Gardening has been a welcome respite during the pandemic
PHILADELPHIA » Seth Pearsoll, the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society’s director of design, has observed that gardening has become a welcome respite for area residents throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We see gardening as the ultimate form of therapy, and we see gardening as a tool,” he said. “It’s a tool of healing. It’s a tool of renewal for an individual. It’s something you can do with a group, an activity amongst your friends and family, it’s something a community can do. It’s this thing that works on many different levels, and we’ve seen it ourselves with our membership.”
With this year’s theme of “In Full Bloom,” the 2022 PHS Philadelphia Flower Show is scheduled to take place from June 11-19 at FDR Park, 1500 Pattinson Ave., at South Broad Street, Philadelphia.
“Any day” tickets for non-members range from $50 for adults to $35 for ages 18 to 29 to $25 for ages 5 to 17, according to the PHS Philadelphia Flower Show website. Children 4 and younger can enter for free. Tickets for specific days are also available. PHS members receive a 10% discount
on tickets, according to a PHS spokesperson.
For more information, visit phsonline.org/theflower-show/ticket-info.
The annual horticulture extravaganza offers a myriad of ways for people to get involved with community gardening as well as the organization’s initiative “Gardening for the Greater Good.”
“You can come to the flower show as just an amateur, or somebody with an interest, and maybe say you want to get involved with community
gardens in Philadelphia,” Pearsoll said. “The flower show would be a great connector where you could go meet the people you might be working with, find out which garden is closest to you, or if you have an affinity for a particular garden, and that’s how your relationship would start with, say, community gardens.”
The Philadelphia-based nonprofit provides resources, materials and assistance for gardeners of all levels looking to install gardens in their communities. Visit PHS’s website for more information on community garden efforts.
“There’s people who want to learn more about houseplants,” Pearsoll said. “There’s people who, maybe succulents are their thing. Or maybe vegetables are their thing. That to me is the sort of growing secret of gardeners are out there like mad. But then there are all these other people who are in the wings and are sort of secret plant lovers, and they’re on their way to becoming gardeners.”
“I feel like gardening is kind of experiencing a moment right now with a lot of interest, I would say,” Pearsoll said, referring to the increase in gardening interests with PHS over the last two years during the pandemic.
Pearsoll observed firsthand how gardening inspires a sense of camaraderie.
“It’s this great little passive tool that brings people together,” he said. “It lightens your day. People will walk by our garden — literally pull out their phone — and take a picture of whatever’s blooming and then somebody else will come by and chat about it.
You see these effortless moments of connectivity, and I feel like gardens are really special and nothing does that quite like a garden.”
Pearsoll used his experience
living in Germantown to further illustrate his point.
“If I garden on my street, and I tidy up my front yard, and I plant some pollinator plants, I’ve done something,” he said. “I personally am nourished as an individual. Studies show I am less anxious. I have something that I’m proud of.
“Now what I’ve seen in my notching up that scale … that others will start to garden, they see you out there, they start some small talk, and pretty soon there’s a couple other people trying their hand at gardening, and they plant a couple containers or they just do a small garden. The next thing you know, your whole block is prioritizing maybe picking up the litter a bit more, maybe they are taking a little more pride in the street. So now you’ve seen it work on a micro-community level.
“It’s ornamental, and it’s personal, but it’s also this big scalable thing I think can change entire communities.”
Pearsoll said Flower Show attendees can expect a special section spotlighting PHS’ “Gardening for the Greater Good” initiatives.
Pearsoll noted that a “stylized meadow with ecological emphasis for the homeowner” is anticipated to shine a light on the positive attributes of gardening.
“You really do get to see examples of what it means to ‘Garden for the Greater Good,’” Pearsoll said. “This garden is kind of a big proof of concept for that.”
The program places an emphasis on four categories:
celebrate gardening, choose your plants with intention, see your garden as part of the ecosystem and embrace a sharing mindset. For more information about the initiative, visit phsonline.org.
“Of course there’s PHS team members working there and occupying that spot,” Pearsoll said. “You’ll be able to interact with it in garden form, there’s QR codes for takeaways, and then you’ll be able to chat with other members and actually have a conversation about it.”
As gardening novices and enthusiasts alike prepare to attend the staple event in Philadelphia later this spring, Pearsoll said he hopes it will provide further chances for creativity.
“One of my favorite things about this time of year is the gap between inspiration and action is almost nothing,” he said. “You can see something and then you can literally go out the next day and plant or weed or join your group. I think that’s one of my favorite things about having the show at this time of year is you can turn guests into gardens in no time flat.”
For more information, visit phsonline.org/theflower-show.