Let It Grow
By Tammy Thornton
Once again, the Philadelphia Flower Show dazzled and inspired first-time guests and return garden enthusiasts alike as the event returned to the great indoors after a two-year hiatus. This year’s theme “The Garden Electric”, held March 4 – 12, featured bold-colored flowers and lights throughout the interactive exhibits, with expanded displays allowing for a 360-degree view to mimic the feel of being outdoors while immersed in the garden.
For the past two years, the Philadelphia Horticultural Society (PHS) held the flower show outdoors, due to restrictions from the Covid-19 pandemic. While holding a flower show outdoors seems fitting for a gardening event, this also subjected the affair to a variety of challenges such as unavoidable weather events of rain and extreme heat. Exhibitors and guests alike welcomed the return of the “Big Show” to the Philadelphia Convention Center. For the first time in the show’s history, organizers tasked several designers with “creating gardens between 2,200 and 2,900 square feet in size, making them the largest gardens ever displayed at the event,” according to the Philadelphia Horticultural Society.
Attendees were welcomed into the show with a magical entrance garden designed to create a sense of mystery and intrigue as they were surrounded with music, flowers, and colorful changing lights from below and above. Below, an explosion of scents and colorful flowers and lights delighted the senses, while a look up above was rewarded with a dizzying display of suspended kokedama (moss balls) filled with ornamental plants such as orchids, succulents, and exotic flowers hanging amid changing lights.
Continuing on through to the exhibits, organizers of the flower show adopted the concept of a winding promenade path, created to give visitors a close-up view of the flowers and displays. Garden and landscape designers wowed guests with their own interpretation of “The Garden Electric” theme. From peaceful landscapes to over-the-top floral designs, attendees of the flower show could take home memorable and inspiring ideas to implement in their own gardens.
Among the more memorable exhibits was a collaboration of Irwin Landscaping and Prairie Wind, which caught everyone’s eye with the focal point of a large black urn overflowing with colorful exotic plants in the middle of a fountain. This was a part of a larger scene that included a stream and long pathway bordered by planted flowers and also featured a wrought iron, birdhouse-style gazebo, complete with a glass-floral chandelier and seating.
Another eye-catching display, full of whimsy with a touch of grace, was a display from a team from the American Institute of Floral Design (AIFD). Designers dressed mannequins with ballerina tutus in shades of pink using carnations and tulle. This was part of a larger exhibit where each artist was tasked with creating a display using a different monochromatic color scheme, resulting in very imaginative and impactful presentations.
Of course, South Jersey’s own, Waldor Orchids of Linwood, gave an out of this world performance with their display entitled, “I look to the Heavens”. This exhibit featured a satellite dish filled with orchids as well as a color-changing spaceship, a spinning lunar lander, and astronaut helmets overflowing with orchids. Their award-winning displays never disappoint.
After viewing major exhibits, smaller garden displays, gardening presentations, and demonstrations, attendees could venture to the marketplace to bring a little taste of the flower show home. Vendors sold live plants, cut flowers, soaps, candles, jewelry, food, and an unlimited amount of other garden-related art and goods. You could even test-drive a heated sauna filled with the scent of lavender wafting through the air. After shopping and a bite to eat, visitors could stop by the bloom bar to fashion a flower crown (which seemed all the rage of attendees) or walk through the live butterfly habitat, a fan-favorite.
If the lines were too long on the first lap around, you could make a second attempt to view the exhibit by ILLExotics, who won the “Best in Show Cup – Landscape”, for their exhibit called “Studio Exotica”, a Studio-54-inspired nightclub taken over by tropical plants and greenery, complete with a floral DJ and dancers. Another long line led to the popular display called, “Eye Candy” by Schaffer Designs of Philadelphia. Inside the exhibit, visitors walked by glass showcases of floral “confections” such as cakes, donuts, and candy that looked good enough to eat. They were then led to a display of eye-catching, fashion-forward, sassy mannequins bedecked in flower dresses or flower-bowl heads, earning Schaffer Designs the silver trophy for floral design.
You never know what can happen at the flower show. On Tuesday afternoon of the show, applause arose as surprised passersby became the happy witnesses to the engagement of Julia and Sumeet of Philadelphia. Love was in the air, and the couple had a beautiful backdrop for engagement pictures in the entrance garden, called “Florastruck”. Perhaps the flower show creators may consider renaming it “Lovestruck”?
Started in 1829, the PHS Philadelphia Flower Show has inspired gardeners for almost 200 years. For those of us longing for spring, it’s a fun way to get through the last few weeks of winter. I just wonder how many gardeners will be inspired to add spinning lunar landers and mannequins to their gardens this year?
Tammy Thornton lives in Linwood with her husband, children, and crazy pets while enjoying a life of gardening, cooking, and going to the beach.
