A “Jolt of Floral Magic”
February 7th, 2023
In just a month, a long-time blooming milestone will return to Pennsylvania for the first time in three years.
This rendering of the planned 2023 Philadelphia Flower Show main-entrance gardens shows how designers hope to immerse visitors in a natural setting.
The Philadelphia Flower Show – the world’s biggest, oldest indoor flower show – is headed back inside March 4-12 to its end-of-winter “natural habitat” over 10 acres of the Pennsylvania Convention Center.
I, for one, am glad to see this return to normalcy after the show was forced outside in June for the past two years because of the COVID pandemic.
While some people actually preferred the FDR Park outdoor venue, it just couldn’t capture what I’ve always liked best about the Philly show – namely, how special it is to see instant spring unfold in full bloom while it’s still so cold and gray outside.
The designers of this year’s show are seizing on that intangible to craft a 2023 theme that aims to “jolt” visitors with maximum color and give them some of the biggest display gardens in the show’s nearly two-century history.
The Pennsylvania Horticultural Society, which produces the Philadelphia Flower Show, recently unveiled details of what the 2023 show will look like.
A mesh scrim will function as a “grand reveal” at the entrance to the 2023 Philadelphia Flower Show.
“The Garden Electric” theme will start right at show’s main entrance, where a large, web-like mesh scrim will partially obscure and “gray out” the blooming gardens on the other side. The idea is for the vibrant flower colors to suddenly come alive once visitors step inside this garden cocoon.
PHS calls it a “jolt of floral magic” that will immerse visitors “in a 360-degree world of unique floral pairings, textures, light, fragrance, and vibrant colors.”
“We’re working hard to create a cohesive and fully immersive experience for show attendees,” said PHS’s creative director, Seth Pearsoll. “Design choices are intentionally being made to mimic the feel of being outdoors in nature by creating larger displays that surround guests.”
Some of the main-display gardens will cover 2,200 to 2,900 square feet – the largest sizes the show has ever presented.
Also different will be how visitors traverse the gardens. This year’s show will have a winding promenade that aims for a more guided experience throughout the gardens.
PHS announced some of the main gardens on tap for the 2023 show:
* A floral display with lighting elements and large-scale barrels brimming with flowers that are “pouring” into a 10-foot tree, designed by the Black Girl Florists Network.
* A Studio-54-inspired disco that’s been taken over by tropical foliage and flowers, complete with a floral DJ, bartender, and dancers, designed by Ill Exotics, a Philadelphia boutique shop.
* A 360-degree, mixed-media display featuring projections, music, and florals, designed by Jonathan Wright, director of The Garden and Fairbanks Park at Newfields in Indianapolis.
* A display of innovative floral sculptures, designed by Harijanto Setiawan, an architect-turned-florist who won the 2013 Designer of the Year Award given by the president of Singapore.
Treeline Designz has this display in mind for the 2023 Philadelphia Flower Show.
* An exhibit using locally grown trees and plants to create a twinkling fairy house that’s home to the Peace Fairy who watches over children, designed by Treeline Designz.
* An exhibit on night gardens and plants activated at night with color and scent, designed by Apiary Studio.
* A garden that evokes the “blissfulness of a spring day” by using spring ephemerals, a suspended swing, and spiral motifs, designed by Susan Cohan Gardens.
Beyond the new theme and design tweaks, the 2023 show will retain most of the familiar main elements of past indoor shows.
Amateur plant specimens in the Hamilton Horticourt will be a returning element.
One is the Hamilton Horticourt, that show within the show that features competitions in plants grown by and displays created by amateurs. It will be set up this year in a new, central location and will house new competitive classes in forced cut branches and citrus, plus a new invitational class that will invite top floral designers to compete.
Another returning main element is the design displays, which are smaller creations presented by florists, artisans, garden clubs, and other groups.
This year’s design displays will feature categories in windowsill decoration, doorway decoration, miniature floral design, floral arrangements, pressed plants, botanical jewelry, and more.
And a third popular returning element is the huge gardener’s marketplace of some 250 vendors. This is where show-goers can browse and buy everything from seeds and hand tools to oversized pots and garden furniture.
New in shopping for 2023 is a Makers Market of 16 local artists selling their handmade wares in the Convention Center’s Grand Hall.
“Potting parties” hosted by designer Tu Bloom are another returning show feature.
Music, DIY crafts, “potting parties” (where visitors make their own take-home flower pots), a butterfly exhibit, and food round out this year’s plans.
If you’re interested in seeing this year’s show, Lowee’s Group Tours and I are offering five weekday trips that drop off at the main entrance and include show tickets. I’ll also give you show-seeing details and other show insights on the way down.
We leave later in the morning than most bus tours (avoiding the rush at opening) but also stay longer (giving you less-crowded time to see the show later in the day).
This year, we’ll be doing three trips that pick up at West Shore and East Shore locations.
Those are planned for Mon., March 6, Tue., March 7, and Wed., March 8. The bus leaves Sam’s Club (Mechanicsburg) at 9:30 a.m. and Weis Markets (Linglestown) at 10 a.m., arriving at the show around 12:30 p.m. Departure is 6 p.m.
We’re also planning a trip for Thur., March 9, with pickups at 9 a.m. at the Springettsbury Twp. Amphitheatre lot in York and then at 9:45 a.m. at the Weis Markets on the Fruitville Pike in Lancaster, arriving at the show around 11:30 a.m. Departure is 6 p.m.
The fifth trip is planned for Fri., March 10, with pickups at 9 a.m. at the South Middleton Twp. building in Boiling Springs and at 10 a.m. at the old Kmart store in Elizabethtown, arriving at the show around noon. Departure is at 6 p.m.
Prices for each of the trips is $99.
More information is posted on my Talks and Trips page, or you can book directly through Lowee’s website. Lowee’s phone is 717-757-9658 and email is ckelly@lowees.com if you prefer to go those routes instead.
If you’re going it alone, the 2023 show will open at 10 a.m. March 4 to 12 with closing at 7 p.m. most days. Hours are until 8 p.m. on March 4, March 10, and March 11, and until 6 p.m. on March 12.
Tickets are on sale now at the PHS website. Prices are $43.50 online in advance for adults, $30 for students aged 18-24, and $20 for children aged 5-17. Children under age 5 are free.