Horticulture Research Institute awards college scholarships

WASHINGTON – The Horticultural Research Institute, the research affiliate of the American Nursery & Landscape Association, has awarded college scholarships to two students.

The 2010 Muggets Scholarship of $1,000 was awarded to Colorado State University sophomore Daniel Buelow. The 2010 Spring Meadow Nursery Scholarship of $1,500 went to Emily Silverman, a North Carolina State University senior.

An informal group called the Mugget Growers of America (MGA) began in 1981 as a social, educational and fundraising group. Each year MGA participants meet at the ANLA Clinic to discuss important plant issues while contributing to the Muggets scholarship fund. The Spring Meadow Scholarship Fund was established in 1999 by Dale and Liz Deppe of Spring Meadow Nursery in Grand Haven, Mich.

Buelow is majoring in environmental horticulture with a concentration in nursery and landscape management.

“I was given the amazing opportunity by The Bruce Company of Middleton, Wis., in 2006, to work at their garden center as a retail nursery salesman,” Buelow said. “This was a life-changing experience in which I gained an overwhelming interest in horticulture and helping others.

"Finally, one day I came to the realization that even after working and learning at this garden center for nearly two and a half years, I still found myself asking more questions about horticulture than I had answers. I understood at that point that if I was going to enjoy a career in horticulture and take the next step, I was going to have to get a quality horticulture education. … With this degree, I truly believe that I will not have any limitations as to where or what I can do in the horticulture industry.”

Silverman, who is majoring in horticulture, has the professional goal of becoming an ornamental plant breeder. 

“Horticulture gave me new insight to the plant breeding world and expanded my focus to ornamentals, small fruit and vegetable crops,” she said.  “I want to help the world and contribute useful introductions through plant breeding.

“This scholarship will help me finish my undergraduate degree, and it means that I can focus more on my classes and work fewer hours while I am in my last semesters. I greatly appreciate this scholarship. It means a lot to me.”