BOARD MEMBERS
Suzanne Boom
President
Kennett Square, PA, USA
Longwood Gardens
1001 Longwood Rd.
Kennett Square, PA 19348 USA
website: https://longwoodgardens.org/
Suzanne Boom
IWGS President
Kennett Square, USA
BIO
Robert Sheldon
Vice-President
Le Temple-sur-Lot, France
Latour-Marliac Nursery
Le Bourg, 47110 Le Temple-sur-Lot, France
ROBERT SHELDON
IWGS Vice-President
France
BIO
Robert Sheldon is the owner of the Latour-Marliac nursery in France, which he acquired from Ray and Barbara Davies in 2007. Passionate about water gardening from a young age, his aim is to preserve Latour-Marliac’s horticultural, commercial and historical legacy by developing the company. In addition to his work with waterlilies, Sheldon has a PhD in Organizational Sociology and is an Associate Professor of Entrepreneurship and Innovation at ESCP Business School in Paris.
David Curtright
Secretary
Escondido, California, USA
Freshwater Flora & Fauna, Inc.
2137 Via Corte
Escondido, California 92029, USA
David Curtwright
IWGS Director
USA
BIO
David lives in north San Diego County, California, where for nearly 40 years he has operated a small aquatic nursery and consultation service. He also does pond planting and maintenance in high-end residential areas of southern California, and at Balboa Park and the Mission at San Juan Capistrano. He is the president of the Southern California Water Garden Society, and is locally recognized as an expert in the field. He joined the IWGS at its inception, but was inactive for several years. More recently, he has been active in club activities, and was elected to be the Society’s Secretary in 2015, a position he held until 2021. He returns to the BOD now to do committee work. He has written for the Journal many times, and is the Society’s librarian.
Tomy Escribano
Director
Madrid, Spain
TOMAS ESCRIBANO
IWGS Director
Spain
BIO
Tomás was born and raised in Barcelona, Spain. At the age of 16 he moved to Madrid, where he lives now. He has always been passionate about nature. Not finishing his biology degree hasn't kept him from learning about all kinds of plants. His current work as a flight attendant gives Tomás the opportunity to travel around the world and meet great friends in the waterlily industry. For the last 10 years he has been a volunteer at Caracas, Bogotá and Madrid's Botanical Garden and he has a big waterlily collection in his garden.
Tim Jennings
Director
Kennett Square, PA USA
Longwood Gardens
1001 Longwood Rd.
Kennett Square, PA 19348 USA
website: https://longwoodgardens.org/
TIM JENNINGS
IWGS Director
USA
BIO
Tim Jennings is a graduate of Longwood's Professional Horticulture Training Program and is the Senior Horticulturalist responsible for Longwood's outdoor Waterlily Display. Tim teaches several popular water gardening courses at Longwood Gardens and also serves as a lab instructor for various plant identification classes. Tim had the good fortune of studying under Patrick Nutt, while a student and later as an employee. Today Tim carries on that tradition by sharing the water gardens at Longwood with thousands of visitors and hundreds students each year.
James Bennett
Director
Weymouth, Dorset, UK
Bennetts Water Gardens
Putton Lane, Chickerell
Weymouth, Dorset DT3 4AF UK
E-mail: james@bennettswatergardens.com
JAMES BENNETT
IWGS Director
UK
BIO
James Bennett grew up surrounded by aquatics at his family’s waterlily nursery and fish farm in Dorset, England. He studied computer science and worked in software development and website design. In 2001 he joined the family business, Bennetts Water Gardens, where he learned plant propagation, pond construction and lake management. He is the third generation of his family at Bennetts Water Gardens, now a successful tourist attraction, and works alongside his parents and wife. In 2012 he succeeded his grandfather, Norman Bennett, as custodian of the National Plant Collection of Nymphaea, with the ongoing work to document, develop and preserve an accurate collection of hardy waterlilies. James also serves on the committee of his local group Plant Heritage, a charitable plant society, whose mission is for the conservation of cultivated plants in Britain and Ireland.
