More on the Flower Show...

It's been a few days since we returned from Philadelphia and I just can't get some of the flower show scenes out of my head. For example, there was a display by a guy named Jacques Armand who's been at this flower show for years. (I remember that he's been coming for a long time, but being the experienced journalist that I am, I didn't write down how long.) At any rate, his Amaryllis choices were mind boggling as you can see from the photo. He also always includes some sort of a horse sculpture in his display. This year it happened to be an artist whom we've represented! her name is Lisa Fedon from north central Pennsylvania. The choice of plants in the main exhibit hall ranged from the ordinary to the unobtainable in normal circles. There was an amaryllis with a double flower that looked as much like a peony as anything I've seen. Unfortunately, I did not get a picture of it. And I am quite unhappy with myself that I didn't get the name of it either.

A bit of background on the show itself. The landscape area (Hall A) is 10 acres in area. All three halls combined total 33 acres! The setup takes about a week and enough mulch is used to keep any of us happy for years...Meadowbrook Nursery alone forces over 9000 plants for this show. They are forcing for a number of landscaping companies, not just their own. All for just a week of display. Moving on, we were heading out for lunch and happened upon the Stash Tea Company's luncheon area. It was incredibly charming and sold out - a year in advance. I've loaded a picture on the right. If you're planning on attending the show in 2010, contact the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society to find out how to make your reservation. That's my last effort for the Flower Show. It was 70 here in Ligonier today. I'm now more interested in my own spring garden cleanup than that show; however, it sure got me excited about the upcoming season in my garden. I can't wait until my Forget Me Nots blanket the bare ground with that heavenly blue...