Just in time of for the iconic Philadelphia Flower Show in March, the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society has selected a new president with Washington roots and an eye on expanding the 189-year-old organization’s mission nationally.
“We have an aspiration to be a source of insight and expertise in what you do nationally,” said Matt Rader, only the 37th president of the influential organization.
The theme for this year’s show is “Explore America,” devoted to National Parks.
Rader will oversee the March 5-13 flower show that has a federal partner, the National Park Service, celebrating its 99th year. With that teaming, exhibitors plan to feature elements of popular national parks inside the Pennsylvania Convention Center.
“The 2016 Flower Show theme ‘Explore America’ will take visitors through acres of displays inspired by iconic parks like Acadia and Cape Cod, Valley Forge and Shenandoah, Yellowstone, Yosemite and many other parks and historic sites and created by the nation’s premier floral and garden designers,” said the organization.
From Left: Margaret Sadler, Board Chair; Matt Rader, President; Margaret McCarvill, PHS Interim Executive Director. PHS photo
The society has been helping improve Philadelphia’s greenscape, but Rader’s experience with Washington-based Urban Land Institute and National Trust for Historic Preservation gives the organization a leader with a national outlook. He has also been a consultant with the global management consulting firm McKinsey & Company.
Rader is a student of city parks in Washington, where he worked in Georgetown, and Philly, but admits city life and work travel limit his gardening. He promised that he has a green thumb, though. “The house plants I have are alive,” he said.
Rader, who started this week, did a Q&A with the PHS website that can be seen here.
Paul Bedard, the Washington Examiner’s “Washington Secrets” columnist, can be contacted at [email protected].
