Golden Poppy Awards

Celebrating Community

The Golden Poppy Awards began in 2004. Board member Paula Walker initiated the idea, a set of beautiful heavy bronze plaques were made and judging districts and criteria were developed.

The Golden Poppy Awards recognize gardens that “give to the street” and beautify their neighborhoods, enhancing the community for everyone. Altadena Heritage presents these awards each spring at a garden party held at one of the many special places in this diverse and unusual community.

Criteria

The Gold Poppy Awards are presented to gardens that “give to the street”. They are gardens that enhance the beauty of Altadena’s neighborhoods and contribute to the community. Although the rules are not extremely strict, we aim to highlight gardens that are environmentally sustainable and many that utilize drought tolerant and native planting.

Process

Each spring, members of the Altadena Heritage Board tour every street in Altadena. Dividing the community into electoral districts they draw up a shortlist of 2 or 3 gardens from each.

A judging committee gets together to debate and collaborate all the choices and a final list of four winners are selected.

Awards and Celebration

Each May, members of Altadena Heritage and their guests gather together for their annual garden party and awards ceremony.

Winning gardens and gardeners are celebrated, the famous plaques are distributed for a two year period and members of the Altadena community socialize and have fun.

Golden Poppy Awards and Garden Party 2024

We invited you to join your neighbors to celebrate the beautiful front yards in our town. Teams of dedicated judges walked and viewed every street in town to find the gardens that best “give to the street”.

This outdoor event was held in one of the premier gardens in Altadena. Mark Dizik and John Oden have created an amazing, beautiful landscape on Midlothian Drive. The yard’s design process was featured in an episode of Landscaper’s Challenge and was a wonderful space for our ceremony.