“Spring is nature’s way of saying, ‘Let’s party!’” — Robin Williams
If that’s the case, then get ready for the “Flowers Gone Wild” spring fling known as the Philadelphia International Flower Show. The world’s largest indoor exhibition, the flower show is always a favorite way to jump-start the spring. For 182 years, the Philadelphia International Flower Show has been wowing locals and visitors from around the world with stunning displays, and this year’s Hawaiian theme, “Islands of Aloha,” promises to be one of the most colorful and lush presentations ever. In addition, we can look forward to over 180 shops at the Show Marketplace, cooking demonstrations and a special LGBT night on March 5. Our profile this week is Eric Schellack, an award-winning designer with Robertson’s Flowers, whose creations will be featured in this year’s show.
PGN: So, what was little Eric Schellack like? ES: I was the little kid who was always off in the woods. From the minute the sun came up in the summertime, I would disappear into the woods and not show back up until the sun started to fade.
PGN: Where did you live? ES: Cherry Hill!
PGN: We were lucky: We were probably the last generation that was allowed to roam free like that. ES: Yeah, I think kids these days are missing out on something. I got to expand my imagination out there. I would build forts and build bridges over the creeks. I’d make bows and arrows from the branches. [Laughs.] All the things that boys do when they’re not being supervised!
PGN: Do you have siblings? ES: Yes, a brother and sister, both older than me. My brother is married with three kids and my sister is also gay. She’s still in Cherry Hill and lives there with her partner.
PGN: What did the parents do? ES: My father is an engineer and my mother was a homemaker but she had a degree in education.
PGN: So do you think all of those days playing in the woods led you to your career? ES: Oh yes, that and the fact that both of my parents were nature lovers. The family vacations in the summertime consisted not of going to some fancy resort but all of us hopping in the car with our camping gear and driving to Colorado for three weeks. It taught me a big appreciation for nature and all living things. PGN: How did you first know you were gay? ES: Probably my first inclination that something was different about me was probably around first or second grade. I didn’t really know what the difference was until sixth or seventh grade.
PGN: [Laughs.] Did you figure it out because you liked flowers or boys? ES: Ha! Boys!
PGN: But you went to school to study science. ES: Yeah, I was a biotech major at Cook College at Rutgers University. A lot of lab work, studying biological systems. I got my degree but never really used it or pursued it as a career.
PGN: And how did you get started in the floral world? ES: Well, I took a summer job working at a small flower shop on South Street right after I graduated, back in ’94 I think. I graduated and didn’t have any concrete plans and my friend’s uncle needed help at his shop. I thought I’d just work there briefly and then go into some kind of science-based career, but I ended up staying and becoming manager of the shop three years later.
PGN: I’m guessing he didn’t originally hire you for your floral-arranging skills. ES: No, in all honesty it was a “bunch” shop. We’d just get flowers in from the vendor in boxes, re-sleeve them and stick the bunches into buckets and resell them.
PGN: How did you get into floral design? ES: After working at that first shop, I went to work at Michael Bruce Florist in Collingswood and there I did nothing but design work. He would speak to the clients and then I would come up with ideas based on what they were looking for.
PGN: What do you do now? ES: My main job is doing sales for weddings and events. Because of my background in design, oftentimes I have an idea internally of a design plan I want for the client. Sometimes I’ll even do the mockup of the centerpiece concept or something myself to show the client. If they like it, then I photograph it and send it to the team and they’ll make a series of them.
PGN: What’s the craziest idea you’ve come up with? ES: Oh boy, I think one of my favorites was a few years ago at the Flower Show. The entire floral exhibit was suspended from above, over people’s heads as they walked through. There was absolutely nothing on the ground. I also did a wedding for a goth couple once and they wanted everything dark — stones strewn all over and they even wanted me to add extra thorns to the roses!
