Plant propagators honour Keith Osborne

Keith Osborne was recently honoured with the Fellow Award during the 2017 IPPS Eastern Region Conference, held in Grand Rapids, Mich., in mid-October.

A long-time member of the International Plant Propagators' Society (IPPS), Osborne is a sales representative at Gro-Bark (Ontario), a supplier of soil, amendments and mulch, located in Caledon, Ont.

Osborne has shown strong leadership as a director on the Eastern Region board of directors (2011-14) and creative enthusiasm as chair of the 2014 Local Site Committee. Osborne has been heavily involved in organizing IPPS Area Meetings for Ontario and has been very successful in developing and executing the sponsorship role since 2015. Osborne is currently on staff as the IPPS Eastern Region board sponsorship coordinator. Without sponsorship funds, the operating budget for IPPS Eastern Region would have to be dramatically curtailed.

Osborne began his career assisting his parents with their garden centre in Blenheim, Ont. He then went on to study business and finance and eventually plant biology at the University of Guelph.

The International Plant Propagators’ Society is a non-profit organization of over 1,600 members organized into eight separate regions around the world. Their membership is made up of those with a professional interest in plant propagation and production from businesses, colleges and universities, botanic gardens and arboreta. The motto of the organization is “To Seek and To Share” knowledge and experience in plant propagation and production.

Landscape Ontario and IPPS would like to congratulate Keith on receiving this well-deserved honour.