Where have all the flowers gone, Philadelphia?

At the Hall A entrance at the 2019 Philadelphia Flower Show, orange and yellow streamers hang from the ceiling looking like dried piece of mud and sand with apples and oranges strapped to them, a dreary introduction for adults who shell out a $42 weekend rate to attend/Photo by Patricia Leslie

This year's flower show in Philadelphia, ending March 10 at the Pennsylvania Convention Center, is a tired and sad remnant of past years' displays.

The title, "Flower Power" left me wanting.

Really? I grew up in the 60s and "flower power" today lacks appeal and finesse. 

An infrequent garden landscape at the 2019 Philadelphia Flower Show/Photo by Patricia Leslie

It must be peace at the 2019 Philadelphia Flower Show/Photo by Patricia Leslie


My expectations were not exceeded in 2019 in the City of Brotherly Love.

I found no magic or allure.  

Nothing climbs to the ceiling or sent me soaring.

But they came.  The flower show says 250,000 people come annually.

These narcissi ("Sir Winston Churchill" Double Daffodils) won our First Prize for Best Fragrance in the 2019 Philadelphia Flower Show/Photo by Patricia Leslie

This host of golden daffodils were all that we found. Usually boxes of them are laid out in competition, but we missed them at the 2019 Philadelphia Flower Show/Photo by Patricia Leslie

At the 2019 Philadelphia Flower Show/Photo by Patricia Leslie

At the 2019 Philadelphia Flower Show/Photo by Patricia Leslie



The international show this year (and it truly is international since it's the first FTD World Cup competition hosted in the U.S. since 1985) is rather tame and boring (have I said that?) without any huge, mammoth splashes of color or vibrancy to make your mouth drop and the words, "Do you believe that?" tumble out.

Compared to years past, the flowers and exhibitions this year have lots of concrete space to take up room for missing displays. (See links below to compare with previous shows.)

Was it just me who was disappointed?  Nyet. Another veteran and a newcomer on the Smithsonian Associates' bus tour agreed it was not the best day trip. No one on the return trip "oohed" and "awed" or even talked about the show, save the Smithsonian guide, Bill Ulman, who did a splendid job (assisted by Marilyn Jacanin).

After spending two hours at the show, the newcomer said she got bored and went across the street to the Reading Terminal Market.

This was one of the "miniatures" which had a theme this year of gardens in books. This title is The Magician's Garden by Chris van Allsburg which won a second prize for "Team Amanda" at the 2019 Philadelphia Flower Show. The white dots are reflections of ceiling lights in the protective glass/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Another miniature, this one, Escape to Bag End by J.R.R. Tolkien won a second prize for "Northview Crew" at the 2019 Philadelphia Flower Show/Photo by Patricia Leslie

This miniature, The Garden of Stubborn Cats by Italo Calvino won first prize for Deb and Jim Mackie at the 2019 Philadelphia Flower Show/Photo by Patricia Leslie

A miniature for The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett won a third prize for "Jenkintown Mini-Makers" at the 2019 Philadelphia Flower Show. The judges might have liked it more had they not had to bend over to see it in the window/Photo by Patricia Leslie.

Rudyard Kipling's changing colors The Glory of the Garden by John Jayne and Jayne Price won second prize at the 2019 Philadelphia Flower Show/Photo by Patricia Leslie

This industrial setting, Return of the Restless Railway by Peter Brown won first place for Marlene Goeke and Michelle Blockwell at the 2019 Philadelphia Flower Show/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Bay leaves, rosemary, corn kernels and husks, mustard and caraway seeds, and almonds are some of the components of this first prize winner, a hair ornament, by Tyler R. Hetherston. Judges labeled it "exquisite, feminine and flawless" at the 2019 Philadelphia Flower Show. The white dots are reflections of ceiling lights in the glass/Photo by Patricia Leslie

The judges criticized this beautiful ring by Sarah Carlson and Fran Gerdes awarding it only a third prize because its colors were not "bold and pop arty."  Good grief!  It is much nicer than the first place winner, whatever below, at the 2019 Philadelphia Flower Show/Photo by Patricia Leslie

First place (?) jewelry at the 2019 Philadelphia Flower Show/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Great favs, the blue earring "challenges functionality," wrote the judges who granted a second prize for Georgette Sturam and the Garden Club of Trenton at the 2019 Philadelphia Flower Show/Photo by Patricia Leslie

One of the international World Cup competitors, Tamas Mezoffy from Hungary created this array on display at the 2019 Philadelphia Flower Show/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Another international competitor which rather looks like artificial flowers stuck on cotton.  Sorry! At the 2019 Philadelphia Flower Show/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Looking up at the ceiling entrance, what would you guess? My tie-dye hair in the morning (had I this much!), hidden bee hives (whoops!  That's the holding screen), a still of a ceiling explosion of thistledown, or a skirt worn by an angry giant at the 2019 Philadelphia Flower Show?/Photo by Patricia Leslie

I believe, another international competitor at the 2019 Philadelphia Flower Show/Photo by Patricia Leslie

An entry in "Entryways" by the Norristown Garden Club won a second prize at the 2019 Philadelphia Flower Show/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Whatever is prettier and more soothing to the eye than a combination of white and green?  At the 2019 Philadelphia Flower Show/Photo by Patricia Leslie

When it's "flower power," Jimi Hendrix is always nearby, maybe hiding in the bushes at the 2019 Philadelphia Flower Show/Photo by Patricia Leslie

 Tulips at the 2019 Philadelphia Flower Show/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Hyacinths and more tulips whose colors seem a bit faded, now that the end is nigh for the 2019 Philadelphia Flower Show/Photo by Patricia Leslie


Dear Flower Show:  Can't you give us something pretty?  Like song titles, France, Italy, painters (please exclude harsh contemporaries), beaches, South America, cities, greens, planets, gems (imagine!), and animals? (Well, some of them are.)

Exclude reptiles from animals?  But I recall the life-sized one, standing I think, with skin of green flowers and red eyes which blinked!  I am still talking about him, for the third time this week!  Now, that's a memory, and the only memory I have of your 2019 show is...disappointment.

Philadelphia, I'll admit I am still fuming about Bryce Harper. You can have him, but please, ...bring back the flowers. Thank you. 

To compare 2019 with other shows, please check the following links for pictures from 2016, from 2015, and 2013.



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