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The Award of Garden Merit (AGM) is a long-established annual award for plants by the British Royal Horticultural Society (RHS). It is based on assessment of the plants' performance under UK growing conditions.


History

The Award of Garden Merit is a mark of quality awarded, since 1922, to garden plants (including trees, vegetables and decorative plants) by the United Kingdom, Royal Horticultural Society (RHS). Awards are made annually after plant trials intended to judge the plants' performance under UK growing conditions. Trials may last for one or more years, depending on the type of plant being analyzed, and may be performed at Royal Horticulture Society Garden in Wisley and other gardens or after observation of plants in specialist collections. Trial reports are made available as booklets and on the website. Awards are reviewed annually in case plants have become unavailable horticulturally, or have been superseded by better cultivars.


Similar awards

The award should not be confused with the Royal Horticulture Society's
Award of Merit The Award of Merit, or AM, is a mark of quality awarded to plants by the British Royal Horticultural Society (RHS). The award was instituted in 1888, and given on the recommendation of Plant Committees to plants deemed "of great merit for exhibitio ...
(AM), given to plants deemed "of great merit for exhibition" i.e. for show, not garden, plants.''RHS Plant Finder 2005-2006'', Dorling Kindersley (2005) Since 1989, France has had similar awards called the Mérites de Courson, but these are drawn from a limited number of plants submitted by nurserymen to juries at the twice-yearly Journées des Plantes de Courson and awards are based solely on the opinions of the jury members as to the plants' likely performance in French gardens, rather than on extensive trials. All-America Selections is an independent non-profit organization that tests new, never-before-sold varieties for the home gardener. Plants of Merit are plants selected for their outstanding quality and dependable performance for the lower Midwest United States.


Reviews

The Award of Garden Merit was reviewed in 1992, to increase its usefulness and prestige. Field trial results gained weight in the assessments and existing AGM plants were reviewed in the light of more recent experience. The AGMs were to be reviewed at 10 year intervals from 1992, but this frequency has been increased to annually. The 2012/13 review, with advice from experts such as Royal Horticultural Society's plant committees, specialist societies, Plant Heritage National Collection holders and others, resulted in many changes. Nearly 1,900 plants lost their merit awards and more than 1,400 plants gained awards; the list included 7,073 plants after the review.


Rescission

Plants may be added to the Royal Horticultural Society "Sunset List" for rescission for several reasons, including unavailability to gardeners, better plants becoming available, affliction by pests or diseases, or insufficient uniformity.


Criteria

To qualify for an Award of Garden Merit, a plant * must be available horticulturally * must be of outstanding excellence for garden decoration or use * must be of good constitution * must not require highly specialist growing conditions or care * must not be particularly susceptible to any pest or disease * must not be subject to an unreasonable degree of reversion. The "Award of Garden Merit" symbol represents a cup-shaped trophy with handles. It is cited together with a hardiness rating as follows: * H1 Requires a heated glasshouse ** H1a Warmer than 15°C/59F: tropical plants for indoors and heated greenhouses ** H1b 10°C/50F to 15°C/59F: subtropical plants for indoors and heated greenhouses ** H1c 5°C/41F to 10°C/50F: warm temperate plants that can go outdoors in summer * H2 1°C/34F to 5°C/41F: plants that need a frost-free greenhouse in winter * H3 −5°C/23F to 1°C/34F: hardy outside in some regions or situations, or which - while usually grown outside in summer - need frost protection in winter (e.g. dahlias) * H4 −10°C/14F to −5°C/23F: plants hardy outside in most of the UK in an average winter * H5 −15°C/5F to −10°C/14F: plants hardy outside in most of the UK in severe winters * H6 −20°C/−4F to −15°C/5F: plants hardy outside in the UK and northern Europe * H7 Colder than −20°C/−4F: plants hardy outside in the severest European climates


See also

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List of Award of Garden Merit camellias Below is a selected list of camellia cultivars which currently (2016) hold the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit. Camellias are popular shrubs of medium to large size (typically 1 to 4 cubic metres), originating in China and t ...
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List of Award of Garden Merit clematis Over 70 species and cultivars of clematis currently (2016) possess the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit, reflecting this plant's continued popularity in gardens in the United Kingdom. ''Clematis'' is a genus of woody based pere ...
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List of Award of Garden Merit dahlias The following is a list of dahlia cultivars which have gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit. They are tuberous perennials, originally from South America, with showy daisy-like composite flowerheads in all shades and co ...
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List of Award of Garden Merit dianthus Below is a list of ''Dianthus'' species and cultivars which have gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit. This is an important group of more-or-less fragrant summer-flowering perennial garden plants, which can be divided into ...
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List of Award of Garden Merit flowering cherries The following tree species and cultivars in the genus ''Prunus'' (family Rosaceae) currently (2016) hold the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit. All are described as flowering or ornamental cherries, though they have mixed parent ...
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List of Award of Garden Merit magnolias Below is a list of magnolia species and cultivars which currently (2016) hold the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit. Magnolias are shrubs or trees which put on a showy display of tulip-like flowers, often scented, in early to late ...
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List of Award of Garden Merit maples The maples belong to the genus ''Acer'', an important group of mainly deciduous trees and shrubs in the family Sapindaceae, which are widely cultivated throughout the temperate northern hemisphere. Some, such as ''Acer griseum'', have ornamental b ...
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List of Award of Garden Merit narcissus Below is a selected list of '' Narcissus'' species, varieties and cultivars which currently (2020) hold the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit (AGM). Narcissus (daffodils) are bulbous perennials which are usually planted as dorm ...
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List of Award of Garden Merit rhododendrons The following is a list of rhododendron cultivars and species which have gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit. They are mostly hardy evergreen shrubs with abundant, brilliantly-coloured, trumpet-shaped flowers, often in l ...
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List of Award of Garden Merit roses The following is a selected list of rose varieties and cultivars which currently (2017) hold the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit. List of roses This sortable list allows users to view roses alphabetically by breeder, colour, e ...
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List of Award of Garden Merit sweet peas The following sweet pea (''Lathyrus odoratus'') cultivars have gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit. They are annuals grown as twining climbers, with flowers in pastel shades from white through pink to blue and deep pur ...
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List of Award of Garden Merit tulips The following is a list of tulip species and cultivars which have gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit. They are bulbous perennial plant, perennials, originally from sunny, open habitats in Europe and Asia. Thousands of cu ...


References

*''RHS Plant Finder 2005–2006'', Dorling Kindersley (2005)


External links


The Royal Horticultural Society's website - Search facility for AGM plants

RHS AGM Plant Awards

RHS Plant Committees

Search for AGM plants
The Royal Horticultural Society
Complete AGM lists
{{Royal Horticultural Society Royal Horticultural Society Gardening in the United Kingdom Plant awards