The International Waterlily and Water Gardening Society (IWGS) Hall of Fame award is presented to those who have made significant contributions to the field of water gardening, aquatic plants and the furtherance of the Society’s purposes. We are proud to announce that the 2022 inductee is Tim Jennings, senior gardener, Longwood Gardens, Pennsylvania.
Jennings is a 1988 graduate of Longwood Gardens’ Professional Horticulture Program and joined Longwood’s full-time staff in 1989. After a brief stint in the topiary and rose gardens, he moved to oversee the Waterlily Display, where he found a passion for aquatic plants that today, 31 years later, remains as strong as ever.
He has spent his career advancing the enjoyment and appreciation of aquatic plants on a global scale. Jennings is an expert in the care and culture of aquatics and readily shares that expertise with fellow professionals, students, enthusiasts and everyday guests at Longwood Gardens. An award-winning instructor, his popular aquatic plant classes and workshops have ignited a passion in the thousands of students who have been lucky enough to experience one of his classes in the last three decades.
Jennings’ enthusiasm for his work is evident in all he does, but it is never more apparent than when he is giving one of his infamous “Waterlily Talks” on a summer evening in the waterlily display at Longwood. Surrounded by a few hundred guests, Tim captivates and seduces his audience by revealing the amazing world of aquatics, including snipping waterlilies for guests to smell their intoxicating fragrance, showing the thorny underbelly of a Victoria leaf or demonstrating the water-repellent qualities of a lotus leaf. He is nothing short of a showman, much to the delight of the millions of guests who have visited Longwood’s waterlily display.
A frequent speaker, Jennings has shared his expertise at numerous national and international conferences. He has served as a judge and site grower for the New Waterlily Competition, is a member of the IWGS Victoria Conservancy, which distributes seeds to members, and also oversees Longwood’s seed distribution program to gardens around the world. He is also proud to currently serve on the Board of the IWGS. It is with deep appreciation that Tim Jennings has been inducted into the IWGS Hall of Fame.
