Here's a thread for sharing photos and stories about the 2009 Philadelphia Flower Show!
Link to show info: http://www.theflowershow.com/home/index.html
Link to thread to tell other MidAtlantic DGers if you're going: http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/955319/#new
Terri (Aspenthomas) and I went yesterday (Wednesday, March 5) and had a fantabulous time!
The first thing that caught my eye was the most enormous pot of Clivias I'd ever seen, in that yellow color that seems to be so rare, just blooming their heads off!
As we'd been told, the Rock Garden exhibit was right by the entrance (the Clivia pot above was stationed at one end, like a guardian).
We were entranced by the lovely vignettes in these containers. We've decided we must learn to make our own little hypertuffa alpine troughs this summer. After all, like so many things -- DG has a forum for that!
Here's a blue ribbon winner...
... and here are some more lovely little primulas like the one serving as a focal point above!
Some of the rock garden containers contained miniature scenes, like this Italian Courtyard cafe'.
There were woodland scenes like this one, with a "lake" that seemed to be made from clear poured acryllic.
It's hard to get a sense of scale... this was a fairly large container, maybe 18x30+ inches?
Here's an oval woodland scene next to it... maybe a little smaller than the rectangular one.
The same exhibit area had some spectacular specimens in containers, like this Philodendron 'Moonlight'.
... and this Philodendron, 'Prince of Orange'.
Again, it's hard to get a sense of the scale of these... I've seen 'Prince' before, as a smallish foot tall plant... this baby had to be about 3 feet tall and wide, and 'Moonlight' was similarly huge, with leaf blades that looked about as long as my arm.
Here's a very pretty specimen of 'Prince Rupert', a variegated and yummy smelling scented geranium.
Closer look at Prince Rupert's leaves...
Agave 'Mediopicta'
I have a Ponytail Palm like a little fountain, perched on the top corner of our entertainment center. THIS is what mine wants to be when it grows up. For scale, I think that was at least a 16 inch pot.
Episcia 'Cleopatra' in a fishbowl-like terrarium:
Columnia ("goldfish plant") bloom
Begonia Prismatocarpa, a blue ribbon winner at the show:
That's 16 of the photos I took in just the first little area... I think this is when Terri realized my shutterbugging was going to require some patience on her part. (Thank you, Terri!!)
The Italian theme meant lots of fountains, stone work, and statuary incorporated into the exhibits. Unfortunately, the low and uneven lighting in the convention center meant more photos than usual came out with some degree of blurriness. I wish I could show you the impact of the vibrant colors, moist scents, and sheer SCALE of this spectacle. Pictures truly don't do it justice.
Here's a trio of bubbling ceramic fountains that caught our eye. Sunflowers, coreopsis, and salvia were planted in the foreground...
... against a backdrop of huge cypress (?) trees.
I still remember entering the show when I went 3 years ago... my jaw dropped in amazement at the realization that they had hauled in -- and "planted" -- full sized trees!
whoops, forgot the photo of the background trees...
Everywhere you turned, another container commanded your attention... most of them were huge, definitely on a scale that suited this very large space!
Here's a bronze and pink combo that I liked.
This was arguably the largest and most colorful "bouquet" in the show...
I could just hear my grandmother gasp, "Ooh! Roses!!"
Azaleas might have been the most-repeated flower, but I never got tired of them. I can't even imagine getting all of them blooming at the same time -- there were masses of them!
Here's a silvery Agave, making a striking contrast against the azaleas.
Italians all dine "al fresco" in beautiful outdoor kitchens like this...
(Don't disillusion me! I want to believe this scene is repeated in every Italian courtyard, LOL)
More fountains, in a procession of square stone basins of different heights. I loved this dark, 3-tiered one!
With so much massed bloom, it was sometimes hard to focus on individual flowers... but they were all so perfect!
We noticed quite a few exhibits utilizing chokecherries and/or serviceberries in bloom... Now we're thinking these trees seem to be underutilized in landscaping (and we want them, of course).
We noticed quite a few exhibits utilizing chokecherries and/or serviceberries in bloom... Now we're thinking these trees seem to be underutilized in landscaping (and we want them, of course).
Red Chokecherry 'Brilliantissima'
I like them a lot, and have dozens of them growing from seed from sallyg's area and Maine. The fall color can be spectacular. That's a good trick, getting them to bloom this time of year!
The name is wrong for that plant though, Aronia arbutifolia is Chokeberry, not Chokecherry (a different tree), and 'Brilliantissima' was shortened to 'Brilliant'. Cultivar names aren't "allowed" to be latin names by whomever decides those things.
In several exhibits, these had been grown as multi-trunked shrubs, sheared so they branched and grew very upright, with a little tuft of leaves and blooms at the tip of each little branch.
(sorry, photo is unfocused)
Chokecherry vs. Chokeberry might have been my error... I got a very blurry shot of that nametag!
Right or not, I rather liked "Brilliantissima" -- sounded Italian to me! ;-)
Some of the exhibits were unusually striking in their presentation... The gold color of these forsythias and sunflowers was played up by golden uplight... We were pretty sure the tall branches in the center were cherry blooms (judging by the bark), but they had a golden cast to them also. It was a rather magical glow, which didn't really get captured well by the camera.
You could pretty much get drunk on the fragrance of this stand of Oriental Lilies.
I think 'Triumphator' may be an "orienpet" hybrid...
I loved the deep burgundy of this 'Montezuma'...
and look at the size of 'Indiana'! The bloom was as large as both of my hands put together... almost the color of cherry kool-aid
Wow Jill, I so wish I could have come with - between the 2 of us I am sure we would have spent hours just taking pictures! Maybe next year! Looks like a great show as usual...
Regarding the "al fresco" Italian dining - let's just say you are more likely to find something like that in Napa valley ^_^
ack! where did the images go?
trying again...
'Montezuma'
and 'Indiana', with my hand to show the size of the bloom...
Becky, I was just flying from shot to shot... for serious photography, I'm pretty sure we'd need to stay over at least one night!
Next year... :-)
Look at this peacock fountain... I'd love one, but I sure have no idea where I'd put it, LOL.
