Celebrating Spring at the Philadelphia Flower Show

This beautiful scene shows Delaware Water Gap near my home. I visited it earlier this month. No, not the cold, gray, winter Gap just a few miles from here, but a wonderful facsimile at the Philadelphia Flower Show.  The Delaware Valley Fern and Wildflower Society provided the lovely display that complied with this year's theme, 'Explore America: One Hundred Years of our National Park Service.' I especially loved the ostrich ferns supplied by Morris Arboretum. Can't wait for warmer weather when our Delaware Water Gap turn's green again.

The entrance to the flower show was as spectacular as ever, decorated with perennials --  including some new-to-me purple cone flowers that I coveted. We entered a lodge, a wooden structure in a clever pentagon shape. My camera couldn't do justice to the suspended audio visual displays in there. The lodge contained various vignettes, my favorite being the life-sized bison.

Entrance to the 2016 Philadelphia Flower Show

Bison, with redwood frame and caste iron eyes, trampling on the daisies.

14 foot waterfall like those found at Glacier Park

Many of the exhibits conceptualized the parks, and some of these I found difficult to understand. I enjoyed more the replication of park features and flowers which I show in this posting.

Tall tree trunks for Yellowstone National Park

Wildflowers in the park

Lupines depicted regrowth after the fires of Yellowstone National Park

I was very taken with the fish sculptures among the seagrasses growing at Cape Cod National Seashore.

"A man may stand there and put all America behind him."

-- Henry David Thoreau

Sandy Dunes: Cape Cod National Sea Shore

(We have family at Cape Cod -- maybe this is the year for a summer visit.)

There were several contributions by students. One of my favorites, the vegetable garden planted next to a log cabin, represented Abraham Lincoln's humble beginnings.

Simple and serene: Abraham Lincoln's vegetable garden

I loved the 'Front Entrance: Welcome Home Annie' exhibits for Ellis Island. Several front yards were shown and I enjoyed them all, but the one with the suitcase on the step was my favorite. I would not have thought to grow delphiniums in containers. They were stunning.

Welcome Home

The High School of Agricultural Sciences, Philadelphia, PA depicted the historic Valley Green Inn at Wissahicken where Edgar Allen Poe was inspired under a canopy of hemlock and beech. I was motivated to go to the inn's website and put it on my list of 'must visit.'

'Wander Inn to the Valley'

Browsing the Hamilton Horticourt provided me with lots of ideas for my own garden. Here is where amateur gardeners vie for the coveted blue ribbon. I loved the fairy gardens and terrariums:

Walking around the show can be very tiring. I was ready to take my afternoon nap and found the perfect place. The honeymoon tent with its cathedral of branches was decorated with 1,000 carnations. Unfortunately, the bed was roped off, but I was tempted...

Beautiful, comfortable-looking honeymoon bed.

One last picture from the show ...

Colorful tulips depicting the tulip library at the National Mall

 

We traveled into Philadelphia by train, checked into a hotel, and had two days of 'blooming' fun. While I celebrated the unofficial start of spring at the Philadelphia Flower Show, back home spring arrived early to my garden. I usually force forsythia branches into bloom and purchase tulips or hyacinths, but never before had daffodils and hellabores this early.

Spring flowers from my garden picked March 19.

Grandson gave me the tulips. Thank you, Jon. Beautiful!

I'm celebrating the new season with my dear friend, Donna, at Gardens Eye View and look forward to reading about similar celebrations around the world on her wonderful blog. Sorry for the late posting, Donna.  I owe an even bigger apology to Diana at Elephants Eye on False Bay for missing two months of her 'Dozen for Diana' meme. I was on a very hectic Master Gardener speaking circuit, giving five presentations in about ten days. I'm exhausted. But I'm going to catch up with my 'Dozen' choices with snowdrops for February and daffodils for March. Snowdrops are a must-have even though I don't experience too much luck with them. The moles often push up their little bulbs. In addition, they have a hard time surviving the Pocono weather conditions. But the survivors really cheer me when nothing else is blooming in my garden.

Snowdrops for February

I intended choosing daffodils for later, but because they bloomed in March this year, I'm making them this month's pick. My favorite, Tahiti, is budding. Love those blooms.

Daffodil Narcissus 'Tahiti"

I celebrated the unofficial start of spring at the flower show which ran March 5-13, and spring officially arrived on March 20 bringing early blooms. Happy Spring, dear gardening friends. So much to celebrate.

Pamela x

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