Beth DiGioia, the 2016 recipient of the Collin County Master Gardeners Association’s Lifetime Achievement Award, grew up where gardening was watching her mother toss marigold seeds out the front door and seeing what came up.
She described joining CCMGA Class of 2002 as a natural transition into something she loves. Two years after certifying, she served as CCMGA treasurer, and in 2004, Beth earned Advanced Propagation Specialist designation. She later chaired the Presentation Review Committee, which wrote PowerPoint Presentations for what became the CCMGA Speaker Bureau. She Chaired the Committee to plan CCMGA’s 25th Anniversary Celebration, assisting in the creation of a video that won First Place in the “Search for Excellence” Awards at the 2023 Texas Master Gardeners Conference.
She created the Pass Along Plant Sale, which developed into the Texas SuperStar plant sale, as well as The Bulb Sale, which she ran for two years.
Beth calls herbs her “first love”. She taught Herbs and Propagation classes to incoming Master Gardener classes for more than a decade, and authored CCMGA curriculum across various subjects. She has been a Member-at-Large of The Herb Society of America since 2012 and co-founded the Herb Guild.
A self-proclaimed “lifetime learner”, Beth frequently presents programs through the Speakers Bureau and at CCMGA monthly meetings. She earned a degree in Ornamental Horticulture from Richland College in 2017.
She has written for The Art of Living Beautifully, still writes for Fairview Living and Lucas Living, and is especially proud of co-creating the Potager Garden at Myers Park in McKinney. Most recently, she retired from running her small woman-owned business L³=h², which stands for “live, love, laugh = happiness squared”. Beth has always been intent on sharing her expertise with others and encouraging others to do the same.