As the winner, Dick will receive travel funds as needed and paid registration from the Vic & Margaret Ball Fund to attend Cultivate ’25, AmericanHort’s annual convention for the green industry. This year’s event will be held in July in Columbus, OH and provides opportunities for networking, tours, workshops and learning more about industry trends. Dick will also receive free registration to the convention provided by AmericanHort as well as $500 spending cash awarded by AFE’s Young Professionals Council, a photo opportunity with AFE representatives and faculty members and articles in AFE publications and trade press. As this year’s Intern of the Year winner, Dick will also have the opportunity to serve on the review committee for the 2026 Paul Thomas selection.
In addition to the annual winner of the award, outstanding interns are also recognized and rewarded as honorable mentions.
Haley Heflin Kost of San Diego, CA, a student at California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo, has been named the 2025 Paul Thomas Floriculture Production Honorable Mention. She will receive $250 for her recognition.
The world of floriculture has always been of interest to Dick. It is a way to express himself creatively, he noted, whether that be working in the landscaping at his parent’s home or crafting a design for an annual container from scratch.
But a fear of losing interest should he choose to build a career in the industry led Dick down a different path. He spent his first year of college as a freshman at Northern Vermont University studying atmospheric sciences. It didn’t take long, however, before he realized horticulture was already in his veins.
Dick transferred to the University of Rhode Island where he would go on to graduate with a degree in Plant Science. During his college years, he worked at several jobs, including Hattoy’s Nursery, Landscaping and Garden Center where his responsibilities included wrapping plants in foil, creating arrangements of potted plants for specific orders and mixed containers, and growing on annuals in the greenhouse from plugs.
At his job, he developed a strong interest in annual and perennial production as a whole. His favorite annuals to work with are lantana, and his favorite perennials are heuchera/coral bells. For shrubs, he enjoys hydrangeas. He wasn’t only interested in working with the plants himself but in sharing his interest with others. While in college, he created the social media YouTube channel, Joshua’s Garden, where he documents his projects at work, at home and while in school.
Later in his academic career, Dick spent from January to July 2024 across the country at his internship with Tagawa. It was the chance he had hoped for – an opportunity to gain a deeper understanding of the industry and experience that would serve him in his post-academic career. He was hopeful of making connections and working with those in the industry who could guide him in the right direction and help him find his niche. Those six months, he said, were a time to learn valuable lessons about the industry. But even more so, the internship gave him a glimpse of his place in the field.
Upon his graduation in December 2024, Joshua was offered a position at Tagawa where he currently works full-time.
It was a time of turmoil for much of the world, but the COVID-19 pandemic proved to be a period of realization for San Diego resident Haley, who found a passion for plants then when her mother bought Haley her first houseplant. It was the beginning of what would become her future.
A student at California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo, Haley is majoring in Plant Science – Environmental Horticulture. She is also minoring in landscape architecture. While there, she is active in Cal Poly Rose Float Leadership, decorations department, and the Horticulture Club. She has developed a special interest in tropical plants and the care they require. Her ultimate goal is to combine her major and minor to explore a career in landscaping, focusing on tropical or native plants.
For her internship, Haley traveled from the West Coast to the slower-paced atmosphere of Chester County in Pennsylvania where the North Creek Nurseries operates as a wholesale propagation nursery specializing in eastern U.S. native plants. Her three-month internship was from June through September 2024. While there, Haley said she experienced how vast the industry is.
Haley said receiving the 2025 Paul Thomas Honorable Mention award means more to her than proof that she completed her internship. She said it is proof that she was able to move across the country for an entire summer, live independently and encounter some of her most rewarding experiences. It was an opportunity for which she will always be thankful, especially to those who rallied around her along the way.
Haley said she has a long list of people she thanks for her experiences in both California and Pennsylvania, including the staff at Cal Poly who provided her with the education she needs for success. More importantly, she is thankful to her family for their support, including making the trek across the country to settle her in for her internship.
