The Garden Media Guild (GMG) awards are the gardening world’s annual opportunity to gussy up, schmooze and generally congratulate themselves for a job well done. It is jolly in an unthreatening kind of a way, and people who’ve been tend to return.
This year’s ceremony took place Thursday, at the Intercontinental Hotel in Park Lane. Matthew Wilson presided over things with a tolerable mixture of self-effacing charm and smarm. Lamb was served, widely agreed to be “better than last year.” Even Raymond Blanc seemed to enjoy it.
To speed things along (there were 20 prizes to give out), only two attendees were allowed to speak for any length of time. Dr David Hessayon gave a mildly incoherent ramble of the gardening books industry, in which he may have announced his retirement. Alan Titchmarsh steadied things with a call to arms for young gardeners. He seemed to have recovered from being booted off next year’s Chelsea Flower Show coverage, as he invoked Martin Luther King’s “I have a dream” speech to get youngsters out of their hoodies and onto allotments. Or possibly still in their hoodies, but onto allotments. Stirring stuff, at any rate.
There was glory for the Telegraph table. Tim Richardson won Inspirational Book of the Year, while Mark Diacono won Book Photographer of the Year, and his occasional colleague Jason Ingram was Photographer of the Year. Val Bourne was shortlisted for three awards – although sadly won none of them. She remained her cheerful self.
Best Publication went to Gardeners’ World, because it usually does. Unofficial Too Cool For School badges for Monty Don and Alys Fowler, who won but were absent. The lifetime achievement went to Stefan Buczacki, who promised to keep ruffling feathers and speaking harsh truth to horicultural power.
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