The 2016 Pennsylvania Horticultural Society’s Philadelphia Flower Show, “Explore America,” is a grand adventure.
Through “Explore America,” PHS and the National Park Service are engaging those who know and love the parks, and inviting a new generation to discover the special places that belong to us all.
Explore
In the Flower Show’s acres of trails, exhibits and attractions, guests can discover the range of horticulture in the national landscape, including the rainbow of wildflowers, desert blooms, coastal flora, verdant meadows, fragrant pinelands, and ancient redwoods.
The Flower Show also tells the diverse stories that forged the United States with exhibits inspired by the nation’s monuments and places where history happened. “Explore America” will spotlight Independence National Historical Park, Lincoln’s birthplace, Liberty Island, and other sites honoring our national heritage.
Visitors start their Flower Show adventure in the “Big Timber Lodge,” an interpretation of classic park architecture of wood and stone, enhanced by Native American art, sculpted animals, floral totems, and a dazzling waterfall. Spectacular imagery spanning the breadth of the park system will come to life on multiple overhead screens, as sounds of thundering bison and songbirds transport visitors into the wild.
In the “Find Your Park” pavilion at the Flower Show, families can meet Park Rangers from around the country in person and by webcast, explore parks and gardens throughout the U.S. and in their own backyards, and become part of the Junior Ranger program. Activities include Ranger talks and a scavenger hunt with rewards that include Ranger badges and a new National Park Service trading card created especially for the Flower Show.
Experience
Guests can climb a mountain, ford a stream, hike trails, and pitch camp in the exhibits and special events of the 2016 Flower Show.
Families can marvel at the Flower Show’s new Train Garden, a vast display of model locomotives and rail cars rumbling through the familiar sites of a miniaturized American landscape.
Other favorite show features include The Butterfly Experience, a rare opportunity to interact with domestic and exotic varieties; and Make & Take, where everyone can create a Flower Show keepsake.
The new “Base Camp,” in the Convention Center’s Grand Hall, is an indoor playground of attractions, shopping and dining, including climbing walls, live music, and wine tastings.
The popular PHS pop-up concept, which has transformed vacant lots in Philadelphia into urban oases, has moved indoors with a giant Pop Up Beer Garden where guests can refresh between explorations of the Flower Show.
The Flower Show also invites visitors to meet and question garden, design and culinary experts and vote for winners in exciting, real-time contests. In the Design Gallery, guests will take away innovative ideas for outdoor spaces inspired by diverse American regions, home decorating concepts borrowed from historic settings, and other creative tips they can bring to their own home and garden.
Exhale: Take in the view. Leave your worries behind.
Dates: Now through – Sunday, March 13, 2016
Show Hours
Mon. – Fri., March 7-11: 10:00 am – 9:00 pm
Saturday, March 12: 8:00 am – 9:00 pm
Sunday, March 13: 8:00 am – 6:00 pm
Address
Pennsylvania Convention Center
12th & Arch Streets
Philadelphia, PA 19107
Entrances
The main Flower Show entrance and Show Box Office is at 12th & Arch Streets. You can also enter the Show on Market Street between 11th & 12th Streets (via Jefferson Station).