Philadelphia Flower Show 2020: Goodbye Woodstock, Hello Riviera

March 12th, 2019

   The 2019 Philadelphia Flower Show’s hippie-throwback, “Flower Power” show is history, and the page now turns to next year’s show that will feature plants and gardens of Mediterranean climates.

Riviera Holiday is the title of the 2020 Philadelphia Flower Show. It’ll highlight plants and gardens of Mediterranean climates.

   “Riviera Holiday” is the proposed title of the 2020 Philadelphia show, and it’ll take place next Feb. 29-March 8 at the Pennsylvania Convention Center.

   Although the main entrance will feature the feel of the French Riviera, the show’s chief, Sam Lemheney, says the overall theme will cover all Mediterranean climates. That includes such diverse settings as Mexico, South Africa’s fynbos, the western coasts of Australia and Chile, and the southern California coast.

   That should give the landscapers plenty to play with.

   Lowee’s Group Tours and I plan to run five tours to see it, so stay tuned for details and bookings come fall.

   As for the 2019 show, it was impressive as all Philly shows are. But I have to say this was my least favorite show of the 25 or so I’ve seen over the years.

   I thought this one lacked the really “wow” main entrance that the show is renowned for.

   Planters had large flower sculptures, and 18,000 cut flowers and grasses hung from the ceiling (an idea done at least twice before), but it paled in comparison to past first views, such as the Eiffel Tower replica, last year’s rainforest waterfall, and my all-time favorite, 2015’s red-carpeted Hollywood movie theater and marquee.

   The show also was heavily oriented to cut flowers and floral design, a result of the FTD World Cup competition that was staged at the show.

   This international Olympics of flower-designing hasn’t been held in the U.S. since 1985. It’s an industry big deal that showcases the work of the world’s best floral designers, but it also meant that a large chunk of the main entrance was devoted to 23 arrangement displays – five works by each of the 23 contestants.

   If you enjoy arrangements – especially huge, over-the-top and outside-the-box ones – you hit the jackpot this year.

   Me? I’d rather see gardens of in-ground plants and the creative landscapes of forced-into-bloom flowers that normally dominate the show.

   A third detractor for me was the Woodstock/hippie tie-in. I didn’t listen to that music or pay much attention to the whole counter-culture movement even back then, so the trip down memory lane was lost on me. (Hint for future George-oriented show theme: baseball and Motown.)

   On the other hand, lots of aging Baby Boomers were singing and dancing to the Age of Aquarius tunes in their floral headbands and tie-dyed shirts.

   The hazard of using a theme is that you’ll always win or lose people depending on whether they like the theme or style that year. When the show hits a topic or gardening style you like, the odds go up you’ll like the show. When it hits a topic/style you don’t like, that’s a strike before you go.

   I ask our show tour groups afterward how they liked each show, and there’s always a mix of “amazing” and “didn’t care for it that much.”

   This year was the first year, though, that a clear majority of our show-goers said the show wasn’t as good as usual.

   That’s not to say the 2019 show wasn’t worth seeing. I’ve never seen a “bad” Philly Flower Show, and it’s always nice to see green and to smell flowers when the temperatures are teetering on single digits outside.

Robertson’s Flowers Woodstock wedding scene was my favorite.

   I especially liked Robertson’s Flowers’ display that created the setting of a wedding at Woodstock. It featured tables made out of big wooden cable-line spools (remember them?), a floral-adorned pickup truck pulling a psychedelic tent, and bell-bottom jeans hanging on a wash line.

   The display also had the show’s most photogenic features – an 8-foot rainbow-colored sculpture spelling out LOVE and a floral Peace sign. Lots of Boomers were flashing the hippie two-finger salute in front of those.

   I also liked Stoney Bank Nursery’s “Unplug and Play” landscape that was a back yard inviting kids to come and play.  It had a tire swing, kites, a pair of raised-bed veggie gardens, and a 5-foot-tall drinking glass spilling water over the sides.

   I’m hoping for a return to more like these next year… and maybe some kind of really wow Rivieran welcome.