Wednesday, March 7, 2018

68: Philadelphia Flower Show - 2018

The Philadelphia Flower Show's theme this year is Wonders of Water.

Held in the Convention Center in Philadelphia, it is the largest indoor flower show in the world.
In spite of a blizzard the previous day, which caused electrical outage of thousands of businesses and homes in the region, and local train stoppage, the flower show opened, Saturday, March 3, as usual, to record crowds. My friend and I drove, taking detours to avoid fallen trees, so as not to miss the preview Saturday morning that was open to members of the Horticultural Society. When we left at noon the first floor of the Civic Center was packed with people waiting to enter.

Today, Wednesday, March 7, we are in the midst of a snowstorm. People who have bought tickets for today have been told the tickets will be good any of the remaining days of the show. My guess is that most have gone, thinking the crowds may be less.

Here are pictures and videos:




As one entered the scene was of rain forest and its scents and sounds.


Water gardens were everywhere.





An example of problems caused by climate change. The sign is enlarged below.

Climate change was addressed
The enlarged sign, shown in the photo above.

 More ponds
The show is huge! Here is a display featuring a boat.
Beautiful displays present new ideas. Here a glass table is set with glass wear, in a pond with floating gardenias. 
Many arrangements are also presented. I found this one quite unusual.



Below is the explanation for this huge display.




Smaller exhibits were also on display. 



Here an outdoor garden is presented.

The shopping is also fabulous. One finds items at the Flower Show that one can find nowhere else. And one meets people, often people with very interesting stories to tell.

This is Maryam, who sells beautiful hand-made tapestries, shawls, and bags from India, China, and Morocco.  www.uniteinthelight.org  -   www.kashmirdream.com
I bought garden door mats from www.gardendoormat.net marveled over the beauty of hand-crafted jewelry made by Colleen Toland  - www.colleentoland.com -  and her daughter, Lisa Toland -www.lisatoland.com - both of whom are from California. 

I bought a broom that sweeps decks, a hot-pink t-shirt that says We Can Do It! with Rosie the Riveter on the sleeve, and for my daughter, roses from the Krempt Florist.  Roses are incredibly inexpensive at the show. Unfortunately I do not have the web addresses for these exhibitors.

If you subscribe to Threads Magazine, look for my ad in the marketing section of the magazine.
My new, professional website should go up in a couple of days.

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Phone: 215 884 7065
© Laurel Hoffmann, 2018. 
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