At the 2015 Philadelphia International Flower Show

At the entrance to the 2015 Philadelphia Flower Show where nothing is artificial/Photo by Patricia Leslie

 

This year's theme at the Philadelphia Flower Show was Hollywood movies, "Lights!  Camera!  Bloom!" and what fun and beauty it all was, as usual.  Claire and I have made it an annual trek with the Smithsonian Associates for three years now, and our expectations are always exceeded, with the show, the pageantry, the artistry, lights, color, and action!  And the alcohol (beer and wine we drank) which make it more fun to walk around and admire the outstanding creations of so many, which increased in beauty, somehow, the more we drank (just kidding). 

 

And the products to buy!  I must have been the only one on the bus back to D.C. to leave with nothing purchased, save wonderful memories, and the visuals of Gene London's exhibition of Hollywood gowns for $5; well worth it in my playbook.  Below are highlights from the "world's longest-running and largest indoor flower show."

At the entrance to the 2015 Philadelphia Flower Show.  It was bigger than my bridal bouquet/Photo by Patricia Leslie

This is the back of the entry from the Men's Garden Club of Philadelphia which based its design on the movie, Tarzan.  At the 2015 Philadelphia Flower Show/Photo by Patricia Leslie

At the front of Tarzan, entered by the Men's Garden Club of Philadelphia at the 2015 Philadelphia Flower Show/Photo by Patricia Leslie

The entry by Inchscape, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia was based on the movie, The Prince of Persia, at the 2015 Philadelphia Flower Show/Photo by Patricia Leslie

A multi-award winning entry by Leon Kluge Landscape Design of South Africa, modeled on A Maleficent View at the 2015 Philadelphia Flower Show/Photo by Patricia Leslie

A scene inspired by Finding Nemo by J. Downend Landscaping from Crum Lynne, Pennsylvania at the 2015 Philadelphia Flower Show.  "Underwater" viewers could look above and find a big boat "floating" overhead/Photo by Patricia Leslie

 From "Pooh's Hunny Depot" by Irwin Landscaping of Hockessin, Delaware at the 2015 Philadelphia Flower Show/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Waldor Orchids from Linwood, New Jersey used Peter Pan in Neverland as its theme at the 2015 Philadelphia Flower Show/Photo by Patricia Leslie

One of my favorites, "The Sorcerer's Apprentice Meet the Horticulturist's Apprentice" based on Walt Disney's (a lot of Disney was present) Fantasia, presented by Mercer  County Community College from Trenton, New Jersey in the Education Division at the 2015 Philadelphia Flower Show/Photo by Patricia Leslie

The Lion, the Witch & the Wardrobe by Paul Hervey-Brookes & Associates from Gloucestershire, United Kingdom at the 2015 Philadelphia Flower Show/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Another view of The Lion, the Witch & the Wardrobe by Paul Hervey-Brookes & Associates from Gloucestershire, United Kingdom at the 2015 Philadelphia Flower Show/Photo by Patricia Leslie

"Cinderella's Wedding" by Robertson's Flowers & Events, Wyndmoor, Pennsylvania at the 2015 Philadelphia Flower Show/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Based on Frozen by Michael Bruce Florist, Pennsauken, New Jersey. Flowers seemed sparse because they don't grow on ice?/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Based on Aladdin by Pure Design of Philadelphia at the 2015 Philadelphia Flower Show/Photo by Patricia Leslie

This flower purse won the Blue Ribbon in its category at the 2015 Philadelphia Flower Show.  A purse with wings. Can you see Kate Middleton carrying it? I doubt the Queen would approve/Photo by Patricia Leslie