Jeannie Suffern
Treasurer and Past President
Sherwood Park, Alberta, CANADA
Aqualine Aquatic Plants & Waterfeatures
23211 Township Road 514
Sherwood Park, AB, Canada T8B 1L1
Jeannie Suffern
Past-President & Treasurer
CANADA
BIO
Jeannie Suffern is the co-owner of Aqualine Aquatic Plants and Waterfeatures, located in Sherwood Park, Alberta, Canada. Her mission is simple: promoting the growing of aquatic plants in Alberta, where temperatures range from 0C to -35C during approx. 5 months of winter, and up to +30C in the summertime, where the season is short but the daylight hours are long (17-19 hours daily). She shares her passion for water lilies with her customers, and delights in introducing them to the world of tropical water lilies. She became vice-president of the IWGS in 2018, and took on the role of IWGS president in 2022.
Jeannie also served as a director for the Alberta Invasive Species Council (AISC) and for the Colchester Agriculture Society until 2023 when she termed out as director. She continues to be involved with the AISC and manages their website maintenance.
Even before joining our Board, Jeannie managed to scan ALL of our past Water Garden Journals so that we could archive them on our website.
Marco Millet
Individual
Director
Mérida, Yucatán, Mexico
JAMES BENNETT
IWGS Director
UK
BIO
James Bennett grew up surrounded by aquatics at his family’s waterlily nursery and fish farm in Dorset, England. He studied computer science and worked in software development and website design. In 2001 he joined the family business, Bennetts Water Gardens, where he learned plant propagation, pond construction and lake management. He is the third generation of his family at Bennetts Water Gardens, now a successful tourist attraction, and works alongside his parents and wife. In 2012 he succeeded his grandfather, Norman Bennett, as custodian of the National Plant Collection of Nymphaea, with the ongoing work to document, develop and preserve an accurate collection of hardy waterlilies. James also serves on the committee of his local group Plant Heritage, a charitable plant society, whose mission is for the conservation of cultivated plants in Britain and Ireland.
Danny Cox
Treasurer
Danny Cox
IWGS Director
USA
BIO
Danny Cox is the Aquatic Area’s Specialist at Naples Botanical Garden in Naples, Fl. He started his horticulture career at Naples Botanical Garden as an intern in 2010, and since 2011 he has served as the Garden’s primary water gardener, growing and maintaining the waterlilies and other aquatic plants. As a young horticulture professional, he is dedicated to increasing his knowledge of plants and working with people through education and civic engagement. Danny received his B.A. in Environmental Studies from Florida Gulf Coast University in 2014. During the summer of 2015, he completed an internship at Longwood Gardens to learn new techniques from Waterlily Curator, Tim Jennings. Last year, Danny worked with the IWGS to set up the 2016 New Waterlily of the Year Competition. Currently, he serves on the board of directors for the Naples Chapter of the Florida Native Plant Society, as well as on the IWGS board.
Zijun Li
Director
China
ZIJUN LI
IWGS Director
China
BIO
James Allison
Director Emeritus
Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, UK
Aquapic Water Garden Solutions
4 Dagmar Road, Cheltenham,
Gloucestershire GL50 2UG UK
James Allison
IWGS Emeritus Director
United Kingdom
BIO
James Allison built his first pond in his teens, went on to study aquatic biology, and ended up managing a specialist pond and aquarium retail outlet in Gloucestershire (UK) for many years. He left that post fifteen years ago to set up his own business 'Aquapic - Water Garden Solutions' which deals in all aspects of pond creation and maintenance. Alongside that he writes and lectures around all things aquatic, and was editor of the IWGS Water Garden Journal for a number of years.
Justin Titus
Director Emeritus
Overland Park, Kansas, USA
Monet Aquatics
ZIJUN LI
IWGS Director
China
BIO
Susan Davis
Director Emerita
Lawrence, Kansas, USA
Individual
Susan Davis
IWGS Advisory Board Member
USA
BIO
Water Garden aficionado, Susan Davis has been deeply involved/committed to water gardening since the late 1980’s, when she and partner Deb Spencer accidently stumbled upon this exciting venue.
Since then, Susan served on Garden Show BOD in Lawrence, Kansas, helped local pond societies produce area pond tours, and most recently served on the IWGS BOD as president from 2016 to 2020. Retired now, Susan and Deb owned Water’s Edge (1989-2020), a water garden specialty business in Lawrence.
Susan has the ability to excite those around her and a magical flare to any space!
Water gardening and water in motion give her a medium to express her talents, and she spent much of her time at work helping customers develop and achieve their fantasy of water in the garden.
