I made it to the Philadelphia Flower Show for the first time in 2019.
It is reputed to be the best in the country, and I loved it. I posted a live video of my first impression there, and later I made a video of the highlights from that show. I took about 600 photos, so there was a lot more going on. There were, however, some things that I’ve enjoyed at the Chicago Flower and Garden Show which I missed at the Philly show—cooking demonstrations by local chefs, tablescapes by local florists, and extra garden talks in seminar rooms in addition to the stages on the showroom floor. At one of those showroom stage talks, I got to meet author Tovah Martin. She spoke about “Indestructible Houseplants,” which is the topic of one of her many books. I’ve enjoyed her writing about plants and gardening ever since the early days of my favorite magazine, Victoria. She has a new book out this year, The Garden in Every Sense and Season, about ENJOYing the garden—one of my main themes here on this blog and in my newsletter.
Speaking of indestructible houseplants, I was amused by the signs I saw on the plant containers at Midway airport when we flew to Philadelphia: “Please, Do Not Water the Plants. Thank You.” It’s true, as I’ve pointed out when giving houseplant care tips in my newsletter, that houseplants are more likely to die from overwatering than from under watering.
Little did I know that the Philadelphia Garden Show would be cancelled the following year, 2020, due to the coronavirus pandemic. But this year, 2021, the show went on. It was held outdoors, and so it was postponed a little so the weather would be better. I would like to have seen that show because my experience at the only outdoor garden show done in Chicago, about ten years ago, was wonderful. I thought it was much better than the indoor Chicago Flower and Garden Show.
I did, however, go to Philadelphia in October as part of a grad school class that my husband and I are taking at Bakke Graduate University. During our urban immersion class, we got to see a completely different side of the city of Philadelphia than we had seen when we had come for the Philadelphia Flower Show two years ago. I spotted several nice urban gardens as we walked around various neighborhoods. And since we had Saturday afternoon off, my husband and I found a public garden to visit. I will save the details of this trip for another blog post.
Do you have a good garden show near you? Have you traveled to any garden shows? Please share in the comments below.
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The Gardener Wife 