In the Miniatures Division, Beverly Sue Palacia won an Honorable Mention portraying Miss Scarlett on the porch calling to Mr. Butler in Gone with the Wind at the 2015 Philadelphia Flower Show.  A judge wrote:  "While the placement of Tara is pleasing to the scene, the architectural details are inaccurate." I do declare, Miss Scarlett: Tara was a figment of imagination so does that make "architectural details" inaccurate since they didn't exist?  Those judges are outright picky. but they need to find something to pick on, I suppose. The labels for every miniature list all plants used in each design/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Lucille Dickerson took Third Prize with her An Affair to Remember entry in the Miniatures Division at the 2015 Philadelphia Flower Show/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Cathy Bandoian won Second Prize with her Enchanted April entry in the Miniatures Division at the 2015 Philadelphia Flower Show/Photo by Patricia Leslie

First Prize in the Miniatures Division was awarded to Louise Krasniewicz for Rear Window at the 2015 Philadelphia Flower Show/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Pamela Goldman won a First Prize in the Miniatures Division at the 2015 Philadelphia Flower Show for her "Follow the Yellow Brick Road" entry/Photo by Patricia Leslie

In the movie posters category, Peggy S. Moore from Fairfield, Connecticut's Garden Club won Second Prize for her Thor at the 2015 Philadelphia Flower Show. A judge wrote the "placement of Heliconia disrupts the balance." If I knew what the hell "Heliconia" is, it might have added more points to the Blue Ribbon I would have awarded Ms. Moore for Originality, Style, and Design.  Look at it!  Incredible!/Photo by Patricia Leslie

In the jewelry division of previous Blue Ribbon flower show winners, a watch of flowers and plants which Richard Burton might have given to Elizabeth Taylor, on display at the 2015 Philadelphia Flower Show. Made with macadamia, crape myrtle, grapevine, nandina, wild rice, oak, pokeweed, green peppercorn, and black peppercorn.  Good enough to eat!  Edible watches.  Another product idea for Apple.  If you get hungry, just eat your watch!/Photo by Patricia Leslie

 Another jewelry entry from previous Blue Ribbon winners in the category of a Richard Burton gift to Elizabeth Taylor at the 2015 Philadelphia Flower Show.  The components are all plants and flowers, mind you:  anise seed, almond, chickpea, coriander seed, cumin seed, rice bean, juniper berry, split pea, peppercorn, mustard seed, pecan shell, andromeda, crape myrtle, hibiscus, money plant, allium, and cotton.  No wonder I failed biology/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Another outstanding jewelry design at the 2015 Philadelphia Flower Show made from eucalyptus, millet, wisteria, split pea, billy ball, French lentil, silver brunia, and star anise/Photo by Patricia Leslie

This asparagus fern won a Blue Ribbon at the 2015 Philadelphia Flower Show and won at the 2013 show. (How many times can one enter the same plant?  Another multi-year winner is further down.) We wondered if the white fronds were an outgrowth of age /Photo by Patricia Leslie

Lynn Cook and Troy Ray from Liberty Bell Gesneriad Society won a Third Prize for their Sinningia Bulbosa at the 2015 Philadelphia Flower Show/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Another Blue Ribbon winner at the 2015 Philadelphia Flower Show which also won a Second Prize in 2013. Something for everyone! "Help!  I've fallen and I can't get up."/Photo by Patricia Leslie

This is a replica of Cinderella's glass slipper which the actress in the upcoming movie actually wears, said a vendor at the Philadelphia 2015 Flower Show. The actress (who is?) said the shoes are really uncomfortable, according to the vendor.  Really?  Wearing broken glass is uncomfortable?  Sounds like a typical shoe design to me/Photo by Patricia Leslie

 

Compare entries from the 2013 show.

 

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Hollywood gowns at the Philadelphia Flower Show

Leslie Caron wore this gown designed by Walter Plunkett and Helen Rose for 1955's The Glass Slipper. From Gene London's Hollywood Collection/Photo by Patricia Leslie at the 2015 Philadelphia Flower Show

 

The theme at this year's 2015 Philadelphia International Flower Show (to see at least one year before you die) is "Lights, Camera, Bloom!" as in Hollywood, and what better place to show off some of Gene London's collection of 60,000 costumes than the show which captured international honors as "the best event in the world" (International Festivals & Events Association)? If you missed it, there's next year!  A docent said London's collection travels the world, but he has no museum to display costumes.  She said everyone admires the tiny waistlines on display, and the gowns.

