Instructor Spotlight: Nancy Gingrich Shenk

Nancy Gingrich Shenk is a graduate of the Rittner’s Floral School in Boston and the Dutch Masters’ Design School in Lisse, Holland. She also has a Praktijkdiploma from Stoas College in Holland and has owned her own custom design studio for more than twenty-five years. Nancy was a member of the floral design teams for Ronald Reagan’s second inauguration and George H. W. Bush’s first. Her work has been featured in several magazines. She helped to develop Longwood’s two-year certificate course in Floral Design.

Nancy belongs to the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society and the Society of American Florists, and is a past member of the Royal Horticultural Society. She was named “Teacher of the Year” in 2008 by the North American Colleges and Teachers of Agriculture.

Q. Tell us about your studies in Holland.
A. In 1983 the master’s school was opened up to American designers for the first time. I was one of sixty American designers accepted to study for several weeks under six leading master designers there. One of them was the floral designer for Queen Beatrix and it was her birthday, so we created some designs that decorated her personal chambers for her birthday party.

Q. Queen Beatrix isn’t the only head of state you have designed for. What was it like to be part of the floral design team for two presidential inaugurations?
A. It was intense. For Reagan’s second inauguration, Tom Powell, the floral design leader for several inaugural balls, asked a group of us to drop everything and go to DC. I worked on the installations at the Kennedy Center and the Shoreham Hotel. Four years later I was asked to be a design crew leader for George H. W. Bush’s inauguration. I was responsible for the aesthetics of three balls held at the Sheraton.
I got to attend in the evening, but to be honest, it’s not as exciting as it sounds. First of all, you’ve been awake for 36 hours. The president comes in, says a brief thank you, takes a spin on the dance floor and is out the door.
One interesting thing is that my security clearance is “need to know,” so I wasn’t told who was going to be in one of the ballrooms I designed for. I bumped into Sandra Day O’Connor coming out of that room. It turns out the Supreme Court justices were in there!

Q. What motivates you as a teacher?
A. I really just love teaching floral design to anybody. I love mentoring students who are hoping to have a second career and want to go into floral design. We’re also getting a lot of younger students who are looking at this as a career, which is wonderful.
I enjoy teaching the students in the Professional Gardener program and being supportive of them within the industry. This spring I’m teaching master’s course on “sticks and stones,” creating structures with those materials.

Q. What are some spring classes you’re excited about?
A. This year we have little two-hour classes that are open to anyone. They’re offered on some evenings and some Friday mornings. We show a design and then work with the class participants to create it. They can take the arrangements home with them. It’s a nice way to come and create something for fun, either for their home or as a gift.
We have such a good time! The students leave their worries at the door, and come into a sanctuary where they can just enjoy what they’re doing.

For more information about Floral Fun Classes, visit http://www.longwoodgardens.org/docs/2010ContEdCatalog.pdf

Don't Forget Your Discount!

Garden Pass Members receive a 10% Discount on more than 140 classes, workshops, daytrips and educational offerings. Check out these great upcoming classes:

Branches for Impact
with Craig Rybinski

DATE: Thursday, Apr 8
7:00 PM to 9:00 PM
FEE: $36 Garden pass member; $40 non-member

Branch material adds vertical interest and a unique focal point both in the ground and in your home. Look differently at what you choose to plant to add structural elements in your garden and floral arrangements. Ikebana, especially, uses branch material as core design elements. The instructor will showcase the best woody plants for impact in arrangements as well as ones that perform well in our area. “Learn to enjoy your plantings – both inside and out.”

Floral Jewelry for Proms and Dances
with Cres Motzi

DATE: Saturday, Apr 10
9:00 AM to 12 Noon
FEE: $90 Garden pass member; $100 non-member

Wonderful wires add a contemporary flair to corsages, boutonnieres, bracelets, and hand-held bouquets.
Techniques using aluminum, beading, and bullion wires will help you create floral jewelry that both the young and hip and the elegant will appreciate.

Scentscape Your Garden
with James Sutton

DATE: Tuesdays, Apr 13 – 27, 3 sessions
6:30 PM to 8:30 PM
FEE: $90 Garden pass member; $100 non-member

A fragrance can change your mood and perspective. Learn how and why to add planned fragrant gardens to the landscape. The course uses the fragrance exhibit at Longwood to identify key plants and design strategies to enhance your fragrance garden. Plant selection, site considerations, “scentscaping,” and planning for aesthetic concerns are covered. Students will design one fragrance garden for review in the final class session.