PGN: Did you have to go back to study to learn what plants and flowers need what care? ES: I just love anything having to do with horticulture so I’ve studied on my own. My background in science helps and I have a pretty good grasp of botanical things. A lot of well-known horticulturalists at the flower show enjoying having conversations with me especially because I wasn’t trained in a school setting. I bring a different perspective to horticultural subjects and I have a fairly encyclopedic knowledge of the subject. [Laughs.] I don’t mean to toot my own horn!
PGN: Well, you have multiple award-winning exhibits to back you up. Not only winning here at the flower show, but you also won at the Singapore International Flower Show and have been involved in producing the décor for some of Philadelphia’s top social events, and some pretty big weddings and events all over the country. ES: Well thanks, I’m proud to say the ceiling exhibit won “Best in Show.” But I can’t take full credit for it: There’s always a team that helps put everything together. Another favorite that also won “Best in Show” at the flower show was an exhibit called “Fire & Ice.” It was a winter scene with fiery-hot red and orange flowers springing forth out of the snow. PGN: Jumping back … Early signs you were gay? ES: I guess just that I was always very sensitive … if that’s a characteristic. I was always sensitive to other people’s moods and how they felt. I was always concerned about everyone else and wanted to be sure they were OK.
PGN: Were you the peacekeeper? ES: Definitely! At school and at home.
PGN: I guess your flowers must come in handy for that. ES: Oh yes, they represent happiness and joy, comfort. They go a long way in smoothing any situation.
PGN: Valentine’s Day just passed: What’s a favorite romantic gesture? ES: Well, I don’t really get to enjoy Valentine’s Day much. We’re so busy I never get to spend Valentine’s Day with my valentine. My partner Al is involved in the theater and, this year, he was busy directing a high-school show, so I had very low expectations for this Valentine’s Day. Somehow I managed to make it home for 10 minutes with a single rose, some ice cream and strawberries and we managed to have just those few minutes to celebrate each other. It was short and sweet and we both really needed that little time to stop and enjoy each other.
PGN: How did you meet? ES: A friend of mine who owned a flower shop in Collingswood set us up. Al was a regular customer at her shop and whenever he would come in she’d ask him to watch the shop for her and she would run to the phone to call me. I worked at a flower shop a mile away and she’d whisper, “He’s here right now, you have to come down and meet this guy!” It took two months, but I finally managed to get there when he was still in the shop. We went on a date and 11 years later we’re still together. In a full-circle moment, my friend with the shop moved to Atlanta and married her girlfriend and I did all the flowers for her ceremony. Al, who does a number of things, is also an officiant, so he performed the ceremony.
PGN: What was your worst date ever? ES: It was actually with Al! I think it was our second date. He and I went out for Thai food. As I mentioned, he’s into theater and over dinner he was talking about how much he loved musicals. I looked him straight in the eye and informed him that I hated musicals — even went so far as to say that the musical was the downfall of American art. I can’t believe I was so stupid. He just stared at me and it’s amazing that we still got together after that. I think I even ate off of his plate to top things off. It was bad, really bad. Fortunately, instead of walking out, Al decided to make it his mission to get me to like musicals. He took me to shows like “Sweeney Todd” and some others that I ended up loving.
PGN: Any hobbies? ES: Horticulture. [Laughs.] It’s a problem! I collect small rare plants that tend to be expensive. The kind that are only attractive to people who have an obsession for that sort of thing.
PGN: The plants only a mother could love? ES: Yes! They’re probably not very attractive to the casual observer but to me they’re fascinating. Right now I’m into a group of plants called Haworthia, named after Haworth.
PGN: [Laughs.] Rita Hayworth? ES: No, no! Adrian Hardy Haworth. He was an English botanist. The plants come from the deserts of South Africa and what I love about them is that they have variations on a theme that just goes on and on. They’re really interesting. PGN: I never even thought about plants being collectibles, other than orchids. ES: Oh yeah, there’s a whole world of plant collectors out there. One of the good things is that many of the plants collected are extremely rare. There are some plants in my collection that, because of habitat loss, may soon be extinct in the wild. It’s a terrible thing, but I feel good knowing that at least we still have some of them in cultivation so that, because of me and other collectors, they won’t be gone forever.