Audrey Hepburn wore these two Cecil Beaton gowns in 1964's My Fair Lady.  From Gene London's Hollywood Collection/Photo by Patricia Leslie at the 2015 Philadelphia Flower Show

Elizabeth Taylor wore this Halston at the 1972 Academy Awards presentation. The label below the gown says Ms. Taylor flew the designer out to Hollywood where he created this for her in three days.  From Gene London's Hollywood Collection/Photo by Patricia Leslie at the 2015 Philadelphia Flower Show

Bette Davis wore this Nolan Miller gown when she received a Lifetime Achievement Award at Spain's San Sebastian Film Festival in 1989. Too weak from illness to make it back to the U.S., Ms. Davis, 81, died soon afterwards in France. From Gene London's Hollywood Collection/Photo by Patricia Leslie at the 2015 Philadelphia Flower Show

The crowd at the Gene London Hollywood Collection exhibition at the 2015 Philadelphia Flower Show/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Tallulah Bankhead was Catherine the Great in The Royal Scandal in 1945 and wore this gown designed by Rene Hubert. From Gene London's Hollywood Collection/Photo by Patricia Leslie at the 2015 Philadelphia Flower Show

Tallulah Bankhead and James Stewart in The Royal Scandal from 1945. (See gown above.) From Gene London's Hollywood Collection/Photo by Patricia Leslie at the 2015 Philadelphia Flower Show

In 1939's  Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex, Bette Davis played the queen in this Orry Kelly creation. From Gene London's Hollywood Collection/Photo by Patricia Leslie at the 2015 Philadelphia Flower Show

Lana Turner was "Samarra" and a size 3 in this scandalous-at-the-time Herschel creation for The Prodigal in 1955. From Gene London's Hollywood Collection/Photo by Patricia Leslie at the 2015 Philadelphia Flower Show

The Marilyn Monroe collection from Gene London's Hollywood Collection/Photo by Patricia Leslie at the 2015 Philadelphia Flower Show

At Gene London's Hollywood Collection exhibition at the 2015 Philadelphia Flower Show/Photo by Patricia Leslie

This is a replica of a gown worn by Scarlett O'Hara (Vivian Leigh) in 1939's Gone with the Wind.  From Gene London's Hollywood Collection/Photo by Patricia Leslie at the 2015 Philadelphia Flower Show

In the classic stairwell scene in Gone with the Wind, Miss Scarlett (Vivian Leigh) wore this gown when Rhett Butler (Clark Gable) carried her upstairs. From Gene London's Hollywood Collection/Photo by Patricia Leslie at the 2015 Philadelphia Flower Show

Gene London's Gone with the Wind Collection at the 2015 Philadelphia Flower Show/Photo by Patricia Leslie

At Gene London's Hollywood Collection exhibition at the 2015 Philadelphia Flower Show/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Gene London, the collector, at his Hollywood Collection exhibition at the 2015 Philadelphia Flower Show/Photo by Patricia Leslie

 

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Philly's phlowers phlourish pictures

You just thought you were at a Halloween House of Horror.  No, Jack, you were just reliving Jack the Ripper as in Great Britain, this year's theme at the Philadelphia Flower Show.  This is a bed of red roses at "Jack" by Schaffer Designs to recognize (?), "in honor of" (?) the criminal who murdered at least 11 people. It won "Best Achievement in a Dramatic Setting." More pictures of "Jack," below/Patricia Leslie

Phloriculture phills phrilly Philly at this time of year for the annual Philadelphia Flower Show, celebrating its 174th year, and if you've been once, you know how phloriferous it is, and if you've never been, well, there's next year since the show ends today.

Michael Petrie's Handmade Gardens won "Best in Show" for Landscape/Patricia Leslie

A side view of Michael Petrie's Handmade Gardens for "Best in Show" for Landscape/Patricia Leslie

Phlipping phlowers, we can phly up to Philly today. 

