GardenDesignOnline

Make a Statement! - Philly 2

Tropicals are out, big statements are in ... big statements with bold sweeps of a single color .. all in evidence at this year's Philadelphia Flower Show.

It didn't win the big prize, but wow! I loved the imaginative use of color in this display by The Taylors of Penny Hill Flower Shop of Wilmington & Newark, DE. If Vita Sackville West could plant an all white garden at Sissinghurst, why not an all yellow garden -- or one that's all red, blue, violet, pink, or name your color.      

Flower Show

First images from this year's Philadelphia Flower Show.
Entering under the Floritopia Tree (left) suspended from the ceiling, you get a hint of what's to come in this year's trendy exhibition featuring, simply... an abundance of blooms.

You might want to call this show, "Move Over Landscape Designers and Make Way for the Florists!"

An enormous floral sculpture of Mother Nature is erected in the center of the hall -- the largest floral sculpture in history -- and embedded at the bottom, in circular fashion, are floral inserts by some of Europe's trendiest designers.

Best in Show for landscape design is a Persian-inspired garden by Burke Brothers Landscape Contractors of Wyndmoor, PA.  The "windows" in this construction are creatively constructed from wine bottles.

The landscape plantings were not particularly inspiring... this show simply belongs to the floral designers.  If there's any message in this for landscaqpers, think big containers, think luscious blooms and lots of color, all meticulously planned to last throughout the year.

More to come later this week.

 

Watch This Space !!!

If this year is anything like last year (photo left), the Philadelphia Flower Show, which opens to the public Sunday, March 5th, will be another stunner.  This year's theme is "Enchanted Spring ... A Tribute to Mother Nature."  J. Franklin Styer Nurseries is creating the monumental  60 by 25 foot sculpture of Mother Nature, the largest sculpture ever created from living plants, in the center of the exhibit hall.  Show designer Sam Leheney told Green Scene Magazine that the show will be a journey through Mother Nature's garden -- spectacular, whimsical, imaginative. "This will make people remember that gardening is about having fun," he said, "that you're allowed to do whatever you want in your own garden."  Six huge floral displays will be tucked under Mother Nature's skirts, all designed by Life3 of Europe, who Leheney calls "the rock stars of the floral world."

PHOTOS and more HERE at midnight EST Sunday.

Surprise, surprise

Installing a green roof -- ie, planting the roof with succulent plants that can survive the abuse of wind, heat and extreme cold, is now a booming business as more and more cities are reaping the benefits.  This AP story from the Contra Costa Times in California explains that green roofs save on air conditioning costs in summer and prevent heat loss throughout the winter months.  Ed Snodgrass is the expert on the low, succulent plants often used for green roof projects throughout the United States. If not a trend yet, it surely will be.
(And scroll down on newspaper page for the story)!