Think Denise might need a Corgi topiary ! This really whets the appetite for the SF Garden Show ,three weeks away ! Thanks for sharing this with us Cyn ! On to the next thread ! Kathy in Napa

Hi, I would love to see your photos but I can't seem to find them on the irish site - could you provide the direct link to your photos? Many thanks, McPeg

Just back from Philly, and I have to say it was a great trip. The show was no more crowded than Boston used to be, which, to be honest, is to say it was packed. I only made it to one talk, Ethne Clark speaking about the development of Hidcote. The focus was not on plants or, particularly, on design, although she did talk about the tension between gardening factions touting natural vs formal design at the time Hidcote was being developed. Mainly, she spoke (and has written) about the founder, Lawrence Johnston, an expat American (as she is herself). All in all, it was interesting for me, because I'm fascinated by these personalities, and very boring for my sister, who is a great gardener but doesn't care about dead plantsmen very much. The exhibits were over the top. I especially liked a section dedicated to porches and window boxes. Skipped the flower arranging sections as much as possible, although there were some large-scale installations that were unlike anything I've seen before. Lots of real estate dedicated to the theme of the show, gardens of different countries. Most of that was fun to look at; some of it was inspiring and some was so far from anything apropos Northeast US gardens - like the Indian wedding garden - that I'm not sure yet just what I took away from it. For a change, I didn't come home with a list of plants I must try, other than a salvia Clark mentioned; I guess that's because there was too much to see, but maybe also partly because, in many of the gardens, I couldn't relate what I was looking at to what I work with at home. I took Amtrak down and back, actually just to my sister's - she lives in Mendham, not too far from Philly. After the show we went across the street to the Reading Terminal Market - a MUCH better place to get lunch, or good anytime if you happen to be in Philly. It was a great show - I'm glad I went. If you have a chance, DO GO!

"Is the emphasis on floral design typical or just in keeping with this year�s theme?" Interesting question, Babs, and one we have been asking ourselves a lot these last few years. . .it turns out there are a lot of complicated and overlapping reasons. The Pennsylvania Horticultural Society (PHS), which produces the show, celebrated it's 175th anniversary with the show in 2004. . .but it also marked the retirement of Ed Lindemann, the show's brilliant designer/ director for 25 incredible years. In an organization as large as PHS, a staff change at that level can have all kinds of ripple effects; just five years later, another tecotnic shift when the longtime president of PHS, Jane Pepper, stepped down. So, with fresh blood and new ideas at the highest levels, plus the show's dramatic new visibility in it's new home in central Philadelphia since 1996, AND the study this season which showed that the Flower Show has a 61 million dollar economic impact on the city. . . well, the landscape has changed. In order to keep the show growing and earning dollars - it IS a fundraiser, after all, and the primary means by which PHS supports all it's other remarkable programs like Philadelphia Green - there is the understandable inclination to try to make the show more accessible to the general (non-gardening) public, i.e. popularizing it. Stunning floral displays - as in the Rose Bowl Parade - are a logical way to go, albeit not to the taste of many gardeners. Don't get me wrong: even as a diehard gardener, I have to admit that some of these displays are awesome. . .just look at some of Jane's pictures again! Along with this trend toward "popularization", consider the economics: being an exhibitor in a show of this magnitude is crushingly expensive, which partially explains the recent attrition rate - two years ago, we lost one of the biggest and best exhibitors in recent memory, J. Franklin Styer Nurseries, who would win Best-In-Show medals year after year. These were the kind of garden displays we would make a beeline for every year: "What did Styer come up with this year?" Why the swan song? Styer was bought out by Urban Oufitters in 2009, and has been transformed into an upscale place called "Trend", a sort of Smith & Hawkin-on-steroids. I'll pause momentarily while we all shudder. . . This year, we lost another major exhibitor, J. Cugliotta Landscape/Nursery which was already in it's third generation at the show. . .still haven't heard the scoop on this retirement, but I can't help wondering if it didn't have something to do with the demise of their #1 competitor over the years, J. Franklin Styer. We also lost Lindekin Water Gardens, where you could always expect to find fascinating ponds, pools, streams, waterfalls and all things water related. . .gone. For many of these landscapers/nurseries, it must be hard to justify the daunting expense (many thousands of dollars) of a major display, unless it is generating compensatory new business. And the additional labor costs of installing a garden display are far greater than for a floral design display - and as much as I hate to say it (because I'm generally pro-union) the labor unions at these big convention halls are making a killing . . .thank heaven for the thousands of volunteers donating endless hours of time throughout the shows' entire run. It literally could not go on without them. . . In all honesty, I think the days of those overwhelming, jaw-dropping garden displays we all salivated over, are basically done. . .I'm just grateful to have had a ring-side seat all these years. I cut my teeth on The Boston Flower Show (at the old Horticultural Hall across from Symphony Hall) when I was just a little tyke; and then I discovered my first Philadelphia Flower Show back in the 1960's, and I haven't missed too many since then. There are glimmers of hope: Michael Petrie, the brilliant designer for all the Styer exhibits since 2001, now has his own outfit, called Handmade Gardens, and they had TWO displays this year, both of them exceptional. The huge Horticourt, which displays all the competitive classes (it's a whole show unto itself!) is very much alive and thriving. As always, PHS insists that all the 130+ vendors in the Marketplace be "garden related" - no fear of being hustled to purchase life insurance or the latest kitchen gadget! There are two major corporate sponsors now (this kind of thing has been evolving over the last decade): PNC Bank (which hired Handmade Gardens to create one the very best gardens in the show) and Subaru. . .while I'm not wild about a car sitting on the show floor, at least it is parked on cobbles next to a garden! Pet Peeve: this Subaru garden is always quite lovely, BUT THE PLANTS ARE NEVER LABELED, and of course the "car" people staffing the exhibit are clueless as to anything around them in the garden. . .actually, my friend and I had fun with them this year, teaching them the names of all "their" plants ! Heaven forfend! I seem to have rattled on here ad nauseum. . .my apologies, but flower shows are one my passions. Anyone want to join me at the show out in Cincinatti this year? Carl