Phila. Flower Show opens this month
The horticultural event of the year will have a new name this spring: the Philadelphia International Flower Show. It will be the last show under the Society’s longtime president, Jane Pepper.
The horticultural event of the year will have a new name this spring: the Philadelphia International Flower Show. It will be the last show under the Society’s longtime president, Jane Pepper.
Twenty-nine years ago Jane Pepper took over the Horticultural Society and its then-modest flower show. In that time she has nearly tripled its staff to more than 100 and turned it into largest indoor flower show in the world. She will be leaving as president in May 2010.
The flower show got a major boost when it moved from the Civic Center to the Convention Center in 1996, expanding from six acres to 10. But Pepper says the show became grander because the exhibiters became more sophisticated at transforming early spring into summer.
Pepper: Technology improves – additional light, under-bench heating. Sophisticated in terms of when to put plants into cold storage to trick them into thinking an early winter, then forcing them into greenhouses.
Pepper says she will remain in Philadelphia after leaving the Horticultural Society. This year’s theme is the Amazonian Jungle, with exhibits from Singapore, New Zealand, and India. It begins February 28th and costs $23 for adults.
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