The British Garden Media Guild held its awards lunch this week and I'm delighted to say that Transatlantic Gardener was a finalist in the Blog of The Year category for the second time. The winner was Mark Diacono for his Otter Farm Blog (left, click to enlarge). Congratulations Mark. Here's what the judges had to say:

"Mark Diacono’s blog from Otter Farm is highly personal, entertaining, beautifully written and full of diverse elements – some educational, some just plain funny. Most recently these include Mark attempting to play cricket with pigs to a description of him trapped sweating in a tractor cab after having run over a wasps’ nest. He fully exploits the medium using not only timely, well-wrought words, but also beautiful photography and video clips. The site is easily negotiated and packed with interest."

Quite right.

The other worthy finalists were:

James Alexander-Sinclair for Blogging from Blackpitts
Dawn Isaac for Little Green Fingers
Lia Leendertz for Midnight Brambling

All are well worth reading - whichever side of the Atlantic you're on. Interestingly, apart from the loss of often entertaining but sometimes excruciating Mathew Appleby's Gardening Blog, the list of finalists was almost the same as last year. All these blogs combine good writing with smart ideas.

I was also especially pleased to see Nigel Colborn receive the Lifetime Achievement Award, be sure to check out his Silvertreedaze blog, and Which? Gardening (for US readers, this magazine is like a horticultural Consumer Reports) won the award for Garden Publication of The Year.

Lots of worthy winners, all examples of good horticultural communication. You can check out all the winners on the Garden Media Guild Awards page.