Besides the flowers, of course, we like a lot at this Flower Show.
The music - cool. The cheery volunteers. The exquisitely mild-mannered show-goers. Even the cleaning people and security guards are polite, making the convention center this week an oasis of civility in a sea of bad behavior. Wonderful.
Easy information. Help is all over the place. You can easily get lost in this place but if you keep your wits - and your program - about you, you should do fine. If not, there are people every few feet to help.
The horticultural society gift shop. I just dropped a tidy sum - great place to buy Christmas presents, shower and birthday gifts. You'll find nifty t-shirts, fleece vests, jewelry (bring credit card), note cards, gloves and socks (a big seller, I'm told ... guess gardeners all keep their houses cool), stuff for the kitchen and dining room that is very classy (especially the trays) and so many other things I can't begin to list them here. Plan on shopping last thing before you leave because lugging all that stuff around the show ain't fun.
As for the marketplace ... this is always a high point. I'm waiting till I'm off duty to wander these aisles, but last year I did some major damage ... copper-roofed birdhouse, sculpted bird bath, a necklace and other things that supported half of Philadelphia Green for 2007.
I did manage one purchase yesterday as I headed out - 25 longstemmed roses from Kremp Florist for $9.95 plus tax. Twenty-five! Low price because this is rose season in Ecuador and Colombia, where these blooms originated, and Kremp (plus others) bought so many they got a break. They come in every shade, making it impossible to choose.
I've had these roses for a day and they look positively electric in the office. Maybe that's the crummy fluorescent lights ... oh well. I bought more roses today so we'll see how they fare in the lighting at home. And some for coworkers ... this could become a habit. Good deal.
I like the miniatures very much .. and the pressed flowers, the plant-material jewelry and masks, which are truly remarkable, the lectures (learned about coleus, native plants and flower-arranging using whatever you can scrounge up). The big exhibits are fun to look at but I wouldn't say they're my only/major reason for going to this show year after year.
I find the competitive classes more interesting as time goes on, perhaps because every year I gain more experience growing things myself. I'm more open to the educational exhibits. That must come with age! And I'm more curious about the names of plants I see. Today, for example, and this is probably a function of having attended Ray Rogers' coleus talk, I noticed many varieties of coleus everywhere I went.
In the "Arbors" displays, one called "The Three B's" used 11 of them, ranging from lime green to bright red and dark brown. I'll be writing more about coleus, a plant I've not paid much attention to till recently, but do look at how they fill up a space with color and shape.
I like that the show now has a Family Lounge where you can take toddlers and babies to rest. Not sure who does more resting from the look of the lounge this week ... but I know the parents I saw were grateful for a semi-quiet place to park everyone. (It's in room 204-C, in the hallway near the show.)
I know I'll think of a million things after I post this, but here you go.
