Gardening Meets Hollywood

January 5th, 2015

I just saw a sneak-peek video graphic of this year’s Philadelphia Flower Show entrance, and it looks like it’s going to be impressive.

“Lights, Camera, BLOOM!” is the theme of the 2015 Philadelphia Flower Show.
(Pa. Horticultural Society)

If you haven’t heard, the 2015 show theme is “Lights, Camera, BLOOM!” The entry gardens, main display gardens, and most of the exhibits will revolve around the movies.

The main entrance is to be set up as an oversized theater marquee, giving visitors the impression that they’re entering a movie theater.

The iconic Hollywood sign on the hill will be the first thing you see once inside.

Palm trees will be the main landscape feature to give the feel of sunny California.

I haven’t heard any of the garden specifics yet, but this theme is one that should give the landscapers a ton of creative license.

Pick any film, and you have the makings of a garden to interpret it.

This should add up to a lot of diversity since the door is so wide open to possibilities – much more so than when a theme limits you to, say, French gardens or the tropics.

If you’ve never seen the Philadelphia Flower Show, it’s the world’s biggest and oldest indoor flower show. This year is No. 186. Even non-gardeners are impressed by it, and many people go every year.

I’m one of them. I’ve seen about two dozen shows now, and I never get tired of it.

Some years are better than others (last year’s ARTiculture theme got very good reviews), but I can’t say I’ve ever seen a bad one.

Just the timing of it is a huge plus – near the end of winter when we all can use the scent of some flowers and some reassurance that green and warmth are just around the corner.

The only thing that people sometimes grouse about is the crowds. Despite running 9 days and covering 10 acres of the Pennsylvania Convention Center, it can feel like a cattle herd sometimes.

It’s also not a fun drive down the Schuylkill Expressway, followed by city traffic and $20 parking fees even before you get in the door.

That’s why I think the best way to see the flower show is by tour bus.

As we’ve done for the past 10 years, Lowee’s Group Tours and I have put together a lineup of motor-coach day trips to see “Lights, Camera, BLOOM!”

The first one is opening day, Sat., Feb. 28, with other options on show Monday, March 2, and then that Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, March 4, 5 and 6.

We leave from both West Shore and East Shore locations, timing it get there around 12:30 p.m. – after the morning rush to get in subsides.

We then stay later than most tour buses – heading back at 7 p.m. instead of 4 or 5 p.m., as so many buses do. That gives us a little extra time in the evening as the crowds thin.

On the way down, we’ll play Philadelphia Flower Show trivia (with prizes), and I’ll give you inside tips on making the most of your day (including a PowerPoint with map strategies, food ideas, restroom locations and more).

Stauffers of Kissel Hill Home and Garden stores sponsors the trips and kicks in $25 gift cards that go to one lucky guest each trip.

The trip cost is $85, including transportation (with drop-off and pick-up at the Convention Center doors) and your show ticket.

Call Lowee’s at 717-657-9658 or toll-free 1-888-345-6933 to sign up or get more details.

Or download an itinerary on the Lowee’s website.

Note: Most of these trips sell out, so don’t wait until the last minute if you want to go.

The Philadelphia Flower Show is the first of more than a dozen garden trips Lowee’s and I are offering this year, including a 7-day March trip to gardens of South Carolina, a 10-day gardener’s vacation to see Gardens and Villas of the Italian Lakes in northern Italy in May, and day trips to author Stephanie Cohen’s garden, New York Botanical Garden, new gardens at Penn State University and Pittsburgh, and our first daylong tour of five great private gardens in the Harrisburg area.

The whole lineup is posted on George’s Talks and Trips page. See you on board.