By Stephanie Schupska
University of
Georgia

University of Georgia horticulture professor Allan Armitage received the D.W. Brooks
Faculty Award for Excellence in Teaching Oct. 3 in Athens, Ga.

The award, which includes a framed certificate and $5,000, is given in honor of D.W.
Brooks, founder of Gold Kist Inc. and Cotton States Mutual Insurance Companies.
Brooks was an advisor on agriculture and trade issues to seven U.S. presidents.

Armitage is well known as a writer, speaker and researcher. He has evaluated
garden plants in Montreal, Quebec; East Lansing, Mich.; and now in Athens, Ga.

As a teacher and speaker, Armitage has lectured in Canada, the United States,
Colombia, New Zealand, Australia and Europe. He teaches courses in greenhouse
production, greenhouse crop management and herbaceous plant identification and
useage. He has received many teaching, writing and research awards.

Armitage is also in charge of the UGA Horticulture Gardens, which are supported by
growers and plant breeders around the world.

The author of 11 books, Armitage is best known for his classroom and reference
text, “Herbaceous Garden Perennials, a Treatise of Identification, Culture and
Garden Attributes.” In 2005, he was nominated for Georgia author of the year for
“Armitage’s Specialty Annuals.”

A prolific and respected writer, he has written more than 350 articles and journal
papers. In a monthly column for Greenhouse Grower Magazine, he discusses new
crops and new trends.

Armitage’s long interest in new crops for the garden, greenhouse and field has
taken him to gardens all over the world. His new crop program has resulted in many
introductions to the ornamental trade. Lately, his research focuses on the use of
woody shrubs for the greenhouse and retail industry.

Other D.W. Brooks honorees this year were Joseph F.
Frank, research; John P.
Beasley, extension; Sandra F.
McKinney, public service extension programs; and
Anna V.A.
Resurreccion, international agriculture.