University of Delaware Office of Public Relations The Messenger Vol. 5, No. 2/1996 Filling Philadelphia with flowers Internationally known for its splendor, the Philadelphia Flower Show has carried the promise of springtime each March since its inception 167 years ago. In new digs this year, the Flower Show blossomed further still, all under the watchful eye of Delaware graduate Jane G. Pepper. As president of the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society since 1981, Pepper, Delaware '76, '78M, manages the Flower Show, the largest indoor horticultural exhibit in the world. Although she's a seasoned pro, having been in charge of the annual extravaganza for 15 years, Pepper says she felt added pressure this year because it was the show's first at the new Pennsylvania Convention Center in the heart of Philadelphia. Thanks to a lot of hard work and planning, everything went smoothly. "It was a marvelous experience. The Convention Center is so beautiful. We had outgrown our old location like a family outgrows a house," Pepper says of the Philadelphia Civic Center, where the show had been held for 30 years. Flourishing under Pepper's leadership, the Flower Show this year attracted more than 300,000 visitors, up 40 percent from last year, as well as some of the world's leading horticulturists as exhibitors and lecturers. The move to larger quarters (10 acres of exhibit space as compared with the six of years past) gave exhibitors more room to spread out. As a result, exhibits were very ambitious, Pepper says. Called "This Land Is Your Land, Philadelphia in Flower," the 1996 show celebrated the city's horticultural heritage, a legacy that Pepper and the Horticultural Society continue to nurture. A large portion of the Flower Show's $1 million proceeds fund the society's Philadelphia Green program, an ambitious, ongoing citywide landscaping project that has grown exponentially under Pepper's direction. Today, the program helps more than 700 neighborhood groups plant trees and vegetable gardens in low- and moderate-income neighborhoods. With its hand in more than 2,000 gardening projects, Philadelphia Green is the largest public landscaping program in the United States, and it serves as a model for similar programs across the country. "The Flower Show is like a seed that is planted in the spring and blossoms throughout the city for the rest of the year," Pepper says. "This is an opportunity to do something that really is helping Philadelphia." Pepper, a native of Scotland who lives in Delaware County with her husband, G. Willing "Wing" Pepper, is devoted to Philadelphia. She is a member of the board of managers of the Pennsylvania Hospital, a board member of the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce and a director of PNC Bank. She also writes a twice-weekly column about gardening in The Philadelphia Inquirer. "I think I have the best job in the world. I am incredibly lucky to have it. It has wonderful dimensions. I love the Flower Show. And, I love the part about being able to help people in the city with the money we raise," Pepper says. Others share her sentiments. More than 3,500 volunteers-1,500 more than in the past-turned out to help at this year's Flower Show. The city, its police force and city businesses also rallied behind the show's move downtown. Museums, restaurants, hotels and other businesses offered special discounts during the city's first "Flower Show Week" celebration. Recognized as one of the world's leading horticulturists, Pepper has garnered such recent honors as the Royal Horticultural Society Gold Veitch Memorial Medal in March 1996 and the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce Paradigm Award in 1995. Last year, her name was added to the University of Delaware's Alumni Wall of Fame, a spot designated to highlight the achievements of successful graduates. Pepper received a bachelor's degree in plant science from Delaware in 1976. Two years later, she received a master's degree in ornamental horticulture from the University's Longwood Graduate Program. This unique, two-year, master of science degree program, which is offered by the College of Agricultural Sciences' Department of Plant and Soil Sciences in cooperation with Longwood Gardens, emphasizes the administration and management of public gardens. Pepper also has an associate's degree in landscape design from Temple University. Today, she oversees every aspect of the Horticultural Society's work-from its Flower Show and Philadelphia Green program to its garden tours, lectures, library, awards programs and popular Green Scene magazine. --Marylee Sauder, Delaware '83