Philly Flower Show March

Is anyone planning on going? March 4-March 11th
http://www.theflowershow.com/home/index.html

-Kim

Yeppers!!!!!! I am so looking forward to this - it'll be an overnight trip definitely! :-) Calendar has been duly marked - it'll be the last couple of days! :-)

Hmmmm.....will have to check it out. I have a niece who lives nearby and I could probably stay with her. Thanks for the info bluekat.

Sounds fun though.

Ruby

It's a done deal - hotel is booked, DH requested photo of Liberty Bell and I have gotten directions! There is a Philly Cheese Steak waiting!

OMG.....I can't wait....plus I'm hungry and YOU had to bring up those cheese steaks....mmmm, mmmm!

DH is even giving me $20.00 earmarked for JUST cheese steaks - we are NOT allowed to spend it on anything BUT cheese steaks! No plants, no pots, no "OMG I just havta have that"....no sirre - JUST cheese steaks! :-)

Cheese Steaks and Cheesecake.....mmmmm.....mmmm Good thing I had lunch!!

I think I will go on Monday or Tuesday - anybody going to be there one of those days? I am leaning toward Monday. Don't know if I can talk John into going Sunday to spend the night or not.

-Kim

Change of plans - I am going on Thursday the 8th. I would love to meet any fellow DG'ers that are there! When are you guys going Bec and Chantell?

-Kim

Ahhh Kim...we're leaving early Sat. morning and spending the night up there!!!

I just found this thread and have already made arrangements to meet Kim.
Yippee!!!

Tam

See you on Thursday Tam!!

If you have never been there before, the food is very expensive inside the convention center. You can go right across the street to the Reading Terminal Farmer's Market and get the best food in the stalls for reasonable prices. There is a salad place that charges by the pound & you can eat it there. Check that out. Also, there is an Asiatic produce place where you can buy green taro bulbs for 15 cents a pound. Also, the parking is horrendous & I wish you luck. This is also close to chinatown, if you like chinese food, like me. Have a ball. I'm just trying to save you getting frustrated by telling you this ahead of time. If you get the chance, look up Dragon Agro products in the vendors area. Tito has some unusual and rare plants he imports from his native Thailand. Wish I were going but maybe next year.

This message was edited Mar 7, 2007 5:01 PM

I'll be there on Thursday too. :)

Buttoneer - you are wonderful!!! Thank you for the hints!! Someone day was trying to remember the name of a "farmers market" with great food around there - I bet it was the place you're talking about!! "green taro bulbs for 15 cents a pound" Yipeee!!! Love it!!

Yes, it is the Reading terminal right across the street from the convention center. BTW, they sell Philly Cheese Steaks there, too. If you ever get the chance to visit Philly when the weather is warmer, you ought to visit Chanticleer Gardens & Longwood Gardens. I've been to both places & love them both. I am going on a field trip to Phipps Conservatory & the national arboretum with my local Hobby Greenhouse group on March 22, so I will "get out." Yea!!!!!!!

Guess where we are going to spend my DH's $20.00 he's demanding to give us for dinner!!
Tito sounds like to the fella to visit - if plants from Thailand I am sure he will have Caudiciforms - Desert Roses!! Wuhuuuuuuuu
Great tips, I am sooooo looking forward to this little mini-vacation - at least we have parking included with hotel!

Ohhhhh...and how about Plumies? Yipeeee!

Oh my - it's a danged good job the seats fold down in my car! LOL I have this sneaking suspicion it'll be filled up ahem, somewhat!

He has orchids, tropicals, carnivorous plants, etc. I always buy something strange & exotic from him when I go to this show. He is in the last vendor row in the back. I remember one year, I bought 12 bullfrog tadpoles to put in my pond but I had to keep them in an aquarium til the pond unfroze and the temperatures were not so cold.

I'm thinking I may end up on the luggage rack at this rate...LOL Ahhhh, tadpoles...wonder if they'd get along with Jack and Jill in the tank?

Nice-looking cichlid. I dunno. The cichlids are agressive and tadpoles are laid-back.

