The Once-in-a-Decade Plant Show

September 21st, 2021

   Sedum-covered roofs.

   Building walls clothed in foliage plants.

Plants cover the wall of this new university building at the 2022 Floriade site.

   Tomatoes, cucumbers, and lettuce growing under lights inside warehouse-like buildings instead of in farm fields.

   And scores of tree, shrub, and flower varieties growing everywhere instead of only the same few over-used favorites we grow in our skinny house-front beds.

   Those are some of the plant-related, enviro-friendly innovations that will be on display next April 14 through Oct. 9 when the Dutch stage their once-in-a-decade Floriade Expo 2022.

   The small, plant-loving European nation of The Netherlands has been running Floriades since 1960, usually leaving behind a nicely landscaped Dutch park in its wake.

   I’ve seen two of them (2002 and 2012) and found them impressive enough that I’ll be leading two trips to see Floriade 2022 next spring (Covid permitting).

   I just got back from previewing the 2022 site that’s already under construction and planting and believe this one has the potential to out-do the previous two.

   Floriade 2022 will be different in that it’ll create and leave behind a whole new ultra-green neighborhood called “Hortus” in The Netherlands’ newest and self-proclaimed greenest city, Almere.

Floriade 2022 will take place on this island across from the Dutch city of Almere.

   Almere (pronounced “All-meer’-ah) is a post-World-War-2 city located less than a 30-minute drive from Amsterdam.

   It’s unusual enough in that its land used to be nearly 18 feet below sea level before the Dutch pumped water out (as they’ve famously done for centuries) to create new land called a “polder.”

   But Almere is also a particularly green-leaning city that won the bidding to stage this seventh version of Floriade with its theme concept of “Growing Green Cities.”

   With 68 percent of the world’s population expected to be living in cities by 2050, that idea seemed to be a timely one to show the important role plants can play in a healthy city of the future.

   The Floriade site, located on an island fittingly called Utopia, already has its own power plant using solar, wind, and water sources.

   It also has a university building with green walls and a green roof, a house built out of recycled plastic, and a signature viewing tower built out of recycled sewer pipes.

Beds like these are arranged by their botanical plant names, alphabetically. The recycled-sewer-pipe tower is in the background.

   Plant-wise, the whole 148-acre site is an arboretum with plants laid out in alphabetical groups by their botanic names – a sort of living plant encyclopedia.

   Tens of thousands of perennials already have been planted, and in the next few weeks gardeners will be planting some 14,000 spring bulbs so that Floriade opens with classic Dutch bulb masses and swoops. They’ll be replaced with tens of thousands annual flowers for summer.

   Several of the exhibits will focus on urban farming and how to feed city dwellers more locally as opposed to hauling in food from far-flung farms.

   The Netherlands is a leader in that, ranking among the world’s top food exporters despite being smaller in size than Pennsylvania.

   One of the most fascinating features already in place is a grouping of 20 Dutch elm trees that are floating in the surrounding lake. Dubbed the “Bobbing Forest,” the trees are growing in large pots set in buoys that were retired from North Sea use.

Dutch elm trees float in buoys in this Bobbing Forest.

   Another key feature already up and running is a cable car that runs for a half-mile, giving Floriade visitors a bird’s-eye view of the entire expo below.

   My favorite part of Floriade, though, is how the international plant community builds gardens and exhibits to show styles and trends from around the world.

   The Dutch hope to draw 40 countries, although for now, only Japan, Germany, Italy, Indonesia, Qatar, France, and Turkey are officially committed. Floriade spokesman Daryl Jie said others are likely, including the U.S., but the Covid pandemic is clouding final decisions.

   Jie also says the 2022 Floriade site is a third bigger than the last one in Venlo.

   Planners are optimistically projecting that 2 million visitors will come to see the 400-plus gardens, pavilions, exhibits, and booths.

   A huge glasshouse will house some 100 exhibits alone.

The Floriade site as seen overhead from the cable car.

   Floriade 2022 is being sponsored and funded by the Dutch horticulture industry, the city of Almere, and the province of Flevoland.

   When Floriade closes next October, the site will convert into a green neighborhood with restaurants, housing, a university, paths, gardens throughout, and even an assisted-living facility already in place.

   It’s a neighborhood that should make any plant-lover happy.

   I’ll be seeing Floriade twice – once during a 12-day springtime river cruise through the Netherlands and Belgium next April 18-29 and once during a 12-day land tour that features Amsterdam, Brussels, and Paris next April 27-May 7.

   Both are being operated by Lowee’s Group Tours of Harrisburg and Collette Vacations, and both include visits to Keukenhof, that glorious Dutch garden that’s filled wall-to-wall with assorted spring bulbs each April and May.

   Booking and other information on the trips is available on the Lowee’s web site.