New York State Nursery and Landscape Association awarded Mark Bridgen with its top honor — the Dr. George L. Good Gold Medal of Horticulture — in an August 20 ceremony in the courtyard of the Horticulture Building at the New York State Fair.

The award recognizing outstanding contributions by an individual to horticulture in the State of New York is named for George Good, who spent his entire career supporting nurseries and landscaping businesses on the faculty of Cornell University’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. Good was an active, engaged member of NYSNLA and received the Gold Medal of Horticulture himself in 1997. After his death in 2008, the award was rechristened the George L. Good Gold Medal of Horticulture in his honor.

Bridgen and others recognized at the ceremony remind us “that behind every thriving garden, successful landscape project, or innovative nursery practice is a passionate individual devoted to growth—of plants, of people, and of community,” said NYSNLA President Beth Fry.