November 6, 2018
International Plant propagators recognize Peggy Walsh Craig
IPPS Eastern Region Past President, Dale Pierson presents the award to Peggy Walsh Craig.
Peggy Walsh Craig recently received the 2018 Award of Merit from the Eastern Region of the International Plant Propagators’ Society (IPPS) at their annual meeting in Newark, Delaware.

The Award of Merit is the Region’s highest award, given for exceptional service to the Society and to the advancement of the field of propagation and production. Walsh Craig was previously elected as a Fellow of the Eastern Region of the IPPS at their 2009 conference in Cleveland, OH.

An IPPS member since 1979, Walsh Craig has contributed unselfishly to IPPS. She served as a Director on the Eastern Region Board from 2007-2010, and as President of the Region in 2015. She has served on numerous committees over the years, most notably Long-Range Planning and as Chair of the Publicity Committee. She is currently completing a two-year term as Eastern Region Alternate Delegate to the IPPS International Board of Directors. The Eastern Region has benefited from Peggy’s keen editorial eye, which she turns toward the monthly newsletter and toward the Society’s Constitution and Operations Manual, where she has spearheaded reviews and revisions. She has assisted in arranging area meetings, coordinated tours, and presented papers at annual meetings. Peggy served on the IPPS Eastern Region Foundation Board of Directors for three years where she is currently serving as secretary. Peggy is an advocate for IPPS, frequently telling growers, “You should belong to IPPS! It’s the very best organization in the business for production and propagation information.”

After graduating from the University of Guelph in horticulture in 1976, Walsh Craig worked for 10 years in wholesale nurseries in southern Ontario. She helped grow, sell and ship tens of thousands of trees and shrubs. She also worked at the Royal Botanical Gardens in Hamilton, Ont., for a year as a Plant Records Technician. Walsh Craig has published over 100 articles in trade journals and gardening magazines.

From 1991-2011, Walsh Craig was the Managing Director of the Canadian Ornamental Plant Foundation (COPF). COPF provided effective solutions in the management of propagation rights to growers and breeders for the benefit of the industry for 50 years. Peggy worked to educate the ornamentals industry both inside and outside Canada about plant patents and Plant Breeders’ Rights. Under Peggy’s direction of COPF, gross royalty income for ornamental plant breeders grew by 500 per cent as she turned a fledgling entity into a world-class organization.

Walsh Craig has also worked hard on numerous conservation issues. Peggy’s daughter, Mariah, states that her mother, “has always been ahead of her time when it comes to being environmentally friendly.”