Okay, the BF bailed on me and I am not at the Flower Show. He even took the day off work but didn't want to do the drive. I am not a happy camper. He told me this last night on his way home from work. So here I am bumming and trying to be civil. I could go myself Friday or Sat. but if he had told me earlier I could have made other plans.

Thanks for listening.
-Kim

Buttoneer - ahhh, I was teasing...nothing goes in the tank with Jack and Jill unless it's to be consumed. They're not good sharers of their tank...LOL
Kim - I'm sorry - that wasn't very kind, now was it!! Beck and I will still be up there on Sat. - just an FYI

I was wondering what happened to you Kim!

I had a rough day getting there but the show was good. I'll post pictures tomorrow. We
got stuck in traffic and missed the first train to Phila. And then I lost my phone on the train
(or someone stole it). But we made it in time to be there for our post. We had the 10am to
2pm shift watching the display and then had a quick lunch. We walked around and got
back on the train home. It was a LONGGGgggg day.

Chantell - be sure to get to the back right corner. There is an amazing stone relic of an old
church. Just beautiful. It was my personal favorite. And of course, the Rock Garden Society
display was gorgeous. ;-)

Tam

Oh I can't wait...going to "pack" here shortly - READ: a set of clothes and my camera stuff...yipee!!

Be sure to dress warm for the show. Its very cool in there. I had on a very heavy shirt and was very
chilly all day!!!

Tam

We did go to the show and had a good time. Amazing huge trees, blooming bulbs, displays, flowering art, bonsai and on and on.

I didn't get to meet any DG people:(( but I did get to meet Mrs. Samuel Hamilton. Who you ask? That is what I asked also. Throughout the displays of plants in the Horticulture Competitive classes there was always these WOW blue ribbon amazing specimens, most of them huge, unusual and all perfect, all with the same grower name. Anytime we would see a big beautiful plant we would say "Guess who that belongs to?" knowing the answer.

So we were almost ready to leave the show and were admiring yet another of her submissions when I looked over and there she was! (I read her nametag:) also admiring her own plants. I introduced myself and thanked her for bringing in all her gorgeous plants for us to enjoy. She was very gracious and then introduced us and gave credit to her own personal 'Master Gardener' in charge of procuring, getting them to the show etc. We later asked who she was and found out she is the heir to the Campbell's Soup fortune and has a full time staff of gardeners etc., donates $$ of course and has a passion for plants and flowers.

Please give us the link when you post show pictures!

mmmmm good, mmmmmm good.

Kim - my chapter of the rock garden society got to tour her greenhouses a couple of years ago.
Fab-u-lous! I hadn't realized she was the campbell soup heir. We were just talking about how
much different the show would be without her contributions. Just amazing plants. Wow!

I just got back from a plant shopping day (well - mostly looking) at a mennonite nursery in Lancaster
today. I got trillium grandiflorum for $2.29 each and large cyclamen hederifolium for $3.29 each.
The prices are just amazing. Hostas were mostly $2.29 & $3.29. Huge selection. I'm just
so ready for Spring!!! Black Creek Nursery just off Rt 625 in Lancaster County Pa. for anyone in
the area.

Tam

Here are my pictures... the "Best in Show by a Plant Society" or some such award.
The organization of which I am a member and which brought me to the show in the first place,
North American Rock Garden Society or NARGS, Delaware Valley Chapter.

The theme of the show was "The Legends of Ireland"

Dick Van Duzer designed our display, painted the backdrop/mural and made the wattle fencing
from materials he pulled from his property woodland. I believe he is in his 80's now. A very remarkable
talented man. Here's a shot of the fencing and mural.

The plants in the foreground were an amorphaphallus species (I forget which). They emitted a foul
smell every so often and were quite popular with the crowds.

Here's a shot of some of the amazing plants - cyclamen, primula etc. Its so hard to get this in
a picture. Sorry.

And the plants people bring for competition always amaze me. This was one of my favorites.
It is a clematis planted in a chimney pot. It won a blue ribbon.

You just can't really imagine how big this clivia is... it had to be over 3' around.

There were a number of them... I just love them in bloom!

I think the orange, though more common is still the prettiest. Here is a pale yellow that was prettier in
person that this picture shows.

A very tiny sample of the orchids in competition...

And another - I loved how the leaves were colored similary to the flowers.