But until then, let my give you a brief taste of my trip yesterday to the Philadelphia Flower Show, the largest indoor flower show in the world! Every year, the show has a theme and this year it is Italy, warm and sunny Italy.
The huge, and I do mean huge, center displays, gave a feel for five different regions of Italy, complete with lovely buildings and fountains, reflecting pools and in Venice, a gondola!
..some lovely statues...
And of course, trees and plants and beautiful, beautiful flowers.
Lovely Spring bulbs, summer annuals and perennials, flowering trees and shrubs...
..and more flowers.
But the flower show is about more than just beautiful displays. There are competitions in all sorts of categories for individuals and garden clubs, there are lectures and demonstrations, smaller displays form area schools, musical performances, displays from a variety of Italian products and a big Marketplaces with all sort of vendors, many garden related...and many just very nice.
I also enjoy going to the Flower Show because the Convention Center is just across the street from the Historic Reading Terminal Market, another place with way too many things to buy and some great food. I had breakfast at an Amish run lunch counter...I love scrapple...and then a late lunch at DiNic's, the home of the best roast pork sandwich in the world, with sharp provolone and sauteed spinach. I swear, they serve that sandwich in Heaven.
After just 11 hours there, I made my way home, a couple of pounds of scrapple in my cooler and a vision of Spring in my heart.
Lovely. Makes me ache for spring - achoo! Actually I'm looking forward to our spring weather. Glad you have fun. What is scrapple?
ReplyDeleteWhat a perfect post to see for me today as we are in the middle of yet another blizzard. These pics are just beautiful. This makes me want spring all the more. I love flowers-lots of them.
ReplyDeleteRobin, I will give you the Wikipedia definition.."Scrapple is a savory mush of pork scraps and trimmings combined with cornmeal and flour, often buckwheat flour. The mush is formed into a loaf, and slices of the scrapple are then fried before serving. Scraps of meat left over from butchering, not used or sold elsewhere, were made into scrapple to avoid waste. Scrapple is best known as a regional American food of Delaware, Virginia, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Maryland."
ReplyDeleteIt's a little spicy, crispy on the outside and soft on the inside when fried. You can eat it for bekkie with eggs or make a sandwich of it. You most likely are better off not knowing what is in it... ;-)
Great pictures, that flower show looks like a great way to pretend spring is here. ;-) I went to the big one in London with my mom once. So fun!
ReplyDeleteOh my gosh - it's hard to believe they have all of that inside! It's gorgeous - thanks for sharing the pictures with us. I grew up eating scrapple, but haven't had it in ages.
ReplyDeleteIt is hard to believe they have all that inside! I would love to be there sometime for the set..or the tear down. BIG trees, fountains, the 'canal' the gondola was in had to be..well, the gondola is 36 feet long so the canal had to be 60-70 feet long. And that was just one 'small' exhibit. The amount of stone and pavers, the tons and tons of soil trucked in.
ReplyDeleteReally, if you like gardening you have to make it to the Philadelphia Flower Show at least once.
And be sure to go across the street and check out the Reading Terminal Market! Liberty Bell a fairly short walk away too...
Boy, you think Philly was paying me...lol
Wow. I can't believe all those gardens are indoors. Well I do believe it, but just wow.
ReplyDeleteyep,it is something. and it is also something that the Penn. Horticultural Society which runs it (and of which I am a member) raises over a million dollars a years for it public and community gardening projects, Philadelphia Green, through the show.
ReplyDeleteThese are gorgeous!!! We went a few years back and I couldn't believe what they had there ... the only problem was it was way too crowded! And I agree with you about the Reading Terminal Market -- is there anything you can't get there? And yes ... scrapple! Do you like it with ketchup, syrup or plain? HAHA!
ReplyDeleteAnd I gave you an award here:
http://findyournextbookhere.blogspot.com/2009/03/poll-interesting-links-and-award.html
yes, it can be very crowded. I have, over the years, developed a plan. I arrive very early, when it first opens, and then when it starts to get crowded, I go to some lectures, demonstrations, over to the Reading Terminal Market for lunch and to shop (stopping at the garage to put things in my car) and then later, when things start to thin out, go back for another pass.
ReplyDeleteIt is an all day affair for me.
oh...as to scrapple, ketchup!
ReplyDeleteoh that looks beautiful. i think all of us in the northeast need a little taste of spring! :-)
ReplyDelete