New Digs for the 2021 Philadelphia Flower Show… Plus Other 2021 Garden Trips

December 15th, 2020

   The Philadelphia Flower Show is going to happen in 2021, but for the first time in the show’s 192-year history, it’ll take place outside.

FDR Park will be the site of the 2021 Philadelphia Flower Show, the first one ever to be held outside.
Credit: Pennsylvania Horticultural Society

   The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic prompted the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society, which produces the show, to rethink what’s always been an indoor show – long taking place in late winter.

   To accommodate social distancing and other virus-prevention steps, PHS plans to make the 2021 show a nine-day, nature-themed, outdoor event taking place June 5-13, 2021, at South Philadelphia’s FDR Park.

   Admission will be limited, with guests required to buy advance tickets for specific dates and entry times.

   Tickets are to go on sale in January at the show’s website.

   PHS members will get first crack before then at reserving tickets.

   As we’ve done for years, Lowee’s Group Tours and I plan to run bus trips to the show each weekday, June 7, 8, 9, 10, and 11. Admission will be included, and we’ll take you from two pickup points in the Harrisburg area to the show venue, just west of Philly’s stadium complex (Lincoln Financial Field, Citizens Bank Park, and the Wells Fargo Center) and not far from the city’s Navy Yard.

   The cost is $95, including your show ticket. Details are on my George’s Talks and Trips page or you can sign up and get more details by calling Lowee’s at toll-free 1-888-345-6933 or visiting Lowee’s website.

   The Philadelphia Flower Show is just one of the 13 garden-trip offerings Lowee’s and I are planning for 2021. We’re hoping that COVID-19 will be just a bad memory by then and that we’ll all be able to get out and about again.

   Keep reading for more on the rest of the 2021 lineup.

   The 2021 Philadelphia Flower Show will take place over 15 acres of the 348-acre FDR Park.

This gazebo by the lake is one of the signature settings at FDR Park.
Credit: Fairmount Park Conservancy

   That site not only offers spacious paths, mature trees, and lake settings, it comes with good access for car and tour-bus traffic as well as public transit.

   The theme of the 2021 show will be “Habitat: Nature’s Masterpiece,” focusing on pollinators, natural landscapes, and how plants are critical to healthy ecosystems.

   The June timing will allow show participants to use plants in their normal development stage as opposed to having to “force” plants into leaf and flower early in greenhouses.

   Show officials say that will allow for some new approaches in the displays, although many of the show’s regular features, such as floral displays and educational programs, will carry over.

   The general layout will be broken into three “districts.”

   One will be the Plant District, featuring the best of the best in plants and plant care.

   The second will be a Design District, showcasing gardens designed by landscape firms and designers.

   And the third will be a Garden District, where guests will learn how to put it all together with hands-on, horticulture practices.

   Each district will include entertainment, shopping, food and beverages, and interactive exhibits in addition to the displays.

   FDR Park dates to 1913 when the famed Olmsted Brothers landscape-architecture firm designed what was originally called League Island Park, or “The Lakes” for short.

   The land had been wetlands and marshes that were gradually drained between the late 1700s and early 1900s – at first for farming and later for housing.

   In typical Olmsted form, the park was laid out with a large welcoming lawn and a network of wide, curving paths leading through the site’s lakes, fields, and wooded areas.

   The park’s iconic gazebo that overlooks the site’s biggest lake was built in 1914, followed two years later by a stone boathouse that sits on the same lake bank farther west.

   In 1926, the park hosted the national Sesquicentennial Exhibition, which led to the construction of several other civic buildings, including the American Swedish Historical Museum, which tells the story of Scandinavian settlers in the U.S.

   A golf course (now closed) was added in the 1940s. That’s also when the park was renamed to honor President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. 

   Today, FDR Park also includes a playground, four baseball diamonds, a skate park, bird-watching areas, and 126 acres of woodlands.

   The flower show typically draws about 250,000 visitors from throughout the region, U.S., and world and has been named “Best Event” by the International Festivals and Events Association.

   It’s also won “Best of the Best” honors for five straight years from the American Bus Association.