Lecture with Renowned Author and Floral Designer Hitomi Gilliam: Artflor – ‘the NewModern’ – Designing Flowers for Changing Times
DATE: Wednesday, Apr 21
7:00 PM
FEE: $18 Garden pass member; $20 non-member

Today’s modernistic aesthetics in fashion, art, architecture, gardens, and home decor trends translate into a new look. Let’s explores all things ‘New’ – floral cultivars, design supplies, vessels, accessories – which are quickly changing the face of traditional design to a whole Brave New World of intrigue!

Hitomi Gilliam is a noted floral designer, lecturer, instructor, demonstrator, educator, consultant, author, and personal coach specializing in contemporary abstract styles. A member of The American Institute of Floral Designers since 1986; she most recently received the 2009 Lifetime Honorary Membership to Garden Club of America at GCA’s Annual General Meeting in Providence, RI. Hitomi lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, and has co-authored six books, the most recent ‘NEOTROPICA –Hawaii Tropical Flower + PlantGuide’ (July, 2009).

The Fragrance of Spring
with Jane Godshalk

DATE: Saturday, Apr 24
9:00 AM to 12 Noon
FEE: $90 Garden pass member; $100 non-member

The freshness of spring is never more apparent than in its lush colors and delicate fragrances. Learn to manage spring’s tender flowers with special conditioning and handling and spend
some time basking in the fragrance of beautiful spring blossoms. Create an arrangement that will brighten your home with color and fragrance.

In the Field: Camellia Breeding

Research Horticulturist Dr. Matt Taylor wants to make a good thing even better. He oversees Longwood Gardens’ Camellia breeding program and is working to develop an ever-blooming, cold-tolerant Camellia.

Camellias are evergreen shrubs with dark green, lustrous leaves and colorful blossoms. Plants can attain a height of 20 feet. Genetics play a significant role in the plants’ winter hardiness, with a few cultivars able to survive in zone 6b, where Longwood is located.

Most Camellias bloom in the fall or spring. Then there’s Camellia azalea (not related to the azalea shrub, just with a similar leaf shape), which produces gorgeous coral-colored flowers every month of the year in its native tropical climate. Unfortunately, the plant is almost extinct due to habitat loss; it is also very difficult to propagate and hard to breed with.

That’s where Taylor and his team come in. They focus on producing new hybrids with this rare species. “Our program has three stages,” he explains. “We identify the parents, make the cross, then grow and evaluate the seed to see what’s inherited from each parent.” The goal is to transfer the ever-blooming trait of C. azalea to some of the most cold-hardy Camellia cultivars. This offers a unique opportunity to shape the future of Camellia breeding.

Armed with a razor blade, Taylor selects a flower before its own pollen is ready. He removes the anthers so it cannot self-pollinate, then covers the emasculated blossom with a nylon mesh bag until it is ready to receive pollen. When the time is right, the bag is removed and the pollen is applied. The flower is covered again so it cannot be fertilized by any other pollen.

Even when seeds form, success is not a sure thing. In an attempt to increase germination and maturity rates, Longwood rescues less-vigorous embryos of these rare Camellia azalea hybrids.

“We remove the seed coat, sterilize the surface, and place the embryos in a tissue culture,” explains Taylor. “The seedlings receive optimal light, temperature, and nutrition and are kept safe from insects and disease.

“Embryo rescue has been done with other Camellias,” he adds, “but we are the first to do this with Camellia azalea hybrids. There is a lot of interest in the process. I recently presented on this in Japan. The audience was everyone from home gardeners to molecular biologists.”

Embryo rescue, successful cross-breeding, and hardiness evaluation are all useful tools in the production of new Camellia azalea hybrids. Longwood Gardens is at the forefront of this research, which gives hope that an ever-blooming, cold-hardy Camellia may be commercially available in the future.

To learn how to get a Behind-the-Scenes tour of Camellia breeding, visit http://www.longwoodgardens.org/CamelliaHybridsTour.html.

To read Matt Taylor’s blog and see a video of Camellia breeding, visit http://longwoodgardens.wordpress.com/2009/12/04/making-a-better-camellia-breeding-at-longwood-gardens.