The Polk County Extension Center has been notified that county extension director John Vining has been selected a national award recipient. The award is presented by the National Association of County Agricultural Agents each year.
Vining was nominated and chosen for the Communications Award for his “2010 Showstopper Plants” publication. His nomination was under the fact sheet category.
The Showstopper Plants program is a statewide publication and promotion that annually selects five promising landscape plants in the N.C. nursery industry. The project is co-sponsored by the North Carolina Nursery & Landscape Association and the NC Cooperative Extension Service. The program was begun in 2008 and Vining writes the text and selects the photographs for the color fact sheet each year.
“The project is a team effort,” said Vining. “We have an exceptional committee of extension horticulturists from across North Carolina who help select the ‘showstopper’ plants. We couldn’t have a better partner than the Nursery and Landscape Association. They have supported and funded the project from the very first.”
According to Larry Williams, national chair for the NACAA Communications Committee, “tTe entries represent the finest examples of extension communications efforts from entries nationwide.”
Anyone interested in receiving a copy of the most recent “Showstopper Plants” publication can find it online at www.cals.ncsu.edu/extgardener; click on the 2011 Showstopper Plants link. A printed copy is also available from the Polk County Extension Center in Columbus.
– article submitted
by John Vining