Display gardens bloom at the Philadelphia's 2023 Flower Show

PHILADELPHIA - Upon entering the Philadelphia Flower Show space at the Pennsylvania Convention Center last week, I was entranced by a forest of stunning orchids suspended from the ceiling above the color-changing entrance garden.

The display, titled "FLORASTRUCK," greeted visitors back indoors after two pandemic years at the city’s FDR Park.The nine-day event, billed as the world’s oldest and largest indoor garden show, typically draws some 250,000 attendees from around the globe.This year, the show’s display gardens are arranged in a winding promenade that allows for leisurely, self-guided meandering.

The new layout, meant to mimic an outdoor stroll, beckons visitors to enter displays and participate in immersive, 360-degree "floral scapes," some as large as 2,900 square feet.The show’s theme, "The Garden Electric," is intended to conjure the "spark of joy while giving or receiving flowers," according to The Philadelphia Horticultural Society, which organizes the annual event.

The concept of that spark served as inspiration for this year’s roughly three dozen exhibits — the most in the show’s 195-year history — created by designers of diverse backgrounds and specialties.Among them, "Eye Candy," presented by Schaffer Designs of Philadelphia, evokes the colors and scents of sweets, as mannequins with flowers where their heads should be and a giant, pink petal-frosted doughnut are among the confections glowing under neon lights."In Search of Peace," by Treeline Designz of Portland, Oregon, tells the story of a woman attempting to calm her horror-stricken grandchildren living in war-torn Ukraine with the tale of a peace fairy who lives in a nearby forest.