)
• Charles Maries
  Charles Maries
  Charles Maries was an English botanist and plant collector who was sent by James Veitch & Sons of Chelsea, London to search for new hardy plants in Japan, China and Taiwan between 1877 and 1879; there he discovered over 500 new species, which Veitch introduced to England...
  
   (1851–1902)
• Henry Ernest Milner (1845–1906)
• Edwin Molyneux (1851–1921)
• George Monro (c1847 - 1920)
• Fredrick William Moore (1857–1949)
• Daniel Morris (1844–1933)
• George Nicholson (1847–1908)
• James O'Brien (1842–1930)
• Paul George (1841–1921)
• William Paul (1822–1905)
• T Francis Rivers (1831–1899)
• Lionel Walter Rothschild (1868–1937)
• Frederick Sander (1847–1920)
• Henry Schröder (1824–1910)
• John Seden
  John Seden
  John Seden was a famous hybridist and horticulturalist best known for the hybrids he created while in the employment of Veitch nurseries. He was trained in hybridizing by John Dominy in 1861. In 1873 he began hybridizing tuberous begonias which in turn formed the basis from which modern garden...
  
   (1840–1921)
• Nathaniel Newman Sherwood (1846–1916)
• James Smith (1837–1903)
• Martin Ridley Smith ( - 1908)
• Walter Speed (c1835 - 1921) Head Gardener at Penrhyn Castle, Wales
• Arthur Warwick Sutton (1854–1925)
• Owen Thomas (1843–1923)
• William Thompson (1823–1903)
• David Thomson (1823–1909)
• Harry Turner (c1848 - 1906)
• Ellen Willmott
  Ellen Willmott
  Ellen Ann Willmott was an English horticulturalist. She was an influential member of the Royal Horticultural Society, and a recipient of the first Victoria Medal of Honour in 1897. She cultivated more than 100,000 species of plants, and sponsored expeditions to discover new species...
  
  (1858–1934)
• George Fergusson Wilson (1822–1902)
• Charles Wolley-Dod (1826–1904)
• John Wright (1836–1916)
• George Wythes (1851–1916)

1900-1909

• 1902
  • Mordecai Cubitt Cooke
    Mordecai Cubitt Cooke
    Mordecai Cubitt Cooke was an English botanist and mycologist.Cooke came from a mercantile family in Horning, Norfolk, and worked as an apprentice to a fabric merchant before becoming a clerk in a law firm, but his chief interest was in botany. He founded the Society of Amateur Botanists in 1862...
    
    
• 1904
  • Edward Mawley (1842-1916)
• 1906
  • Harry Veitch
    Harry Veitch
    Sir Harry James Veitch was an eminent English horticulturist in the nineteenth century, who was the head of the family nursery business, James Veitch & Sons, based in Chelsea, London...
    
    

1940-1949

• 1944
  • John Hutchinson
    John Hutchinson (botanist)
    John Hutchinson, OBE, FRS was a renowned English botanist, taxonomist and author.-Life and career:...
    
    
  • Arthur Algernon Dorrien-Smith
    Arthur Algernon Dorrien-Smith
    Major Arthur Algernon Dorrien-Smith DSO DL JP VMH was Lord Proprietor of the Isles of Scilly from 1918 - 1920.-Family:...
    
    

1950-1959

• 1953
  • Archibald Park Balfour
• 1955
  • Lilian Snelling
  • Robert L. Scarlett : for his contributions to horticultural experimental work in Scotland & United Kingdom.

1960-1969

• 1961
  • Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother
  • 3rd Baron Aberconway
• 1964
  • Hans Hvass - Danish
    Denmark
    Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
    
     writer on natural history
• 1968
  • Graham Stuart Thomas
    Graham Stuart Thomas
    Graham Stuart Thomas OBE , was an English horticulturalist, artist, author, poet and garden designer.He was born in Cambridge and studied in the University Botanic Garden at Cambridge University...
    
    

1970-1979

• 1970
  • Roy Hay
• 1971
  • Alan Bloom
    Alan Bloom (plantsman)
    Alan Herbert Vauser Bloom was a British Horticulturist and steam engine enthusiast. During his life he created over 170 new varieties of hardy perennial plants. These and Alpine plants were his specialities. He wrote some 30 books and appeared on radio and television...
    
