The award was bestowed by the Worshipful Company of Gardeners, the guild of professionals and amateurs actively involved and united by horticulture and gardens. The guild’s history dates back to 1345 and is a survivor from the medieval craft guilds which exercised control over the practice of their particular crafts and ensured a proper training through the system of apprenticeship.
Jekka McVicar VMH was the recipient of the Prince Edward Award for Excellence in Horticultural Career Development, an award which intends to highlight real excellence in the field of horticulture. The award focuses largely, (but not exclusively) on Horticultural Education and Career Development in the widest sense and is given to an individual who, through their outstanding influence on the art, craft and science of horticulture, has inspired others to enter, study, progress and develop their careers in the field. McVicar was presented with her award by the Master of the Worshipful Company of Gardeners, Mr Nicholas Woolf OBE at the Barber-Surgeons’ Hall on the 24th of April.
According to the Guild, candidates for the Prince Edward Award are individuals or enterprises that offer innovative and effective ways of motivating people to take up horticulture as a career. They facilitate the advancement of individuals in their chosen horticulture fields, provide excellence in career development, or simply be seen as inspirational.
Dubbed ‘the Queen of Herbs’ by chef Jamie Oliver, McVicar was awarded the Garden Media Guild Lifetime Achievement Award (2012) and the RHS Victoria Medal of Honour (2017). In 2012 she became the first woman in a century to chair the judging of the Great Pavilion at RHS Chelsea Flower Show. McVicar is the author of several books with the most recent, 100 Herbs to Grow: a comprehensive guide to the best Culinary and Medicinal Herbs. Her best-selling herb book, Jekka’s Complete Herb Book reached one million sales in 2014. She is currently a Vice-President of the RHS, President of the Friends of the Bristol Botanic Garden and President of the West of England Herb Group.