Macy’s Flower Show Features Some of Our Favorite Designers

We’ve barely caught our collective breath after a trip to Hawaii during this year’s Flower Show, and now Macy’s invites us to another exotic locale during their show, “Brasil: Gardens in Paradise,” March 25 through April 7 during store hours at the City Center location.

Celebrated at Macy’s in New York, Chicago, Minneapolis, San Francisco, and Philadelphia, the show features a variety of activities for the entire family, including organ concerts; floral, tabletop, and cooking demonstrations; guided tours; and more. Also featured is the “Bouquet of the Day,” where local designers create floral masterpieces within the store.

You’ll recognize these participating artists from the Philadelphia Flower Show: Jamie Rothstein, Jamie Rothstein Distinctive Floral Designs (March 25-26); Michael Bruce, Michael Bruce Florist (March 27-28); Donna O’Brien, Beautiful Blooms (March 29-31); Barb King, Valley Forge Flowers (April 1-2); Eric Schellack, Robertson’s Flowers (April 3-4); and Bill Schaffer, Schaffer Designs (April 5-7).

Remember, no passport is required to experience the lush, vibrant South American plants and flowers as interpreted by some of Philadelphia’s most-recognized floral designers. Enjoy!

Jamie Rothstein Captures Paris’ Extravagance

The place and time: Paris 1875. This opulent parlor and exterior garden in the style of the Belle Époque is the creation of the endlessly imaginative Jamie Rothstein of Jamie Rothstein Distinctive Floral Designs Inc. (311 Cherry St., Philadelphia, PA 19106).

This exhibit is enhanced by antique floral arrangements made from objects such as seashells, wax, wool, paper, and muslin created by aristocratic women of that era. These delicate simulations of nature are contained in their original blown-glass domes.

Noted antique collector, writer, and speaker John Whitenight, the premiere authority on glass domes, and his partner Frederick LaValley have loaned a variety of examples from their collection of 19^th century decorative arts. An adjoining formal French garden displays brightly colored parterres of flowers accented by antique statues depicting the four seasons.

Jamie’s opulent exhibit won the PNC People’s Choice Award one day earlier this week. You can vote for your favorite exhibit at theflowershow.com!

Do We Hear Wedding Bells?

 

A few Flower Show visitors and staff had the chance  to witness a special moment on March 2 when Limerick resident John Cassel surprised his girlfriend, Karen, and proposed in the middle of the Show floor.

John came to the Flower Show for the first time last year, giving his mother “Bella Italia” tickets for her birthday present. He wanted to propose somewhere special, somewhere they could return.

“It’s a memory we can look back on,” John said.

John brought his girlfriend to the Explorer’s Garden where a “volunteer” dressed in a pink vest welcomed the couple and wanted to make sure they didn’t miss a special spot on the Show floor. The volunteer lead them to Jamie Rothstein’s romantic Indian wedding-inspired exhibit, where John bent down on one knee and proposed while onlookers oohed and aahed.

Congratulations, John and Karen. We wish you all the best!

Children’s Activities Coming to the Flower Show

The Flower Show is a grown-up gardener’s paradise, and it can be a wonderland of discovery and delight for children as well.

The larger-than-life displays offer a unique setting in which to engage youngsters in the beauty of the natural world and ignite a lifelong passion for its precious plant life.

Show organizers have arranged a specially priced $65 Family Fun Pak of discounted tickets offering two adults and two children admission to the Show and free membership in the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society.

Jaw-dropping displays such as the 28-foot-tall hot air balloon covered with 79,000 dried flowers at the Show entrance and a life-size elephant in the Indian wedding-inspired exhibit by Jamie Rothstein Floral Design are sure to catch the interest of young people from toddlers to teens.

Equally impressive giraffe and lion sculptures stand guard over the South Africa-themed display by the American Institute of Floral Designers (AIFD), and a dragon slithers through a Maori-inspired New Zealand exhibit by Stoney Bank Nurseries.