Intense heat closes down pop-up garden in Philly

The temporary garden installed last month in Rittenhouse Square had to shut down due to Wednesday’s unbearable heat.

Created by the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society, the pop-up garden is in a vacant lot on Walnut Street. It has long farm tables, designed to welcome people on their lunch hours.

The Society’s Eileen Gallagher, dutifully tending the garden Wednesday, said it was too hot for lunches, too hot for visitors, and even too hot for plants.

“When you get temperatures this hot, the plant breathing cells on the underside of the leaves, they close down,” said Gallagher, a PHS project manager. “They do that in order to conserve moisture. So it’s best not to water in the middle of the day. The plants are all shut down and not taking in anything.”

The pop-up garden is expected to open to visitors later in the week, in time for a nutrition demonstration called “Foodie Friday.”