After you pass by a number of vine sculptures and "pods" featuring creations by some of the world's top floral designers, you're greeted by a towering, flowering meadow up above as you enter this year's Philadelphia Flower Show. The theme this year is "Flower Power," and there are more flowers than you'll probably ever see in one place.
The show this year is also hosting the FTD World Cup, an international floral design competition among top designers from more than 20 countries. Their creations are simply breath-taking, not to put too fine a point on it.
Among the landscape exhibits, the top prize went to Hunter Hayes Landscape Design of Ardmore, PA, for "The Power Plant," featuring an abandoned mill and water wheel, a natural pond filled with aquatic plants, along with a native tree grove and meadow to attract wildlife. Featured plants included 'Cully' river birch, fothergilla, deutzia, knockout roses, hellebores, polemonium and daffodils.
But for sheer "flower power," I liked the "All Along the Watchtower" design by McCullough's Landscape and Nursery of New Albany, Ohio. The design is inspired by the Woodstock Music Festival 50 years ago, looking out from the stage at a haze of purple and brilliant textures created by infinite flowers.
Among the flowers are alchemilla, astilbe, carex, artemesia, stachys 'Silver Carpet', 'Flame' foxglove, verbena, daffodils, and many, many more. Nick McCullough is well known for his artistic designs, and check out his blog, "Thinking Outside the Boxwood." And you might want to also follow him on Pinterest, where he has more than three million followers!
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