In addition, the KCMG project “Gardening Tips Live!” tied for 3rd place in the Community Service category for the International 2023 SFE awards. The program, which airs on Facebook, is hosted by KCMG volunteers Amy Haun, Tobi Johnson, Brian Townsend, Rosanne Smith and Margeaux Emery. It answers live questions and provides weekly gardening information for more than 18,000 gardeners participating in the Knoxville Area Gardening Tips Facebook group. Each show averages 400 views and is available on Facebook. It also received a state 1st place SFE award at last year’s state conference.

“KCMG is happy to receive this international recognition of our dedicated master gardeners by their world-wide peers. We're so proud of each of the recipients, who represent more than 200 passionate Knox County master gardeners.” By Rosanne Smith, president of KCMG.

“I am so excited for our hard-working Knox County Master Gardeners to receive recognition at the international level,” said Rylan Thompson, master gardener coordinator, Tennessee State University Extension. “These volunteers, along with many others, work tirelessly to offer practical and useful research-based horticulture information in the community. Their innovations have allowed us to reach an ever growing audience, and I can’t wait to see what comes next,” he added.

The awards were presented at the International Master Gardener Conference June 18-22 in Overland Park, KS, which attracted more than 1,100 master gardeners from throughout the world.

The international Search for Excellence Awards are named in honor of David Gibby, founder of the first extension master gardener program at Washington State University. 

KCMG, a Tennessee non-profit 501 (c) (3), is a University of Tennessee Extension program with more than 200 active members who perform volunteer activities in the county, answer garden questions for homeowners and educate new master gardeners each year.

Submitted by Nancy Howell, Knox County Master Gardeners  865-661-0091  nhowell@utk.edu