Garden for the greater good
Calling all gardeners!
Every year PHS produces the Philadelphia Flower Show, an event that inspires new gardeners, offers insights into different styles of gardening and new plants on the market, and provides a wondrous kickoff to Spring for more than a quarter million people of all ages and backgrounds. The 2020 Flower Show to be held February 29 – March 8 is meant to do all these things and even more. The Show will celebrate the plants, gardens, and beauty of the Mediterranean regions with the theme, Riviera Holiday, and also plans to connect audiences to the importance of sustainable gardening practices with an inspiring look at the impact we can have as gardeners.
This year, PHS is working closely with the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation USA to host a firstever biodiversity-focused symposium at the Flower Show. This incredible day will inform and engage attendees in important dialog about the positive impact our gardens and our gardening habits have on local wildlife, water sources, and the health of our families and communities. The Gardening for Biodiversity Symposium presented by PHS on Wednesday, March 5 will present national and international speakers who will engage the audience in exploring topics from the ground up with a special keynote address by Dr. Peter Raven, Missouri Botanical Garden. Look for a full itinerary and registration at https://theflowershow.com/ biodiversity.
The Flower Show provides each of us an opportunity to renew our passion for plants and our commitment to cultivating both our gardens and a healthier world. PHS is committed to diving deeper into the extraordinary power that gardeners have to create positive change in the world. In 2019, PHS engaged thousands of volunteers, including over 3,000 Flower Show volunteers, 5,000 Tree Tenders,
more than 2,400 Garden Tenders, 164 total graduates of our Roots to Re-entry program for returning citizens, 127 community gardens across the city that donate produce to communities in need, and over 15,000 young participants in Junior Flower Shows at their schools. The organization currently manages treasured landscapes and gardens along the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, the Philadelphia Navy Yard, and the Delaware River waterfront in Philadelphia-touching the lives of more than 1.5 million residents and local, national, and international visitors to our city. All of this work has left a lasting impact in and around the Greater Philadelphia region.
PHS’s work is literally all around you
Over the past two years, PHS has talked with gardeners from around the region and learned that their gardens grow beauty – beyond the harvest, family traditions, neighborly connections, community pride, a sense of personal well-being, and opportunities to share our knowledge abound. This year, PHS is asking all gardeners to “lean in” just a bit more to these wonderful attributes of gardening and grow their engagement with one another and PHS. The Philadelphia Flower Show is a great place to start. If it is too late to sign up as a volunteer for the Show, sign up as a volunteer for one of PHS’s spring gardening programs, plant a pollinator garden, or become a judge of the PHS Gardens Contest.
You will be growing in more ways than one.