BOARD MEMBERS
Jeannie Suffern
President
Sherwood Park, Alberta, CANADA
Aqualine Aquatic Plants & Waterfeatures
23211 Township Road 514
Sherwood Park, AB, Canada T8B 1L1
Email: [email protected]
Jeannie Suffern
Vice-President & Treasurer
CANADA
BIO
Jeannie Suffern is the co-owner of Aqualine Aquatic Plants & Waterfeatures, located in Sherwood Park, Alberta, Canada. Her mission is simple: promoting the growing of aquatic plants in Alberta, where temperatures range from 00C 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. Jeannie is also a director for the Alberta Invasive Species Council and for the Colchester Agriculture Society. 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. Very enthusiastic, Jeannie has been hard at work with website improvements, and is ready to take on the question of invasive species and related laws on an international level!
Suzanne Boom
Vice-President
Maryland, USA
Suzanne Boom
IWGS Director
Maryland, USA
BIO
Suzanne is the chair of the New Waterlily Competition Committee and a member of the IWGS board of directors.
She is the former operations manager of Lilypons Water Gardens where she managed their collection of close to 100 hardy waterlily hybrids. She currently works at the Carnivorous Plant Nursery in Smithsburg, MD.
Sander Dekker
Vice President
Utrecht, The Netherlands
Individual
E-mail: [email protected]
SANDER DEKKER
IWGS Director
Netherlands
BIO
James Bennett
Treasurer
Weymouth, Dorset, UK
Bennetts Water Gardens
Putton Lane, Chickerell
Weymouth, Dorset DT3 4AF UK
E-mail: [email protected]
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 & 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.
David Curtright
Director
Escondido, California, USA
Freshwater Flora & Fauna, Inc.
2137 Via Corte
Escondido, California 92029, USA
E-mail: [email protected]
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.
Tomas Escribano
Director
Madrid, Spain
Real Jardín Botánico de Madrid, Spain
Volunteer
E-mail: [email protected]
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/
E-mail: [email protected]
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.
Marjorie Johnson
Director
Georgetown, Texas, USA
Individual
141 Gabriels Loop
Georgetown, Texas 78628 USA
E-mail: [email protected]
Marjorie Johnson
Director
Georgetown, Texas, USA
BIO
I found my love of water gardens and lilies in about 2015. My husband and I started touring the local water society's annual garden events including IWGS symposiums and Lily Fest in San Angelo, Texas. This is where we met Ken Landon. We are service driven and volunteered in the ponds of the IWC for many years alongside Ken who was a true friend. That exposure furthered our interest and joy in waterlilies. Initially our goal was to build a pond in our backyard, it has now become so much more, focusing on a treasure trove of plants: waterlilies, marginals and lotus. We have developed many friendships in the industry. I am an enthusiastic hobbyist that enjoys spending time in our pond. Professionally, I have been a self-employed investment advisor since 1992.
Mike Kandt
Director
Wichita, Kansas, USA
Individual
5615 North Sullivan
Wichita, Kansas, 67204, USA
E-mail: [email protected]
MIKE KANDT
IWGS Director
Country: USA
BIO
Mike is a retired architect and 20-year president of the Kansas Pond Society, a water gardening club in Wichita Kansas with membership of about 180 households. Married to his wife Susan for 45 years, they have been involved in watergardening for 25 years (since they bought their house) and have learned everything the hard way.
Involved with other garden clubs, Mike is a past member and president of his local Garden Council, a group of several garden clubs in town. He has spent time as a Trustee/Board member and as president of his local botanical garden, Botanica, and continues to volunteer for that organization.
When not watergardening, he is an amateur woodworker, home repairer, gardener and Santa in the season.
Jon Sander
Director
Potomac, Maryland, USA
Glenstone Museum
12100 Glen Road
Potomac, Maryland 20854, USA
E-mail: [email protected]
Jon Sander
IWGS Director
USA
BIO
Jon’s love of ponds can be traced to fishing with his father at local farm ponds in Frederick, MD. He began working at Lilypons Water Gardens in 1990 alongside Charles Thomas where he met many pioneers of the water gardening world. In 2017, Jon began working for Glenstone Museum in Potomac, MD. As Glenstone’s aquatic horticulturist where he cares for the Water Court, an 18,000 sq/ft water garden. Jon has contributed several articles to the Water Garden Journal and enjoys speaking with visitors to the museum. He loves spending time with his family, working in his garden, and playing music with his friends.
Robert Sheldon
Director
Le Temple-sur-Lot, France
ROBERT SHELDON
IWGS Director
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.
Justin Titus
Past President
Overland Park, Kansas, USA
Monet Aquatics
Email: [email protected]
JUSTIN TITUS
IWGS President
USA
BIO
Justin is the owner operator of Monet Aquatics, a water feature design, build and maintenance company. His education is in terrestrial plant propagation and display. He has been in the water garden industry since 2001 and self employed since 2005. Justin has a passion for efficient plant propagation and particularly enjoys the more difficult specimens. He is always looking for ways to improve systems in his business to increase the quality of product or service provided. Justin is a published author of several water garden related articles and frequent guest speaker for garden clubs and societies.
James Allison
Director Emeritus
Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, UK
Aquapic Water Garden Solutions
4 Dagmar Road, Cheltenham,
Gloucestershire GL50 2UG UK
E-mail: [email protected]
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.
Susan Davis
Director Emerita
Lawrence, Kansas, USA
Individual
E-mail: [email protected]
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.
