Perennial Plant Association awards six scholarships

HILLIARD, Ohio - The Perennial Plant Association (PPA) has named six outstanding horticulture students recipients of the 2015 Symposium Scholarship Program. Each earned a $1000 stipend in addition to complimentary registration and lodging for the 33rd Perennial Plant Symposium to be held in Baltimore, July 27 to Aug. 1. The symposium includes more than 30 sessions, eight industry tours and a trade show.

“As president of PPA and as a horticulture professor, I am very proud of the PPA’s continued support to students interested in careers in the perennial plant industry,” said Dr. Dave Sanford of Penn State University. “This award enables undergraduate students, who might otherwise not be able, to attend our national symposium, to visit nurseries, garden centers, and tour outstanding private and public gardens. The students can make the most of this opportunity to meet and learn from some of the best experts in the field as well as expand their professional network.”

The scholarship program, in its 16th year, provides students opportunities to attend lectures and tours and to network with members of the perennial industry. Each year, The Perennial Plant Association Foundation funds five scholarships. This year, due to a donation from Cavano’s Perennials Inc. in Maryland, the PPA Foundation is able to support an additional student. Ferenc Kiss of Cavano’s hopes their donation will encourage more companies to support this scholarship program in the future.

The 2015 Scholarship Recipients who will be recognized during the symposium are:

Josh Demers, a plant sciences and landscape management major attending the University of Maryland;

Christopher Lee Dowdy, a landscape contracting and design major attending the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University;

Kristen Lee Kempfert, a plant science, landscape and nursery horticulture major attending the University of Florida;

Celia LeMaistre-Matthys, a horticulture major attending the Niagara Parks School of Horticulture;

Patrick McDonough, Jr., a floriculture and nursery production major attending Delaware Valley University.

Nathan Nordstedt, a horticultural sciences major attending Kansas State University.

“The time I spent (at the Symposium) meeting the 'who's who' of the plant world, was a terrific moment in my education,” said Amanda Boggs, former scholarship recipient.

For more information, visit www.perennialplant.org.