OGSA wishes to congratulate Merilyn Kuchel on being awarded the Order of Australia Medal in this week's Queen's Birthday Honours for her service to horticultural and botanical organisations in South Australia.

Merilyn was the Open Gardens Australia Coordinator for SA/NT from 1997 to 2005 and was important in setting up Open Garden South Australia as a Foundation and Committee Member in 2015 and has greatly contributed as a Garden Selector. She has been involved with the Adelaide Botanic Gardens and the State Herbarium, is the President of the Friends of the Botanic Gardens of Adelaide, has been the President of the Mediterranean Garden Society and is the Garden Coordinator for the National Trust at Beaumont House.

She has been a member of the Native Garden Initiative, the Sustainable Landscapes Project, the Green Infrastructure Programme and a Lecturer at the Adelaide Hills College of TAFE. She is a Trustee of the Pioneer Women's Memorial Garden and a Member of the Australian Garden History Society.

Merilyn has been generous with her assistance and knowledge to the gardening and horticultural community in South Australia who recognise that this honour is very well deserved.