PGN: Kind of like what the zoo does with endangered animals. ES: Yes, it’s sad because we’d much prefer to have them be in the wild, but glad that they’re safe somewhere.
PGN: What book would I find on your nightstand? ES: I recently read “The Road” by Cormac McCarthy, who also wrote “No Country For Old Men.” I’ve always enjoyed his books.
PGN: Where do you get inspiration for your exhibits? ES: I get it everywhere — other designers, nature and … “Star Wars” movies! They’ve always been a big inspiration. I love all types of films from documentaries to British art films to science fiction. They’ve been a contributor to a lot of my creativity. I go to movies quite often and a lot of times they will influence or inspire ideas. Recently I saw the movie “Tron: Legacy” and you may see some of the sleek modern visuals that were in the movie reflected in this year’s exhibit at the flower show.
PGN: Cool, a sneak peak at what we can look forward to! Top three films? ES: “The Color Purple” is an all-time favorite. I recently watched a Werner Herzog documentary called “Cave of Forgotten Dreams.” It was filmed in 3D and was spectacular. And my third film would have to be “Star Wars.”
PGN: What’s an idea that didn’t work? ES: I once tried to façade an entire exhibit in sheets of Plexiglas without realizing that it expands and contracts quite a bit with the temperature. Definitely at a different rate than the wood I’d attached it to! The whole thing buckled as the space heated up! Not fun.
PGN: I need a time out when I … ES: Have too many ideas all at once!
PGN: Three scents you love … and make two of them outside of plant life! ES: Not fair! OK, the first would be the smell in the air when springtime starts to happen. The two non-botanical ones would be the smell of a new car, even though that’s supposed to be toxic, and it may sound crazy, but I love the smell of gasoline.
PGN: You’d be surprised how many people like that one … gasoline and the smell in a dry-cleaner’s. ES: Oooh, dry-cleaner’s. Can I pick four?
PGN: Are you good in a crisis? ES: Yes. [Laughs.] I’m good at controlling what I show. I can be freaking out internally but externally I can appear very calm. It allows me to figure out and fix the problem before anyone gets upset.
PGN: People mistake me for … ES: Recently no one, but about 10 years ago I used to get Jeremy Irons.
PGN: My friends would be surprised that I … ES: Oh, there’s not much that they would be surprised at. I’m known for having a somewhat irreverent sense of humor. If I didn’t say something shocking, they’d be surprised.
PGN: My hidden talent is … ES: I used to be an excellent trumpet player.
PGN: Other than horticulture (or sex), what’s something that you constantly think about? ES: Food! Definitely. I love to eat.
PGN: What’s the farthest you’ve traveled? ES: Singapore. I was there about five years ago for the garden festival. We did a big Christmas-themed display with a 25-foot tall, forced-shape, constructed Christmas tree made from cut greens and orchids. It was wild.
PGN: On the global front, I keep hearing about climate change and the collapse of bee colonies and all sorts of agricultural threats. What’s your take? ES: Be afraid, be very afraid! In high school and college I was very involved with environmental causes and the whole thing is very terrifying and disheartening. It’s hard to tell what’s going to happen, but one of the scariest things is that it seems no one is really paying attention. In my mind, we should all be panicking about now and trying to figure out what we’re going to do, but people are more concerned about everything else but.
PGN: Have you noticed a difference in the plants you work with? ES: Oh yeah, the winters are so inconsistent. I’ve noticed big changes. For instance, we don’t usually have as many things blooming as we do right now. If you look in the garden, we have snowdrops and crocuses and witch hazels in bloom already. It’s a little bit unusual for February.
PGN: But probably good for the flower show! I can’t wait! ES: Yes, there will be lots of surprises.
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