The Tony Norris Award
The Tony Norris Award for significant new developments in the breeding of Nerine and related genera, including Galanthus but excluding Narcissus.
The Award marks the work done by Tony Norris in experimenting with crossing different species of Nerine to produce new cultivars. Much of this work is largely unappreciated today but some of his remarkable crosses remain in cultivation. It also marks his enormous contribution to nerines in the establishment of the Nerine Society, his Nerine Nursery (and the resulting National Plant Collections) and his diligence in studying the species in the wild and collecting and documenting nerines in cultivation.
The aims of the Award are to:
encourage those interested in raising new cultivars in this field to experiment with a different range of species or forms in their hybrids
develop a distinctive programme of breeding and
create plants which in themselves could be the beginning of a new direction in the appearance and form of the inflorescence or other attributes of the plant.
SCOPE OF THE AWARD
The Award is for a significant new development in the breeding in and between the genera Amaryllis, Brunsvigia, Crinum, Nerine and Galanthus. Other genera less well known in horticulture (e.g. Strumaria, Boophone) might be added at the discretion of the judging panel.
Significant developments may include (but not exclusively):
crosses between species not previously attempted,
between different species in different genera that have not been made before,
different selections of species that have already been used in hybrids to give rise to crosses that are distinctively different to those which have been created before and have potential for advancing the development of new cultivars of horticultural merit.
The Award may also go to distinctly new developments in existing hybrids, such as new colour breaks, new colour patterns, or in form or appearance of the inflorescence, or hardiness, or even foliage characteristics.
Examples of plants that might have been recipients of the Award include Nerine 'Zeal Giant' and Nerine 'Tamilla'.
The scope is limited as above deliberately as breeding in other Amaryllids, such as daffodils, are already recognised by other awards or other specialist groups with interests in these Amaryllids. The scope corresponds to what is the core interest of the Society.
NOMINATION
The plant propsed for the Award may be put forward by the raiser of the plant or by someone else who feels that the plant merits the Award. In the case of the latter, it may be made without the knowledge of the raiser. The plant may have been raised in any country. The Award is not restricted to the UK. The plant may be in commerce. Nominations shoud be sent to the Secretary of the Nerine and Amaryllid Society.
PERIOD
The plant proposed must have been raised within the last twenty years. The Award may be made annually, but if the nominated plants are not deemed worthy of the Award by the judging panel, the Award may not be made for that year.
TO MAKE A NOMINATION
Download the form below. Please return the completed form by email or hard copy to the Secretary, as indicated on the form.
Recipient
2023 Galanthus plicatus 'Golden Fleece', the first yellow-marked pterugiform Galanthus, raised by Joe Sharman