![\"Patrick](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/1788346704_840_Untitled-design-25-1024x683.png\")
Patrick Prussing (back row, third from right) holds his Gene A. Batson Award while posing with luncheon attendees Aug. 27 at Highland Manor in Apopka. The award recognizes outstanding service and leadership in the Action Chapter of the Florida Nursery, Growers and Landscape Association.<\/p>\n
Courtesy of Farm Credit of Central Florida<\/p>\n
Long before Patrick Prussing built a career helping Florida growers, his interest in horticulture took root beside his grandfather\u2019s orchid collection.\u00a0<\/p>\n
That early connection eventually led Prussing into nearly four decades of work in Florida\u2019s green industry \u2014 and on Aug. 27, to the highest honor presented by the Action Chapter of the Florida Nursery, Growers and Landscape Association (FNGLA).\u00a0<\/p>\n
Prussing received the Gene A. Batson Award<\/a> during the chapter\u2019s 31st award luncheon at Highland Manor in Apopka. Farm Credit of Central Florida sponsored the event.\u00a0<\/p>\n Become A Member<\/p>\n The Apopka Chief does not have a paywall, but pavement-pounding journalism is not free. Join your neighbors who make this vital work possible.<\/p>\n See Member Benefits<\/a>Join Our Newsletter<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cLooking around this room, I see the very people who have shaped my life and career for the last four decades,\u201d Prussing told those gathered. \u201cWithout you, I would not be here.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n The award was established in 1995 by the Action Chapter\u2019s board of directors to recognize members who have demonstrated outstanding service and leadership within the chapter. Batson, a nursery operator who helped establish several successful businesses, was its first recipient.\u00a0<\/p>\n For Prussing, receiving an award bearing Batson\u2019s name held particular meaning. Prussing worked under Batson early in his career after meeting him through a referral from another nursery operator.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cHe taught me more than just plants,\u201d Prussing said. \u201cHe showed me the value of work ethic, opportunity and leadership in this industry.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Born in Atlanta and raised during his early childhood in nearby Mableton, Georgia, Prussing moved to Orlando in 1986. His interest in plants began during visits to his grandparents in Coral Gables, where he helped his grandfather tend orchids and volunteered at Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden.\u00a0<\/p>\n In 1990, while attending Evans High School, Prussing received a $1,000 scholarship \u2014 an experience he said confirmed that he had found the professional community to which he wanted to belong.\u00a0<\/p>\n While studying horticulture at Valencia College, Prussing founded and became the first president of the Valencia Horticulture Society. When the college\u2019s horticulture program faced possible closure, Prussing and the society organized a large campus plant sale. Its success helped persuade the college to preserve the program.\u00a0<\/p>\n His commitment to education later reached Zellwood Elementary School, where he began visiting his oldest son\u2019s kindergarten class to teach children how plants help people. He brought donated soil, pots and plants so students could take home what they planted. The effort expanded to other classrooms and continued annually for about a decade.\u00a0<\/p>\n Prussing also shared his plant knowledge as a Cubmaster and Scoutmaster with Zellwood Pack and Troop 639, teaching young people to identify harmful and beneficial plants during hikes and camping trips.\u00a0<\/p>\n Professionally, Prussing served as head propagator at RFJ Co. and White Rose Nurseries, spent 12 years helping develop Sunshine Horticulture as a liner producer and later worked as sourcing manager at LiveTrends. He now serves as Central Florida sales representative for Southern Ag Insecticides, assisting commercial growers with chemical needs, pest management and bio-rational products.\u00a0<\/p>\n Keynote speaker Katy Moss Warner, a retired Walt Disney World horticulture executive, praised Prussing and other industry members for using their expertise to support schools, public gardens and nonprofit organizations.\u00a0<\/p>\n Prussing credited his wife, Shelly, whom he married inside a nursery office while working for Batson, as \u201cthe catalyst for every good thing\u201d in his life.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThis industry has given me a purpose, a passion and a second family,\u201d he said.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Teresa Sargeant has been with The Apopka Chief for over 10 years.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/1788346705_157_6.png\")
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