Explore America at the Flower Show

February 9th, 2016

I have a hunch that this year’s Philadelphia Flower Show – happening March 5-13 at the Pennsylvania Convention Center – could be particularly fascinating.

The theme is “Explore America,” a tie-in to the 100^th anniversary of the National Park Service, which means the garden-builders will tap a library of 408 venues from Acadia to Yosemite to create their displays.

I’ve heard that one exhibitor plans a landscape showing Yellowstone Park springing back to life after a wildfire, another is building a patriotic garden with a Liberty Bell suspended over a tree-lined allee, and another is building a tropical orchid garden based on Hawaii’s Volcanoes National Park.

The main entry is going to be an Old Faithful Inn look-alike with floral totem poles, native-American furnishings and huge video screens showing iconic scenes from the national parks. The sound of birds singing and buffalo herds roaring will fill the air.

Sounds impressive to me. After dealing with 3 feet of snow over our outside landscape, I’m ready to see green grass and blue flowers.

If you are, too, come along on one of the five weekday bus trips I’m leading to the 2016 show. We leave late in the morning from West Shore and East Shore locations to get there after the door-opening rush is done, then stay until 7 p.m. as the crowds thin.

I think it’s the best way to do the show – by letting the bus driver deal with the Schuylkill traffic and getting dropped off at the front door. On the way down, I give away prizes on the bus and give inside show tips to help you make the most of your day.

The cost is $85 per person, which includes your show ticket. See the trip flyer on Lowee’s Group Tours website or call Lowee’s at 717-657-965 or toll-free 888-345-6933 to reserve a seat. (The Tuesday trip is already sold out.)

I’ve seen about two dozen Philadelphia Flower Shows over the years, and I never get tired of them – even seeing each show five times.

The entry to the 2015 Philadelphia Flower Show — my favorite of all time.

My favorite show of all time was last year with its “Celebrate the Movies” theme. The landscapers each picked a Disney film and built some really creative displays around it, from Mulan to Frozen to Cars. (See my Pennlive Photo Gallery of 30 pictures from that show.)

A lot of years the theme revolves around a place, such as Ireland or France or Hawaii. But I think the best shows are the ones that tie into a topic – like this year’s national-park idea.

Besides the national-park-themed landscapes that will range from waterfalls to woodlands to wildflower meadows to coastal wetlands, the show layout will change so that three main trails lead through the gardens.

The idea is to make visitors feel like “explorers” wandering their way through natural America and its amazing diversity.

Park rangers will be on hand to talk about the real parks and swear in Junior Rangers.

A “Base Camp” in the neighboring Exhibition Hall will feature food, a Pop Up Beer Garden and the always-popular free wine-tasting area.

The National Park Service itself plans to build a rustic amphitheater that pays homage to the rangers and the fireside stories they tell at park get-togethers.

And Amtrak is getting into the act by sponsoring a Railway Garden that will wind through a miniaturized version of American landmarks. That’ll be in a separate room off of the show floor and cost $5 extra to see.

Those themed twists are in addition to the usual gargantuan show activities, which include a gardener’s marketplace of 180 vendors, a 60-category amateur plant competition in the Hamilton Horticourt, another huge section displaying miniatures, pressed-flower art and patio displays, and a lineup of garden talks and flower-arranging demos that run one after another.

All of the show details are listed on the Philadelphia Flower Show website.

If you’ve never gone to the show, this would be a good year to start.