Philadelphia Flower Show 2026 - Floramere's Ocean

Today I'll show you more of the Ocean part of the Floramere exhibit. This was really one of my favorite pieces of the show. Here is a closer view of the section I showed yesterday. The colors and textures are great.

And yesterday's picture, just to remind you. The circles and fans really suggest the rolling of the waves

The end of the floral structure successfully gives the impression of a crashing wave.

But they did a great job of contrasting the calm beneath the surface too. These are plants growing on the "Ocean floor."

I think this group works particularly well. Doesn't it just look like a bed of seaweed with some sort of spiky plant or even animal at the base?

It was kind of a bummer of a final day together. Marie is sick, although she feels a little better tonight. It rained all day. I packed and edited. We did play a game and watched a movie in the evening.

She has an appointment in the morning, and I have to hit the road.

See PFS 2026 - Floramere

Philadelphia Flower Show 2026 - Floramere

Floramere was one of the major exhibits created by Schaffer Designs, but people from five countries and six U.S. states worked on it. It was huge and elaborate. There was a large book with this story line on it. I'll only quote it and not show the book because there are plenty of pictures with flowers.

The story is, "Once upon a time there was a realm born of flowers, connection and imagination. Its name was Floramere. In Floramere, two florists met and fell in love. One from the west between the ocean and the trees. The other from the east between concrete and steel. From contrast came harmony. From collaboration came growth. In time, they built Floramere as a living network - where creativity takes root. Many hands intertwine and imagination continues to grow."

We think we missed a couple of the signs that go with the exhibit. This was Ocean, which is mentioned in the story line with one of the florists. I really liked this part. You will see more of this another day.

And this is Block. The other entity is from concrete and steel, and this has to be that side of the relationship.

Here are the two beings. There was mention of their roots intertwining and of roots creating networks, not destroying.

These were very tall- maybe 20 feet. They were reaching out to each other across an aisle.

And their relationshp resulted in a Nest.

This was one of the archways through which we walked between the realms.

This display was intricate, colorful, and hard to examine closely because it was mobbed. I think you'll see more detailed pieces of this another day because the flower arranging was creative and textured, layered, full of color. But this is all I can manage tonight.

Today was a zoo. We went to church, then to a huge breakfast at the German Club. Then we went to Marie's Franciscan meeting in the afternoon. Home for dinner (which we cooked yesterday). Then we played our game and crashed. I have one more day here.

See PFS 2026- Doorways

Philadelphia Flower Show 2026- Doorways

This is another set of entries in a category in the Standard Flower Show at the Philadelphia Flower Show. The category is "Doorway - Hidden Histories." It's supposed to be a "wreath and container collection designed to welcome and inform visitors, inspired by an obscure or little-known historical event."

There were 5 entries, and two of them got white ribbons for 4th place. This is "The First Lady Visits Winterthur," by two individuals. The intent says, "Jackie Kennedy is coming to visit our estate... we are just so happy and proud."

The judges said the entry missed the chance to showcase more of the estate's plant material and the plantings lacked height.

I might agree. Let's just say this didn't move me in any particular way.

The other fourth place is "The Lavender Scare" by Shipley School Sprouts. The intent says "the lavender scare was a mid-20th century attempt to purge homosexuals from the federal government."

The judges said they took on the theme with dignity, and liked the diversity of the plants, but not the sizes and numbers of them.

I agree with the judges. The arrangement of the pots did not make good use of the space.

Yellow was taken by "Forest Fore!" by Moorsetown Garden Club. The intent says, "a Charleston golfer reflects on his sport's roots... and he's proud to be part of its history."

The judges said the clubs and the "4" on the door clearly show that a golfer lives there, and the plant selection was representative of Charleston, but they wanted more.

I agree that the plants are great, but it's awfully symmetric, and it had stiff competition as you'll see next.

