IGOTY Award Winners

Chris Beytes

This year’s Internation-al Grower of the Year is ... Brookdale Treeland Nurseries (BTN) of Canada!

Steven van Schilfgaarde, CEO of Royal FloraHolland, and I were on the stage to announce the name and present BTN with the coveted Gold Rose award at the AIPH International Grower of the Year (IGOTY) Awards Ceremony on Tuesday night of the IPM show in January.

BTN is one of the largest and most respected growers of garden plants in Canada. They service garden retailers, landscape contractors, municipalities and golf courses throughout Canada and the United States. With four farms in Ontario and one in British Columbia, BTN has a land base of more than 800 acres.

Pictured: Young IGOTY winner Eliot Barden with Leonardo Capitanio, president of AIPH.

Pictured: Representatives from Brookdale Treeland Nurseries, winner of this year’s IGOTY Award.

Founded in 2009, the IGOTY Awards recognize best practices in horticulture by the top ornamental production nurseries from around the globe, celebrating the expertise and energy they give to horticulture.

Jeff Olsen, President and CEO of BTN, commented: “We feel amazing, so blessed, to be honored with these awards. It means so much to me personally and our whole team back in Canada. We’re so excited to tell them the news.”

In addition to the Gold Rose Award, BTN was also awarded gold in the Finished Plants & Trees category and bronze in the Sustainability category.

Other awards presented that night include:

• Young International Grower of the Year:

Eliot Barden, Production and Education Manager for Majestic Trees, UK

• Young Plants

Gold: Morel Diffusion, France

Silver: SB Talee de Colombia SAS, Colombia

Bronze: Xiamen Ican Seed Co., Ltd., China

• Finished Plants & Trees

Gold: Brookdale Treeland Nurseries Ltd, Canada

Silver: Giorgio Tesi Group, Italy

Bronze: Fructoplant SP. Z O.O., Poland

• Cut Flowers & Bulbs

Gold: Royal Base Corporation, Chinese Taipei

Silver: Zhejiang Toyoshima Co., LTD., China

Bronze: Zentoo, the Netherlands

• Sustainability

Gold: Allensmore Nurseries, UK

Silver: Xiamen Ican Seed Co., Ltd., China

Bronze: Brookdale Treeland Nurseries Ltd., Canada