Be sure to visit the 'HopeInBloom' exhibit that I'm helping out with this year. Visit the website for more info on HopeInBloom, they provide gardens free of charge to patients undergoing breast cancer treatment. Stop by the exhibit and learn about this worthy cause and the people that make it happen thru volunteer efforts. Funding for HopeInBloom gardens are provided solely thru private donations.
The HopeInBloom exhibit will portray a typical outdoor garden that is installed during the seasonal months of the year, they also provide indoor gardens and florals for those not able to have an outdoor garden.
I attended the Philadelphia Flower Show this year for the first time. It was a fun and rewarding experience. It is true that the show is 'large' and many 'large' displays. The theme was Passport To The World. The florals were amazing. My observation was that exhibits in this show had a mix of landscape and floriculture in each of the themes. The Africa theme display used dried floral and beans to create life size models of African culture and face masks. Very impressive. The India theme used dried materials and blossoms to create a large elephant draped with an ornamental back carpet accompanied by a large peacock. All of this was very impressive but as as a horticulturist I really wanted to see the 'down in the dirt' displays.
I did find exhibits that I had hoped to see. Sustainable of course was in the description for just about any exhibit that portrayed a garden or landscape. Some were realistic and considered what I would call 'doable' by the average home owner, others of course were way outside of the box, nice to view, and obtainable with a large price tag I'm sure. I enjoyed most the exhibit that provided walk-thru with posters explaining the goals of the horticulture used in the exhibit.
I enjoyed the hort and garden societies entries most. Porches adorned with a mailbox and walkway were really fun to look at and seek out what materials were used to create them. Balcony plantings and window boxes accompanied by a lamp post were also a treat to walk thru and see how the same theme was created so differently times 5.
The amateur hort displays are always fun to walk thru. I really like the lay out they offered at this show. You could actually walk thru the displays like you would an outdoor nursery and see the exhibit up close. Really nice for taking photos. There were some wonderful topiaries and under glass miniature gardens that folks had been very creative with. I think I'll try one of each myself this year.
And we must not forget to mention the vendors. There were many, as there usually are at these shows. The quality was pretty good. It was a treat to see more 'hort' related vendors than some of the products I'd rather go to your local discount store to purchase. The economy has triggered many folks with huge talent and creativity to make $ense of it all. I saw some very nice unique artistry as a result. A building contractor started building and selling birdhouses, but not any ordinary birdhouse, these are works of art. He had cuts the copper tiles for each roof, and each house is unique. The show was his first exposure to the public, his booth was 'very' busy.
So we all have our reasons for attending the various Flower and Garden shows each spring here in New England. Whether it be to learn about the hottest newest plants to buy or how to's on growing your own garden or maybe see a new floral display splash you'd like to try, there certainly is one great benefit to attending the show, the people! You get to meet so many folks like yourself that are ready to jump in and get going with the growing, seeing, smelling, touching, hearing, taste of the season, what a great way to experience them all at the 'Feast For The Senses' show in Boston next week.
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