{"id":141500,"date":"2026-03-18T07:18:07","date_gmt":"2026-03-18T07:18:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/141500\/"},"modified":"2026-03-18T07:18:07","modified_gmt":"2026-03-18T07:18:07","slug":"firmly-planted-the-2026-phs-philadelphia-flower-show","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/141500\/","title":{"rendered":"Firmly planted: The 2026 PHS Philadelphia Flower Show"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Entrance Garden at the 2026 PHS Flower Show, entitled \u201cThe Forest Floor,\u201d was inspired by this year\u2019s theme, \u201cRooted in Time.\u201d (Photo\/Rob Cardillo)<\/p>\n

This year\u2019s show theme \u2014 \u201cRooted: Origins of American Gardening\u201d \u2014 explored the connection between plants, people, tradition and 250 years of the nation\u2019s history.<\/p>\n

By Amy V. Simmons<\/p>\n

Amid a mix of late winter weather patterns that included everything from snow to spring like temperatures, the 2026 PHS Philadelphia Flower Show returned to the Pennsylvania Convention Center on February 28 and ran through March 8.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The Pennsylvania Horticultural Society was founded 51 years after the Declaration of Independence was signed. Its 197-year-old Philadelphia Flower Show itself began two years after that, so in many ways, it has grown along with the history of the United States, almost from the beginning.<\/p>\n

All of this year\u2019s exhibits, displays, and events focused on the nation\u2019s 250 years and beyond.<\/p>\n

At the beginning: Pennsylvania\u2019s original inhabitants<\/p>\n

This year\u2019s exhibit from Philadelphia\u2019s W.B. Saul High School of Agricultural Sciences, \u201cUprooted, Re-planted\u201d paid homage to the farming and cultivation practices of Pennsylvania\u2019s Indigenous people here long before the nation was founded \u2013 in particular, the Lenni Lenape. It earned the PHS Sustainability Award, which is presented for the \u201ceducational major exhibit that demonstrates the best use of sustainable gardening practices to the public.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Horticulturalist and author Abra Lee speaks about one of her favorite photos which includes many of the features found in classic African American gardens. (Photo\/Amy V. Simmons)<\/p>\n

The beauty of roots<\/p>\n

Taking inspiration from this year\u2019s Show theme, the Philadelphia Society of Botanical Illustrators\u2019 exhibit \u2014 \u201c\u201cRooted in Time\u201d \u2014 A Botanical Reflection on America\u2019s Native Flora\u201d \u2014 included a curated display of artwork celebrating not only what is observed above ground, but also the intricate root systems that have sustained America\u2019s native plants for generations.<\/p>\n

Botanical artist Robby Schlesinger \u2014 a Massachusetts native who lived in Florida for a while before moving back north and landing in Philadelphia \u2014 said that \u201cRooted in Time\u201d was the perfect theme when contemplating the nation\u2019s 250th anniversary.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll the plants in our exhibition had to be native plants, and I think that\u2019s true of a lot of the displays,\u201d she said. \u201cJust going back to [focus on] the roots of the plant \u2014 there\u2019s so much to be learned about roots, and about how important they are, especially with climate change.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Jennifer Designs\u2019 exhibit, \u201cRooted in Love\u201d (Photo\/Rob Cardillo)<\/p>\n

Schlesinger expressed concern in particular that after the harsh winter we\u2019ve experienced in the region, there may even be some plants that won\u2019t come back in the spring, so people need to be vigilant.<\/p>\n

\u201cDocumenting them is really important, keeping track of how they grow,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

People should consider native alternatives first before turning to box store choices for their gardens, Schlesinger said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s important for everybody who plants anything in their yard to stop and think, \u2018Is there a native species that I could put in instead that would do the same thing?\u2019 because a lot of times, they\u2019re interchangeable,\u201d she said. \u201cIf you want some ground cover, there\u2019s native ground cover \u2014 use that. If you want tulips, make sure you\u2019ve got some that are easier to take care of because they\u2019re used to growing here, [and that] you\u2019re not fighting against [worrisome thoughts like], \u2018Oh, is it too cold for them?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Besides providing life to native flora, well-established, centuries-old root systems also have a distinct aesthetic that art can capture, Schlesinger believes.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou only have to look at them \u2014 they\u2019re beautiful, and they\u2019re so complicated, and that\u2019s really fun [to explore],\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

The endurance of the African American gardening tradition<\/p>\n

Horticulturalist and author Abra Lee explored the deep connections between the centuries long story of Africans in Americans and the gardening traditions that continue to this day in her well attended presentation in the Flower Show\u2019s Know to Grow educational series.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The exhibit from W.B. Saul High School, \u201cUp-rooted, Re-planted\u201d focused on Pennsylvania\u2019s Indigenous roots prior to the nation\u2019s founding, featured a representation of a Lenni Lenape home, native plants, garden, stream and animals. (Photos\/ Amy V. Simmons)<\/p>\n

Her book on the topic, entitled, \u201cConquer the Soil: Black America and the Untold Stories of Our Country\u2019s Gardeners, Farmers, and Growers,\u201d explores the lives and work of 45 Black men and women who have greatly contributed to American horticulture, yet are not well known. It is set to be released in February 2027.<\/p>\n

