Lorraine Kiefer will give a native plant presentation at the Flower Show on March 10
By Lorraine Kiefer
I clicked on the Pennsylvania Horticulture Society website theflowershow.com about to check details on the upcoming flowers show and the following caught my eye. "The 2016 Flower Show theme "Explore America" will take visitors through acres of displays inspired by iconic parks like Acadia and Cape Cod, Valley Forge and Shenandoah, Yellowstone, Yosemite and many other parks and historic sites and created by the nation's premier floral and garden designers.
The Pennsylvania Horticultural Society (PHS) and the National Park Service are natural partners, sharing a common mission to protect and care for natural resources and preserve green spaces. Through "Explore America," PHS and the 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." What an awesome and timely theme!
As far back as I can remember March has always meant a visit to the flower show. It brings back waves of memories of the many years I went to the show as a child, then a teen, young adult and as a parent with my own children. My parents always took my sister Janice and I to the show to celebrate our March birthdays .
The flower show is still a tradition that marks our March calendar each year. For more than 30 years it has been an honor for me to be part of the lectures, demonstrations and now the Gardener's Studio at the show. I will be doing a native plant presentation at the Gardener's studio at 11 a.m. on March 10. Our son Joe will again have a booth in the Marketplace. One of the plants he will sell is the John Muir coast redwood Sequoia sempervirens. He propagated these small plants from the hardy Redwood at Swarthmore arboretum.
Lorraine Kiefer's son, Joe Kiefer, will again have a booth in the Marketplace at the 2016 Flower Show. One of the plants he will sell is the John Muir coast redwood Sequoia sempervirens. He propagated these small plants from the hardy Redwood at Swarthmore arboretum. In my talk I will show slides of many native plants and tell which will easily grow in gardens and also those that will not. I will show a favorite that you cannot grow, the beautiful, yet elusive wild orchid is that blooms each spring in the New Jersey Pine Barrens as well as local woods. This rare and somewhat endangered plant blooms in spring but often goes unnoticed. Once plentiful in the Delaware Valley, it is disappearing from southern New Jersey because so many acres of acid woodlands are being used to build houses and lush lawns are replacing the native flora. Lady slipper (Cypripedium acaule) orchid is also called Pink moccasin flower because of shape of the pink bloom, which resembles a moccasin. It grows in the acid, sandy soils of the local woods and the Pine Barrens.
Each spring the lady slipper begins to stir under a layer of pine needles or oak leaves. Its flower formed last fall, but it stays wrapped tightly between two leaves of the dormant plant. When the spring sun makes it way through the branches of the not-yet leafed out oaks or the pine needles it warms the earth, coaxing the orchid into growth. It is protected and should not be dug from the woods, as it needs a very specific spot in which to grow.
It was plentiful in untouched woods in Franklin Township where we live, but it is losing its terrain to development. Ideally homeowners could leave little areas of native plants in their yards untouched. This would not only preserve these treasures, it would make for low maintenance area that would require very little water and no fertilizer. Since the seeds need mycorrhyzae fungus to aid in germination, they only germinate in the acid humus soil of the forest.
I like to think that the emphasis on our National parks and native plants will encourage people to be more aware of these plants that often are only found in national parks. Hopefully parents and kids will sometimes pull the plugs of TV and computers and get outside and back to nature.
The show will feature acres of beautiful exhibits as well as some special features such as the Railway Garden, Powered by Amtrak with Bachmann Trains. This is a special attraction of large-scale model trains that will chug their way through miniaturized American landscapes, including iconic sites such as Yellowstone National Park, Mount Rushmore, and Independence National Historical Park, as well as other famous landmarks. The Railway Garden is designed and built by the South Eastern Pennsylvania Garden Railway Society. An additional ticket is required for this experience.
Butterflies Live! At this special event more than 1,000 domestic and exotic species of butterflies will be included in this engaging attraction. "Butterflies Live!" is an interactive and educational exhibit created by California's SkyRiver Butterflies exclusively for the Flower Show, and inspired by the indigenous environments of the national parks. This year's habitat will feature native plants that attract butterflies and encourage pollination.
Pollinator gardens with milkweed provide Monarchs a place to lay eggs, and nectar flowers like coneflowers and gomphrena supply nourishment to the pollinators. The life cycle of the butterfly, as well as the importance of protecting their fragile habitat will be illustrated as part of "Butterflies Live!" An additional ticket is required for this experience.
There are many other beautiful flower show exhibits, all types of interesting plants and many unique one of a kind exhibits. The complete history of the show is on the website. Founded in 1827, PHS was America's first horticultural society and they began the nation's first flower show in 1829. It has grown ever since and now the Flower Show expanded in size and scope retaining its position as the largest indoor Flower Show in the world. On the new, mobile-friendly Flower Show website, theflowershow.com.
On the website you can find:
Advance ticket information, directions and parking reservations, information on accessibility, a map of the show floor, descriptions of the exhibits, details on special family attractions (including the new Railway Garden, schedules of presentations in the Find Your Park Pavilion, Designer's Studio and Gardener's Studio).
The flower show runs from March 5 to March 13 at the Pennsylvania Convention Center at 12th and Arch streets in Philadelphia. To avoid crowds the best viewing hours are weekdays after 3 p.m. For additional information, visit the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society website at www.theflowershow.com/showinfo/index.html. Or call, 215-988-8800.
Lorraine Kiefer is the owner and operator of Triple Oaks Nursery in Franklinville. She can also be reached by e-mail at Lorraine@tripleoaks.