Second place is "To Heligan and Back," by the Spade and Trowel Garden Club. The intent says, "in 1990, two men are poised to revive Helegan Gardens... [in] Cornwall."

Judges liked everything except the rake. They said the plants were authentic and cohisive and invite exploration, but that the rake was out of place.

I liked this one best. And if the men are "poised" to revive the garden, a rake in the doorway makes sense to me. I love how they filled the space with a variety of heights and shapes.

First place went to "Mary Gibson Henry: Pioneering Botanist," by the Garden Club of Philadelphia. The intent states "Mary gazes at spring unfolding... field botanist, explorer, collector of nearly 8000 specimens."

The judges called it a "captivating expression." They called the overall effect "rustic chic" that makes the viewer want to enter.

I do like this one a lot. I just like the one that took second place better.

Today was busy- more busy for Marie. She did stuff all morning, and I woke up leisurely and then edited till she got home. We cooked, we did some errands, we played our game. Then we went and visited Selma for a while and put together a small puzzle. She cant see to do it, but it gave us something to talk about. We helped her put in the last piece.

It was cold and windy outside. No walking occurred.

See PFS 2026- The Wright Way

Esopus Bend Nature Preserve

Today, Marie and I took a hike that was more like a "real" hike. We'd been concerned about getting in a lot of mud with the rains, so we've mostly stayed on hardened trail. But today we were more adventurous. We've hiked here together before, but not since 2012! Marie hikes here a lot because it's a good conditioning hike near her house.

Just a reminder- New York is not Michigan. Of course I love that there are rocks.

We did the loop with the biggest hill twice. Just to make us feel "at home" on the trail, this part of the hill has lots of roots.

Part of the trail is along Esopus Creek. I choose to show you this part at the bend, where there is a nose of rock that comes down to the water.

This was the place where I first learned about oriental bittersweet, an invasive that chokes entire trees. I've shown it from other locations many times, but it's still here.

Just a hint of spring- the skunk cabbage was up in the low areas. We found a bit of mud, but didn't get into anything too awful.

We even saw a lovely fungus- cinnabar polypore- which I've encountered a few times, but not too often.

We got to watch this guy for quite a few minutes. I do think it's a male because it's mature but rather small.

And this is fun! I also saw this plant the last time I was here, and after some checking today came to the same conclusion I did 14 years ago. This is lesser pyrola or lesser wintergreen, Pyrola minor. It's related to shinleaf which is more common. Here are the leaves.

And the dried fruits from last year.

What a great hike! And I'm not super tired. I feel as if I'm starting to get in shape. It was in the mid thirties, but not windy or damp and clammy, so it didn't feel nasty. There was even a little sun.

We managed to make this take quite a bit of time what with fooling around to look at things. We did odds and ends in the afternoon and went to a Scout fundraising dinner in the evening.

Miles walked in 2026: 92.9

Esopus Bend Nature Preserve, Ulster County, NY. All miles except the Meadow Paths. Some twice. 5.1 miles.

See Amazing Oriental Bittersweet See Lesser Pyrola

Philadelphia Flower Show 2026- The "Wright" Way

Today I'll share another of the major exhibits. This was created by the Lakeside School. It places two Frank Lloyd Wright houses back to back: Falling Waters and Talieson West. The explanation says "by integrating both [native plants and water with xeriscaping and water-conscious plantings] Wright's work paved the way for landscaping in the 21st Century."

This side is Falling Waters with the water and plantings.

And more of the architecture.

The other side was Talieson West. This was rather stunning. I've been to Falling Waters, but not Talieson West. I would think I'd like Falling Waters better, but the starkness of the xeriscape and the bright color is nifty too.

Here are the plantings along the rest of the front of this side.

I don't think this one even tried to get anything in about roots.

Today was almost all about needed stuff. We grocery shopped for hours, put it all away (fresh produce takes a lot of time), cooked dinner, made banana bread. I edited, we played our game. The weather was dreary and drippy.

See PFS- Community: Where We Garden