82-Lanca»ter Farming, Saturday, March 15, 1997 ' Phila. Flower Show Visitors Get Sneak Peek At Spring ANDY ANDREWS Lancaster Fanning Staff PHILADELPHIA—Visitors to this year’s Philadelphia Flower Show were transported to a variety of places: a flourishing tulip gar den somewhere in Holland, a but terfly grotto, a spunky “rubber tire waterfall,” even a New York City skyline apartment where King Kong reaches in to grab a vase. They didn’t have to travel very far: a short distance away from an 8-foot arbor garden on the floor of the converted-to- spring down town Convention Center was the majestic polished pewter globe mounted with people of all lands and suspended 27 feet overhead. The sculpture tested atop a mas sive reflecting pool and beckoned visitors to a display staged by The Women’s Ikebana Society of Japan. Down the way from the virtual “sea” of multicolored tulips was the Tyre Waterfall, nicknamed Tyres By Styers from a nursery in Concordville. The show this year fit the theme “The Great Exchange: People, Places, and Plants.” You didn’t have to walk far with the thousands Tulips and hyacinths were the most common flowers throughout the show. One Included a raised bed of tulips, Christmas Dream Tulips In silver pink and below them, China Pink hyacinths that were frosty pink and fragrant. Stoney Brook also had a simple bi. featured a pea green, si type bath surrounded with Husker’s Red Digitalis and lots of Hosta (plantain Illy). Homestead Notes of visitors to see lots of things that would be hud to find anywhere in central or southeastern Pennsylvania: • Flower bulbs of many kind were arranged in an island imported from Holland. The design included 50,000 flowers (80 varieties of tulips alone), hya cinths. daffodils, and other flowers from the International Flower Bulb Center, Hillegam, Netherlands. Of course, included was a 400-year old thatched windmill. • A “Child’s First Garden” dis play provided by the Hort Academy and Abraham Lincoln High School, Philadelphia, included all sorts of plants and arrangements among the play blocks. • A butterfly exhibit was arranged by the Zoological Society of Philadelphia which included information about the life cycle of a butterfly. • A tire waterfall exhibit was entitled Tyres By Styers and included other items of “junk” transformed into garden beauty (did we mention the use of a shop ping cart as part of a garden?). The display was constructed by J. Franklin Styer Nurseries in * S | ‘ Concordville. • The Italian region of Liguria, known worldwide for its cut flow ers, was captured on a Genoa hill side filled with arrangements by designers Mimma and Aldo Alber ti and the International Trade Cen ter. From Belgium, traditional and contemporary flower arranging styles were portrayed by the Bel gian Flower Arranging Society. For visitors looking for imagi native gardening decorating ideas, there was plenty of lime to get out the camera and the notebook and inspect the work by gardening pro fessionals. Some of the notewor thy items on display included: • A comer bed fashioned by F.A. Bartlett Tree Expert Com pany, Stamford, Ct. TTie center piece of the bed included a flower ing white dogwood. The top crown of flowers included violet Roseum Elegans Rhododendrons. The bot tom crown included ruby red Lavender impatiens. • A flowerbed created by Sto ney Brook Nursery in Glen Mills featured a centerpiece of a white latticed perch holding a simple bird house. The bed featured an Ever Red Japanese Maple. The (Turn to Page B 14) “Three Maypoles and a Malden” was a Joint exhibit by the Williamson Free School of Mechanical Trades, Media, and The Pershore College of Horticulture, Pershore, Worcester shire, England. One fine piece of the display Included a cor ner bed/stone wall with a center of pink Hybrid Rhododen drons and bottomed by Hardy Geranium Plantainlily, cen tered by an evergreen. Flower bulbs of many kind were arranged in an island imported from Holland. The design Included 50,000 flowers (80 varieties of tulips alone), hyacinths, daffodils, and other flowers from the International Flower Bulb Center, Hllle gam, Netherlands. Of course, Included was a 400-year-old thatched windmill. - Ty». , dy v