Just look at the pictures.

Stop and smell the roses/Patricia Leslie

Phloribunda!

My begonias don't look like this. To gauge the size, please see the person standing nearby/Patricia Leslie

On a bad hair day, here's something to hide under/Patricia Leslie

Signs warned visitors not to get too close or risk being grabbed by a green monster/Patricia Leslie

This won a red ribbon for best use of a large plant in a small pot/Patricia Leslie

The winner of several prizes was "Welcome Wanderer" from William Shakespeare's Midsummer Night's Dream by Abington Senior High School/Patricia Leslie

How about a green roof for your bow wow? The sign says "sempervivums" were used as roof plants as far back as Roman times/Patricia Leslie 

A moving statue would dress up your yard like this one which captured a yellow ribbon. She is based on the Congressional model of women: She moves but doesn't speak/Patricia Leslie

A yard sculpture for every budget/Patricia Leslie

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Another hairy green monster which earned Second Prize in its category for Lynn Cook and Troy Ray of the Liberty Bell Gesneriad Society/Patricia Leslie 

Daniel P. Clark of Lower Merion High School won an Honorable Mention for his lavendar crown made of statice, moss, walnut, pussy willow, rosebud, rice flower, blue thistle, leucadenron, and limonium for the Great Britain theme, Brilliant (?)/Patricia Leslie

This bracelet is made of allspice, yucca, lemon grass, spaghetti squash, oak, and palm/Patricia Leslie

This necklace is made of acorn, almond, Brazil nut, centaurea, cinammon stick, chickpea, garlic chive, hazelnut, kumquat, lentil, licorice root, lotus root, mustard seed, mung bead, navy bean, orange peel, pistachio shell, pomegranate, poppy pod, pumpkin seed, soybean, wheat, raffia, and squash seed/

This necklace is made of crape myrtle, fern, pieris, lotus, pea, grapevine, and heptacodium/Patricia Leslie

Keith Cavell Long, Jr. won a Blue Ribbon and three other ribbons for "An Eye of Style" window display/Patricia Leslie

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These red-tipped long fingernails greeted guests in a long line for "Jack"/Patricia Leslie

Upside-down roses try to obliterate mother-in-law's tongue in "Jack"/Patricia Leslie

Your eyes do not deceive you:  Those are arm parts and hands coming from the wall in "Jack"/Patricia Leslie

This won in the category of Giant Hair Brushes and another ribbon for Lynn Cook and Troy Ray of the Liberty Bell Gesneriad Society/Patricia Leslie

Whenever you go, whatever you do, do not miss the wine tastings. So many to sample, and so were the samplers, but the wine sippers were not numerous enough to make the waits too long on a Friday afternoon.   Plus the chocolate martini was worth whatever wait and almost, almost sent me over to the purchasing table, however, I was able to rein in myself since I don't drink martinis or hard liquor (what? Margaritas are not hard liquor?) except then, and the Smirnoff Kissed Caramel Vodka was better than the name.

These on top of champagnes and wines, and mustard with some dog and some British pale ale at lunch, and I was pretty well sloshed (and unable to aim and take more photographs) but able to miraculously crawl over to the chocolate and cheese sites for samples (to die for: tomato reggiano, at $16/pound, another purchase I skipped) and almond toffee which became dinner before we (Smithsonian Associates) boarded the bus back to D.C., and were served sherry en route. Oh, my!

We never had a chance to get over to the Reading Market.

Next year!

I was happily phulphilled, but enough of my phlummery.

Philicious phobia!

I can't say enough good things about another phantastic, phun Smithsonian Associates tour.  Really.  Thanks to Cindy Brown, Bill Ulman, Alex D (from the other bus) and Danny Mott, the driver.  Great job! 

But so saddened to hear of the take-down of the healthy 100+ year-old ginkgo tree at Pharragut Square. Shhhhhh….Where is that tree commission when you need it?

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