“We are incredibly grateful to the Fredericks for their generous commitment to the horticultural and educational integrity of the Philadelphia Flower Show,” said Matt Rader, PHS President. “Bill and Nancy’s contributions to PHS and other institutions continue to have a lasting impact on our region’s eminence in the field of horticulture. This gift continues the Fredericks’ remarkable legacy and guarantees an enlightening experience for the next generation of Flower Show attendees.”
A member of PHS for more than 60 years, William H. “Bill” Frederick Jr. is a world-renowned landscape architect, preservationist, painter, and author. Since the 1960s, Bill has shared his expertise and passion for gardening with thousands of professional gardeners, landscape architects, and students, as well as 33 summer interns, at Ashland Hollow, the magnificent 17-acre garden and property he and his wife Nancy developed over the span of 50 years. After embarking on a path of study together at Cornell University – Bill for nursery management and design and Nancy for plant science – they opened Millcreek Nursery in 1952, and began a storied career of horticultural excellence, which includes designing Scott Arboretum’s Harry Wood Courtyard Garden, serving as the first Board President of Longwood Gardens and, for many years, conducting special visits for Longwood Gardens’ graduate students to the Flower Show.
Partners in work and in life, the Fredericks have been instrumental in shaping horticulture in the region over the last half-century. Besides their professional contributions, investments in local institutions include a gift to establish the Endowment for the Directorship of the Scott Arboretum of Swarthmore College and gifts to Winterthur and the Delaware Center for Horticulture. In addition to writing three classic horticulture books, Bill Frederick is the recipient of the prestigious Royal Horticulture Society Veitch Medal and Winterthur’s Henry Francis DuPont Award for Garden Design.
The Philadelphia Flower Show is the nation’s largest and longest-running horticultural event, featuring displays and educational exhibits by the world’s premier floral and landscape designers. Since its inception in 1829, the Flower Show has introduced generations of visitors to new and diverse plant varieties, leading garden and design concepts, and organic and sustainable practices, through competitions, workshops, presentations, and demonstrations.
“The Flower Show educates people about gardening, what they can do in a small space, and how they can grow plants and design with what’s available,” said Bill Frederick." This is what it’s all about – it’s education of the public in a beautiful way,” added Nancy Frederick.
For more information:
Pennsylvania Horticultural Society
100 N. 20th Street
100 N. 20th Street
5th Floor, Philadelphia, PA 19103
215-988-8800