Water Gardens Special Interest Group: 
Winter Luncheon with Guest Speaker Karl Gercens 
"Water Lilies From Around The World"

With a scenic backdrop complemented by a cascading water fountain, join your fellow HPS members and their guests for a special luncheon with world renowned speaker Karl Gercens, Conservatory Manager at Longwood Gardens.

Details & Registration:

• This Event is open to Members and Non-Members.
• Location – Bala Golf Club (address above), conveniently located off City Line Ave and the Schuylkill Expressway. Free parking.
• Tickets – $45 per person; includes lunch.
• Lunch Menu – Tossed salad, choice of entrée (chicken, salmon, vegetarian), variety of desserts, coffee, tea, soft drinks, and a cash bar.
• Raffles – The fun continues with a 50/50 cash raffle and a raffle of garden- and pond-related items.
• ·       Maximum attendees = 160

To register for this event, click here.  Registration ends on February 20^th.  Snow date is Sunday, March 3, 2024.

About Our Speaker:

Karl Gercens’ passion for horticulture started at an early age while growing-up on a 10,000 acre cotton plantation in Mississippi. The warm Mississippi climate and long growing season helped to nurture his fondness for plants and his appreciation for the wonders of natural beauty. Karl experimented with different plant types and growing methods in that region and ultimately went on to earn his B.S. in Ornamental Horticulture at Mississippi State University. 

Karl is currently the Conservatory Manager at Longwood Gardens in Kennett Square, PA, where he gets to create flower-show-type displays 365 days per year. He says he is “always on the prowl for a new plant, a bigger blossom, or a captivating color combination that will awe and inspire each person that visits.” If you have visited the Consevatory at Longwood you have surely been awed by Karl’s displays.

In addition to the skills Karl has honed at Longwood, his resume includes professional, hands-on skills developed during his internships at The Filoli Estate in Woodside, CA, and Walt Disney World in Orlando, FL. Karl combines innovative design-work with time-honored approaches for serious gardening and is noted for using a pallet of colored foliage on trees, shrubs, and perennials. 

Karl shares his knowledge and passion for plants in professional lectures given nationwide and in his horticultural classes offered at Longwood Gardens. When he is not gardening, lecturing, or consulting, his horticultural passion extends worldwide with frequent visits to public and private gardens in all 50 states and more than 20 countries! While at those locations, he often takes vibrant and vivid digital photography which he catalogues to share his experiences with others.

Victor Barsky at [email protected]