   PHS is a non-profit organization founded in 1827 that fosters tree-planting, greening initiatives, and gardening education in the Philadelphia area and beyond.

   As for the rest of our 2021 garden-tour lineup, the first one is scheduled for Thur., April 8, when we’ll do a day trip to the D.C. Cherry Blossom Festival. That will include a luncheon cruise and a tour of the U.S. National Arboretum.

   After that, here are dates and destinations for the rest:

We’ll see the Niagara Botanical Garden on the May tour.

   May 8-15: Gardens of Niagara and Toronto. We’ll do an eight-day tour to see the Niagara Botanical Gardens, the famous Floral Clock, and the McFarland House historic garden in Niagara, then head to see the Casa Loma mansion and gardens, Toronto Botanical Gardens, and Edwards Garden in Toronto. En route, we’ll visit Canada’s Royal Botanical Gardens and several other private and public gardens, plus take a boat cruise up to the base of Niagara Falls and hit the Rochester Lilac Festival on the way home.

   Mon., May 17: Lancaster County Home Gardens and Nurseries. We’ll tour two outstanding Lancaster County home gardens (Dr. Dennis Denenberg’s Gardens of Oz and Vivian and Bob Abel’s Pheasant Run Farm) and then spend the afternoon plant-shopping at two of Lancaster County’s best plant haunts (Conestoga Nursery and Black Creek Greenhouses).

   June 21-23: Hudson Valley Mansions and Gardens. This three-day trip takes us to upper New York state to visit public-garden gems including Boscobel, Stonecrop, Innisfree, and Kykuit, as well as a visit to FDR’s homestead.

   Fri., June 25: Mt. Cuba Center and Delaware Botanic Garden. This one’s a day trip to Delaware to see the native-plant-oriented du Pont gardens at Mt. Cuba followed by a tour of the brand-new Delaware Botanic Garden along the southern-Delaware coast.

Garden Walk Buffalo features 400+ home gardens open for touring.

   July 23-25: Garden Walk Buffalo. If you’ve never been to what’s become the nation’s biggest garden tour (more than 400 gardens open for ogling), we’re offering a chance to see the 2021 version, plus a tour of Sonnenberg Gardens on the way up and an option to take a day trip to the American side of Niagara Falls.

   Thur., Aug. 19: Jefferson’s Trail. Here’s another day trip, this time to Virginia to see Thomas Jefferson’s home and gardens at Monticello in addition to the plantings at his lesser known Tufton Farm.

   Sept. 10-14: Gardens of North Carolina. We head south for five days of touring some of North Carolina’s best gardens, including the J.C. Raulston Arboretum at N.C. State University, Tony Avent’s Juniper Level Botanic Garden, Duke University’s Sarah Duke Gardens, the North Carolina Botanical Garden, Coker Arboretum, Montrose, Reynolda Gardens, and more.

   Thur., Sept. 16: Mystery Trip. I don’t know much about this one myself, other than the general gist, which is interesting and unusual. Lowee’s is putting together this surprise. If you like to have fun on a whim, this one’s for you.

   Oct. 3-17: Australia and New Zealand. This Collette Vacations/Lowee’s creation takes us down under for 17 days to see all sorts of scenery, wildlife, gardens, and culture of both Australia and the southern island of New Zealand. Highlights include the Great Barrier Reef, a tour of Sydney, a couple of days in Melbourne, stunning mountainous scenery and fjords of New Zealand, and a meal with a real “kiwi” family. It’ll be a once-in-a-lifetime trip for those who have always wanted to see the other side of the Earth.

   Nov. 29-Dec. 1: Newport Mansions. Newport, Rhode Island, is famous for several mansions dating to the Gilded Age. We’ll see three of them decorated for Christmas – the Elms, Breakers, and Lyndhurst – as well as touring Newport and taking in the LaSalette Shrine Festival of Lights.

   Fri., Dec. 3: Holiday in D.C. We close out the year with a holiday day trip to D.C., featuring a morning stop at the sprawling Merrifield Garden Center, a visit to the U.S. Botanic Garden on Capitol Hill, and the fabulous light show at Brookside Gardens on the way home.

   More details and booking information on the planned 2021 garden trips are posted on the Lowees Group Tours website.