By Paola Vecchiolla
It’s been a long winter. What better way to beat the cold weather doldrums than to be surrounded by flowers and pretend you are in Italy? Rather than crossing an ocean, board a bus or the train to see the famous Philadelphia Flower Show at the Pennsylvania Convention Center. This year’s show, Bella Italia 2009, running through Sunday, March 8, is not only an explosion of color and fragrance but also one that fashions flowers into jewelry, clothing, buildings, pastoral settings, paintings, and other objects d’art. Your grandmother’s garden never looked like this.
Upon entering the main hall, you are immediately greeted by huge, stately vases filled with a plethora of blue, pink, yellow, green flowers. It is truly a harbinger of spring and a spectacular start to the exhibits inside. As you walk around your eyes feast upon the creations by florists and landscape designers from Rome, the Italian Riviera, the sunny coastal towns of Sicily, the scintillating waterways of Venice, and the rolling hills of Tuscany. In addition, there is a fashion district which showcases Italy’s contribution to alta moda in dresses, shoes, jewelry, handbags and even men’s ties—-all made from natural materials and complemented with flowers.
There are spectacular exhibits of jewelry: necklaces, bracelets and earrings made from willow eucalyptus, common pea, sunflower seeds and broom. There are miniature arrangements creating everything from Italian restaurants, “trattorias,” to abbeys, and including vistas from the famous lake region, all beautifully rendered by the talented exhibitors.
Most spectacular are the paintings of Italian scenes using pressed plant materials. You will marvel at the incredible genius and meticulous care required to complete these works of art.
If you can’t get enough of Italy from the exhibits, there are vendors selling floral and gardening products on the Show Bridge and in the Great Hall. In addition, there are wine and food tastings going on every day as well. And of course the wine is Italian!
If you have time, visit the Philadelphia Museum of Art to see “Cezanne and Beyond,” an exposition with fifty works of art by Cezanne and more than one hundred paintings, drawings, photographs, and sculptures by eighteen other artists.
Philadelphia Flower Show
Philadelphia Convention Center
12th and Arch Streets
For tickets, call 215-893-1999
www.theflowershow.com
Take AMTRAK to Philadelphia’s 30th Street Station. Then, take a free SEPTA Regional Rail train at 30th Street Station to Market East Station (show the conductor your AMTRAK ticket stub; save it for the return trip). Follow the signs to the Convention Center.
Philadelphia Art Museum
26th Street and the Benjamin Franklin Parkway
www.philamu
