My friend, Sybil, and I went to the Philadelphia International Flower Show on Monday. It was just the "tonic" we needed/wanted.
The first thing to catch our eye upon entering the conference center was a hot-air balloon floating 28 feet off the ground. We noticed the globe of the world and discovered, as we got closer, that eighty thousand dried flowers had been used to cover the balloon which introduces visitors to the "Explorer's Garden." (This extraordinary garden features exotic plants collected from around the world, including some introduced to the show in 1829!)
Six showcase gardens surround the Explorer's Garden, each from a horticulturally diverse corner of the globe. These gardens supply the fantasy which is a significant part of the show. The first we visited was a recreation of a village in South Africa. The exhibit features beehive huts, a life-size giraffe and lion, flocks of birds on overhead branches, 20 wildly interpretive masks and more. I was swept away with this exhibit. I loved it!
Though we found the spring flowers we long to see, among them crocuses, daffodils, tulips, azaleas and rhododendron, we also found bright bromeliads, heliconias, begonias and anthuriums, flowers from the rainforest areas of Brazil. (This year "International" has been added to the name of the show, after all.)
Other special gardens included a traditional Indian wedding scene, New Zealand gardens, Singapore gardens and a garden from the Netherlands. The latter included lots of tulips and abandoned bicycles in the canal!
The theme of this year's Philadelphia International Flower Show, Passport to the World, appeals to the tourist in all of us. What could be better than a whirlwind visit of global gardens? After so many weeks of winter, we are vulnerable to the fantasy and eager for the facts. And, truth be told, the offerings are dazzling.
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