I had never been to the famous Philadelphia Flower Show, but when my mom shared with my sisters and me she was going with a friend, we couldn’t help but crash their plans and join in on the night out in Philly. My sisters lucked out as they are both in masters’ programs, so their tickets were discounted at $35 for students, while I paid $50 for entrance to the show.

The show was held in the Philadelphia Convention Center, and exhibitors put together the most beautiful installments of flowers in different shapes, sizes, designs and concepts all throughout the convention floor. The show runs for eight days, and I was impressed and a bit relieved to see that although I visited on the seventh day, the flowers were still as bright and beautiful as I could imagine they were on the first.

Some exhibitors included Pennsylvania Bonsai Society; Robertson’s Flowers & Events; Temple University Department of Landscape, Architecture & Horticulture; and Men’s Garden Club of Philadelphia. Each exhibitor put their own spin on their flower arrangements and completely captivated each attendee with different colors, props and themes of their display. My favorite display was ballet themed and included traditional ballet slippers and point shoes. There was also a map of the United States made entirely of flowers, one of the best photo ops in the room.

There were also many vendors at the show who set up booths and tables to sell goodies. I ended up buying homemade dog treats at one booth and pickles at another. Wags Rescue, a local dog rescue organization, had a booth and even had one of the available dogs with them, Parsley! My sister Liv fell head over heels in love with Parsley at first site and even applied to adopt him on the spot! She later decided it wasn’t the right time for her, but she’s talked about Parsley every day since the show.

There was also a live butterfly exhibit you could enter to be among thousands of butterflies. The volunteers give you a sugar water-coated Q-tip, and the butterflies come and sit with you for a treat or even hang out on your clothes or head!

Although the photos don’t do the exhibits nearly enough justice, it really was an enjoyable night with the girls. Check out THIS LINK for more photos and award winners from the show!

— Haley Fogarty, vice president of sales