American Horticultural Society Honors James Folsom with Liberty Hyde Bailey Award

James P. Folsom, the Telleen/Jorgensen Director of the Botanical Gardens at The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens in San Marino, Calif., has been named the 2020 recipient of the American Horticultural Society’s (AHS) Liberty Hyde Bailey Award, the organization’s highest honor, which is given to an individual who has made significant lifetime contributions to at least three of the following horticultural fields: teaching, research, communications, plant exploration, administration, art, business, and leadership.

The accolade is one of the Great American Gardeners Awards that the AHS presents annually to individuals, organizations, and businesses that represent the best in American gardening. Each of the recipients has contributed significantly to fields such as scientific research, garden communication, landscape design, youth gardening, and conservation.

Over his 35-year career at the helm of the Botanical division of The Huntington, Folsom has contributed to the gardens’ unprecedented growth. His accomplishments include creating the largest Chinese Garden in the country, expanding the Japanese Garden, adding a tropical conservatory and Children’s Garden, acquiring the Whitelock cycad collection, and formalizing research and conservation programs. Ensuring that new audiences are engaged and inspired by the world of plants has been a key focus for Folsom. His passion for plants is apparent in his spearheading of educational and interactive exhibits about them, as well as his teaching of the popular series, “Plant Science for Gardeners and Citizen Scientists.”

A prior winner of the AHS’s Professional Award and dozens of other major industry honors, Folsom writes, lectures, and teaches about a wide range of plant subjects. His latest projects are a free eBook, “A Botanical Reader,” available through Apple Books, and his website, Botany in Context. Folsom holds a bachelor’s degree in botany from Auburn University in Auburn, Ala., a master’s degree in biology from Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn., and a doctorate in research botany from the University of Texas at Austin.

On Thursday, June 18, the AHS will honor Folsom and other award recipients during the Great American Gardeners Awards Ceremony and Banquet, held at the Society’s River Farm headquarters in Alexandria, Va. For full descriptions of each award and brief biographies of this year’s recipients, please visit our 2020 Award Winners.

Founded in 1922, the American Horticultural Society is a nonprofit, 501(c)(3) organization committed to modeling, educating about, and advocating for earth-friendly and sustainable gardening practices. Our mission is to share with all Americans the critical role of plants, gardens, and green spaces in creating healthy, livable communities and a sustainable planet. Since 1973, we have been headquartered at River Farm, part of George Washington’s original land holdings on a 25-acre site composed of gardens, meadows, and woodlands along the Potomac River in the Mount Vernon section of Fairfax County. To learn more, visit https://ahsgardening.org.