Every year since 1999, as part of the Great Gardening Weekend at Montréal’s Jardin botanique, the prestigious Henry Teuscher Award has been presented to someone whose work has made an outstanding contribution to the advancement of horticulture in Quebec.
As the presentation of the 2020 award had to be cancelled because of the pandemic, the jury will this year exceptionally be bestowing two awards in a virtual ceremony to be held from 10:30 to 11:30 a.m. on May 28. The 2021 award winner, Marc Légaré, has been contributing to the advancement of ornamental horticulture in Quebec for over 44 years, including 31 as a nursery advisor to the IQDHO, the Centre d’expertise en horticulture ornamentale du Québec. The 2020 award winner, Maurice Beauchamp, is a graduate of the school of the Jardin botanique de Montréal, where he had a 33-year career. A horticulture student at the Jardin botanique in the early 1950s, he climbed the ladder from gardener to foreperson to assistant superintendent, chief arboriculturist and then superintendent.
2021 Recipient: Marc Légaré
A true walking encyclopedia and unparalleled scientific communicator, Marc Légaré is ever willing to share his knowledge, crisscrossing Québec to pass on his know-how to all those involved in nursery production.
Over the years, professionals of the cultivated plant production chain have benefited from his expertise at all phases of their work, from planning to phytoprotection.
Always keen to learn more about the latest developments in his area of expertise, Marc Légaré has also played an active role in a wide variety of projects. He writes popular science articles and develops workshops, training courses and lectures. He has also sat on numerous committees and taken part in different projects, including developing BNQ nursery standards, putting together guides on various aspects of plant production (through the nursery workshop of the CPVQ, now the CRAAQ), assessing the phytosanitary condition of Montréal green spaces and making recommendations on plants suited for shorelines and buffer strips. Active in the Service de veille phytosanitaire (SVP, or phytosanitary monitoring service) since 1996, Marc keeps towns and cities, maintenance departments, garden centres and green spaces informed about phytosanitary infestations. This senior nursery advisor, now a mentor, is an inspiration to the next generation, who dream of following in his footsteps at the IQDHO. Marc Légaré is a leading light of Québec’s ornamental horticultural industry and is widely recognized by his peers and the industry as one of the people who has done the most to advance nursery production in Québec. He can even take pride in having a larch named after him, the Larix laricina “Marc Légaré” at the Jardin Scullion, which is the result of a genetic selection he made and rescued in extremis through multiple grafts.
2020 Recipient: Maurice Beauchamp
A leader who has devoted over 33 years of his career to the Jardin botanique de Montréal, Maurice Beauchamp has acquired extensive horticultural and administrative knowledge and experience along the way that have enabled him to play a major role in horticultural development, among both professionals and amateurs, both here and abroad. In Québec, he brilliantly carried out the major “Villes, Villages et Campagnes fleuris” project. He was chosen to head it up by former Québec Minister of Agriculture Jean Garon in order to breathe new life into it and raise the profile of landscape architects. The contests are still run today under the names “Maisons Fleuries” and “Les Fleurons.”
Maurice Beauchamp has also sat on the International Association of Horticultural Producers (AIPH) and the International Horticultural Association (IHA) and served as president of the Fédération des sociétés d’horticulture et d’écologie du Québec. He led the federation from 1985 to 1990, bringing together within it a record number of small companies. Driven by a desire to provide opportunities for exchange and interaction between horticultural enthusiasts, Maurice promoted the holding of annual conventions in various municipalities across Québec, including Montréal, Québec City, Chicoutimi, Trois-Rivières, Sherbrooke, Granby and Mont-Laurier.
The Henry Teuscher Award past and present
A visionary and passionate botanist and landscape architect, Henry Teuscher (1891–1984) designed the Jardin botanique de Montréal. He worked closely with Brother Marie-Victorin and was also responsible for designing several of the exhibition greenhouses and assembling some of the garden’s main plant collections. Since it was founded in 1999, the Henry Teuscher Award has been presented to
Danielle Dagenais (2019), André Poliquin (2018), Yves Gagnon (2017), Bertrand Dumont (2016), Claude Vallée (2015), Albert Mondor (2014), Isabelle Dupras (2013), Francis H. Cabot (2012, posthumously), Hélène Leclerc (2011), Jacques-André Rioux (2010), Elsie Reford and Alexander Reford (2009), Jean-Claude Vigor (2008), Émile Jacqmain (2007), Fred Oehmichen (2006), Daniel A. Séguin (2005), Gaëtan Hamel (2004), Milan B. Havlin (2003), Henri and Camille Perron (2002), Wilfrid Meloche (2001), Roger Van den Hende (2000) and Tony Huber (1999).
Focus on the ecological transition at the Jardin botanique
From May 28 to 30, the Jardin botanique is inviting gardeners to take part in a revamped version of The Great Little Gardening Weekend.
With some 30 exhibitors and a special focus on explaining how you yourself can contribute to the ecological transition, this annual event is organizing sessions with experts on urban farming, buying locally, gardening without pesticides, composting, putting in green spaces, community science, protecting biodiversity and sustainable development. The experts on hand will be pleased to share their knowledge and will be offering exceptional plants and products at their booths. Also on the program: Boosting biodiversity with the My Space for Life Garden program, community science with Mission Monarch, urban farming with Cultiver Montréal and a guided tour of the phytotechnology stations at the Jardin botanique.
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About Espace pour la vie
Espace pour la vie is made up of five major attractions: the Biodôme, the Biosphere, the Insectarium, the Jardin botanique and the Planétarium Rio Tinto Alcan. These prestigious municipal institutions form Canada’s largest natural science museum complex. Together, they are launching a daring, creative urban movement, encouraging all of us to rethink the connection between humankind and nature and cultivate a new way of living.