    

1978
W Martin Robinson
vegetable expert.

• 1979
  • Christopher Lloyd
    Christopher Lloyd (gardener)
    Christopher Hamilton Lloyd, OBE was a British gardener and author. He was the 20th Century chronicler for the heavily planted, labour-intensive, country garden.-Life:...
    
    

1980-1989

• 1984
  • Kath Dryden - alpine plant expert
• 1985
  • Adrian Bloom
  • Fred Whitsey
• 1986
  • Lady Anne Berry
    Lady Anne Berry
    Lady Anne Sophia Berry is an English and New Zealand horticulturist who founded Rosemoor Garden. She offered the garden to the Royal Horticultural Society in 1988. In 1990 she married Bob Berry and went to live on his farm at Tiniroto, Gisborne, New Zealand...
    
    
• 1987
  • Beth Chatto
    Beth Chatto
    Beth Chatto, OBE is a British plantswoman, garden designer and author best known for creating the Beth Chatto Gardens near Elmstead Market, in the English county of Essex. She is also known for writing a number of books on gardening for specific conditions. She has lectured throughout the UK,...
    
    
• 1988
  • Roy Lancaster
    Roy Lancaster
    Roy Lancaster, OBE is a British gardener and broadcaster.Charles Roy Lancaster was born in Farnworth, Bolton, Lancashire and best known for his work on the long running BBC TV programme, Gardeners' World...
    
    

1990-1999

• 1993
  • Alan Hardy
• 1999
  • Ghillean Tolmie Prance
  • Rosemary Verey
    Rosemary Verey
    Rosemary Verey, OBE, VMH was an internationally known English garden designer, lecturer and prolific garden writer who designed the famous garden at Barnsley House, near Cirencester....
    
     (1918–2001)

2000-present

• 2002
  • David Austin (2002) for his rose breeding
• 2003
  • Peter Beales for his rose breeding and media promotion of gardening
  • Peter Seabrook
    Peter Seabrook
    Peter Seabrook is a British gardening writer and television broadcaster. He is well known for his work on the long running BBC gardening programme, Gardeners' World.He is currently the gardening correspondent of The Sun.-External links:*]]....
    
     for his rose breeding
  • Andrew Dunn for his pioneering of virus-free rootstock
• 2004
  • Ray Bilton for his work with orchid hybrids
  • David S. Ingram for his pioneering research into plant diseases
  • Alan Titchmarsh
    Alan Titchmarsh
    Alan Fred Titchmarsh, MBE DL is an English gardener, broadcaster and novelist. After working as a professional gardener and a garden journalist, he established himself as a media personality through appearances on gardening programmes...
    
     for his broadcasting and authorial gardening educational outreach
• 2005
  • Martin Lane Fox for his work in landscape garden design
  • Tony Lord
    Tony Lord (photographer)
    Tony Lord is a United Kingdom gardener, photographer and author. In 2005 the Royal Horticultural Society awarded him the Victoria Medal of Honour for his work as a garden photographer, horticultural consultant and writer....
    
     for his work as a garden photographer and horticultural consultant
  • Edmund Leopold de Rothschild
    Edmund Leopold de Rothschild
    Edmund Leopold de Rothschild, CBE, TD was an English financier, a member of the prominent Rothschild banking family of England, and a recipient of the Victoria Medal of Honour , given by the Royal Horticultural Society....
    
     for his work with rhododendron hybrids
  • Tom Wood for his administrative work promoting horticulture
• 2006
  • Jim Buttress, for his work as a garden show judge
  • Miss Sibylle Kreutzberger, for her work at Sissinghurst Castle in Kent
  • Miss Pamela Schwerdt, for her work at Sissinghurst Castle in Kent
  • Dr. Henry Oakeley, for his scientific work on orchids, the genera Lycaste, Ida and Anguloa
• 2007
  • Sir Richard Carew Pole - former RHS President
  • Colin Ellis - "for his long and distinguished service since 1983 with RHS Council and numerous committees."
  • Christopher Grey-Wilson - for "his many achievements as botanist, photographer, botanical explorer and author of many books and articles."
  • Brian Self - "for his lifetime of service to amateur and professional fruit growers."
• 2008
  • John Ravenscroft - "for his plantsmanship, entrepreneurial talent and encyclopaedic knowledge of plants."
• 2009
  • HRH The Prince of Wales- "for his passion for plants, sustainable gardening and the environment."
  • Lady Skelmersdale - July 2009
  • Lord Howick - July 2009
  • John Humphris - July 2009

External links

• "Royal Horticultural Society awards"