The
American Horticultural Society (AHS) is pleased to announce that
Kentucky's Yew Dell Botanical Gardens Executive Director Paul E. Cappiello
has been named the 2013 recipient of the Society's most prestigious
award, the Liberty Hyde Bailey Award. This honor is one of 12 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, teaching, and
conservation. The Liberty Hyde Bailey Award 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.
Researcher, educator, plant breeder, and
author, Cappiello was named executive director of Yew Dell
Botanical Gardens in Crestwood, Kentucky, in 2002 as part of a plan
to transition the private estate and nursery of Theodore and Martha
Lee Klein into a public garden. Today, Yew Dell's national
reputation as a center for horticultural excellence is widely
attributed to Cappiello's leadership. Prior to Yew Dell, Cappiello
was horticulture director at the Bernheim Arboretum and Research
Forest in Clermont, Kentucky, for five years.
After receiving his bachelor's degree in
environmental planning and design from Rutgers University,
Cappiello continued his education at the University of Illinois,
earning both his master's degree and doctorate in horticulture. He
taught at the University of Maine from 1988 to 1997, and was named
teacher of the year in the College of Natural Resources, Forestry,
and Agriculture in 1994. Cappiello continues to teach plant
identification and propagation classes at Yew Dell, and has been an
adjunct associate professor of horticulture at the University of
Kentucky since 1998. Cappiello also lends his expertise to the
local community by advising on tree selection for the Parklands, a
4,000-acre public park system in Louisville.
Cappiello's research on topics such as
cold tolerance and ornamental qualities has been published in
numerous scientific journals and green industry publications. He
has also written many articles about ornamental plants for consumer
periodicals. Together with Tennessee nurseryman Don Shadow, he
co-authored Dogwoods: the Genus Cornus, published in 2005 by Timber
Press. His plant evaluation, breeding, and selection efforts have
resulted in several introductions, including Cornus florida
'Juanita' and Hydrangea arborescens ssp. radiata 'Silver Flash'.
The Garden Club of America recognized
Cappiello's leadership abilities with a Zone Horticulture
Certificate of Acknowledgement in 2005. The International Plant
Propagators' Society, for which Cappiello currently serves as
Eastern Region president, elected him a Fellow in 2008 for
outstanding contributions both to the organization and in the field
of plant propagation and production through research and teaching
in the green industry. Most recently, he received the Kentucky
Nursery and Landscape Association Award of Special Merit in
2012.
On Thursday, June 6, 2013, the AHS will
honor Cappiello and the other 2013 award recipients during the
Great American Gardeners Awards Ceremony and Banquet, held at the
Society's headquarters at River Farm in Alexandria,
Virginia.
Images
are available upon request. For more information on this award, or
the overall Great American Gardeners Award program, please contact
Viveka Neveln at (703) 768-5700 ext. 120, or vneveln@ahs.org
. For more information about Paul Cappiello and Yew
Dell Botanical Gardens, please contact Jackie Gulbe at (502)
241-4788 or jackieg@yewdellgardens.org
.
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