DALLAS — Dr. Steve George, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service horticulture specialist in Dallas, has received the agency’s Superior Service Award for Distinguished Career.
The award was presented Jan. 8 during the agency’s Centennial Conference in College Station.
George began his career with AgriLife Extension as a county horticulture agent in Bexar County.
He quickly developed a “following” as he worked to introduce and market new bedding plants such as bluebonnets and Floratam St. Augustine grass, according to the citation.
After earning his doctoral degree, George became AgriLife Extension horticulturist at the Texas A&M AgriLife Research and Extension Center in Dallas in 1988. There he partnered with the research horticulturists and others to work on various landscape issues and test new plants for the possibility of introducing them to the market.
He is credited with creating the concept “Earth-Kind” that combines “the best organic and traditional gardening principles to create a new horticultural system based on real-world effectiveness and environmental responsibility,” according to the nomination.
George also formed the Texas Superstar program and helped spread it statewide to procure and test potential plants, identify superior plants, get the nurseries to grow the plants, and then introduce the plants to the market. A challenge for the program was that Texas is large with many diverse planting zones and climates. Yet many plants have been marketed as Texas Superstars including Gold Star Esperanza, Maroon Bluebonnets and Belinda’s Dream rose.
Colleagues said George’s passion for the Earth-Kind program and roses led him to seek “the most dependable roses that did not require a lot of care.” As a result, he has been able to designate 23 rose varieties as Earth-Kind.
Gaye Hammond, past president of the Houston Rose Society, said “Dr. George has accomplished what rose societies have been unable to accomplish for 100 years — prove that beautiful landscape roses can be successfully grown in low maintenance conditions without chemical applications.”
Superior Service awards are presented to personnel who demonstrate outstanding performance or provide exceptional service to AgriLife Extension, an educational outreach agency of The Texas A&M University System.
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