Flower power with a French theme in Philadelphia
Source: Agencies |
March 11, 2011, Friday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
IT'S time to say "au revoir" to the winter blahs.
The annual horticultural extravaganza known as the Philadelphia International Flower Show opens on Sunday with the theme "Springtime in Paris," welcoming visitors with 25,000 tulips arrayed under a faux Eiffel Tower.
Tourists will mingle with mimes and musicians strolling amid 4 hectares of French-themed floral exhibits, while artists set up easels to paint in re-created Parisian gardens. "The show is astounding," said exhibitor Jamie Rothstein. "It overwhelms the senses."
A warm respite from the perennial dregs of winter, the spectacle attracts both green thumbs and snow-weary souls eager to soak in the fragrant, vibrant blooms. Nearly 250,000 people are expected at the Pennsylvania Convention Center for the eight-day event, which is billed as the world's largest indoor flower show.
This year's displays include a "Phantom of the Opera" tableau, a wedding at Notre Dame, floral carousel animals, a mini-Arc de Triomphe and Centre Pompidou, and a scene from Pere Lachaise Cemetery in Paris, where rocker Jim Morrison, composer Frederic Chopin, singer Edith Piaf and other notables are buried.
Rothstein, who owns a floral design company in Philadelphia, worked with John Whitenight to design a 19th-century salon with period furnishings and "parlor domes," flower arrangements under glass.
Rothstein acknowledged a soft spot in her heart for the French motif. For a similar theme in 1998, she re-created the Hall of Mirrors at the Palace of Versailles and then married her fiance in the exhibit. They remain the only couple ever to wed at the show.
But beyond the pretty petals, the Flower Show provides a US$61 million boost to the region's economy and serves as an educational and fundraising event for its sponsor, the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society.
Organizers work with suppliers to showcase new and interesting plants, which this year include the latest colors of Gerber daisies, new varieties of roses from Colombia and an orange variety of Oncidium orchid, said show design director Sam Lemheney.
The annual horticultural extravaganza known as the Philadelphia International Flower Show opens on Sunday with the theme "Springtime in Paris," welcoming visitors with 25,000 tulips arrayed under a faux Eiffel Tower.
Tourists will mingle with mimes and musicians strolling amid 4 hectares of French-themed floral exhibits, while artists set up easels to paint in re-created Parisian gardens. "The show is astounding," said exhibitor Jamie Rothstein. "It overwhelms the senses."
A warm respite from the perennial dregs of winter, the spectacle attracts both green thumbs and snow-weary souls eager to soak in the fragrant, vibrant blooms. Nearly 250,000 people are expected at the Pennsylvania Convention Center for the eight-day event, which is billed as the world's largest indoor flower show.
This year's displays include a "Phantom of the Opera" tableau, a wedding at Notre Dame, floral carousel animals, a mini-Arc de Triomphe and Centre Pompidou, and a scene from Pere Lachaise Cemetery in Paris, where rocker Jim Morrison, composer Frederic Chopin, singer Edith Piaf and other notables are buried.
Rothstein, who owns a floral design company in Philadelphia, worked with John Whitenight to design a 19th-century salon with period furnishings and "parlor domes," flower arrangements under glass.
Rothstein acknowledged a soft spot in her heart for the French motif. For a similar theme in 1998, she re-created the Hall of Mirrors at the Palace of Versailles and then married her fiance in the exhibit. They remain the only couple ever to wed at the show.
But beyond the pretty petals, the Flower Show provides a US$61 million boost to the region's economy and serves as an educational and fundraising event for its sponsor, the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society.
Organizers work with suppliers to showcase new and interesting plants, which this year include the latest colors of Gerber daisies, new varieties of roses from Colombia and an orange variety of Oncidium orchid, said show design director Sam Lemheney.
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