August 2022 – Rene Van Rems

Rene Van Rems

We are delighted to welcome Rene Van Rems, AIFD (American Institute of Floral Designers) to our society for the first time. Rene is “artist in residence” at the San Diego Botanic Garden and has produced 20 of the Gala in the Gardens fundraisers from its inception. Rene knows the garden well throughout his 42 year relationship with the former Quail Botanical Garden, ever since he landed from Amsterdam as a horticulture exchange student. He is the San Diego Botanic Garden Creative Director for the Palomar and San Diego County Orchid Society’s “World of Orchids”, which just finished a sell-out 6-week exhibition.

In his talk titled "Artistic Design of the World of Orchids Show at the San Diego Botanic Garden" Rene will share his creative insights as it relates to plant display, composition, and how to get the most visual value of each species. Rene will present a visually exciting lecture on the principles and elements of design, focusing on color, texture and proportion. He will also cover the subject of visual perception and the role our emotions play in viewing (artistic) works of art. Enjoy a custom produced “behind the scenes” tour of the highly popular SDBG “World of Orchids”. The plant table will consist of the remaining plants from Fred Clarke’s donated cattleyas plus a few others. 

Rene is a Dutch born and educated horticulturist and designer, who is involved in floral industry styling, product development, education, and marketing. He is a multiple award-winning international artist and has performed his talents at many of the leading botanic gardens, arboreta and museums in the USA and abroad. He is an international speaker on trends and design in the flower and plant industry and he is the author of two well-received coffee table books on European floral design. Through his work, Rene has been invited to judge the Pasadena Tournament of Roses, the Philadelphia Flower Show and many others.