During her talk, Lee explored the interconnection of gardening traditions, self-determination and individual expression that have been a part of African American life since their arrival in the nation in the 17th century. She used anecdotal observations from her family and other African American gardeners, as well as archived photos and writings to illustrate both the depth and breadth of these connections. Lee also spoke about Black horticulturalists, anthropologists, designers and other professionals like Zora Neale Hurston, Dr. Harold Hamilton Williams and others who dedicated much of their life\u2019s work to studying and documenting these practices.<\/p>\n

As Black professionals, it was important for them to take into account and record the nuances, diversity, and strength of these horticultural traditions.<\/p>\n

One of the people Lee spoke about was abstract artist Alma Woodsey Thomas, a teacher in the D.C. public schools who in her 70s had a successful show at the Whitney Museum, and whose work is extremely rare, including some pieces now hanging in the National Gallery of Art.<\/p>\n

It was during Lee\u2019s research of Thomas\u2019s work that helped her to put words to the connection between what is known as Black Garden design and folk gardening.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not formal, and it\u2019s not informal, but it is an abstract garden style,\u201d Lee told attendees as she showed examples of the artist\u2019s work.<\/p>\n

It is also a style that white garden writers in the early 20th century are both intrigued and baffled by, especially the way that everyday objects with spiritual significance like grave goods (pottery and china artifacts used to marked graves in African American cemeteries in the South),
native plants and flowers, vegetables, fruits and ordinary repurposed items worked so well together \u2014 and why they would be used in the first place.<\/p>\n

\"\"Photos from the opening Member\u2019s Preview Day on Friday, February 27, 2026 of ROOTED: Origins of Tissarose Floral\u2019s exhibit, \u201cIkechi\u201d (Photo\/Morgan Horell)American Gardening, held Feb 28 \u2013 March 8, 2026.<\/p>\n

Lee quoted an article written by one such House Beautiful writer named Martha Fisher after coming across a garden in a Black neighborhood in the south, which was published in May 1933, based on what she thought she observed.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn them, the sunshine yellow and tobacco brown of sunflowers are juxtaposed with excellent, if unconscious, effect to the faded pink of the \u201cBouncing Bet\u201d; the searing orange of marigolds burns simultaneously against the bludgeoning purple of clematis or the murky red of coxcomb. \u2026Descendents of the aristocratic flower denizens of the garden of the \u2018big house,\u2019 which no doubt found their way into this humble milieu in the shape of seeds and cuttings carried from the scene of the day\u2019s labor in the basket that is the inseparable appendage of every black arm in domestic service, rub branches with the utilitarian tomato plants, or creepers of the yam.\u201d<\/p>\n

Although Fisher doesn\u2019t really comprehend all the components of this African American garden \u2014 the overtly racist and stereotypical Jim Crow tone of the article illustrates how she lacks the perspective and personal experiences that would allow her to do so \u2014 she still recognizes its significance.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe garden under discussion seems to be fast disappearing from the American scene. If we wish to have a look at it, we must look quickly. There is beauty in these gardens.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lastly, Lee referred to a quote by award-winning landscape architect Everett Fly and how it aptly ties together different elements of African American gardening tradition:<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery community has not had a school or church, but virtually every community has had a cemetery and a garden.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI think that you see the link now between the cemetery, the spiritual medium, the garden, and the self-expression of these communities,\u201d Lee said. \u201cWorship takes on a new meaning, because life itself becomes more meaningful. So, the impact that these gardens and designs have [on these communities], it impacts their character \u2014 it impacts their quality of life. And that\u2019s why I talk about beauty, beauty and ornamental horticulture being a quality-of-life issue for so many [people] to dismiss that we don\u2019t ever have to back away from that.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Botanical artist Pam Sapko\u2019s illustration of the root system of an American Beech tree, of which she says \u201cunlike the predictable structure of branches above ground, the roots twist and bend, creating unexpected shapes, resembling elbows, was part of knees and legs,\u201d was part of the Philadelphia Botanical Illustrators Club curated exhibit. (Photo\/ Amy V. Simmons)<\/p>\n

Lee said that she was particularly impressed by Lankenau Environmental Science Magnet High School\u2019s exhibit, \u201cInheritance\u201d which embodied examples of the ingenuity and adaptive nature of African American gardening practices, a concrete expression of spiritual and ancestorial connection that endures to this day. The exhibit earned a PHS Flower Show Gold Medal, as well as the Alfred M. Campbell Memorial Trophy.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe students have [created] mosaics, and they have edged these cinder blocks with [these] mosaics,\u201d Lee said. \u201cThey are using dried flowers and live flowers to fill the cinder blocks. They didn\u2019t miss a beat with this garden. This is the garden I saw in Barnesville. \u2026This is the garden that Lena Williams of Philadelphia herself described, and this is the garden that Martha Fisher saw as well in Alabama.\u201d<\/p>\n

The African American gardening tradition is intertwined with American history, even prior to the nation\u2019s founding, something that is important to remember as we celebrate the semiquincentennial this year.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve been here since day one on this soil, and we brought those traditions from the coast of West Africa, and we\u2019ve made them our own, and by we what I\u2019m saying specifically for Black Americans, and African Americans like myself, Black immigrants,\u201d Lee told the SUN after her presentation. \u201cWhen you\u2019re looking at African Americans, you\u2019re looking at people that were stripped of their culture, their language, their family, their friends, their land. And then they come; and they still hold on to something. They still hold on to the spiritual medium. They still hold on to their self-expression, and they reproduce that through the garden in their own way, with their own style, and with their own grave goods that we now use as garden decor, and when we say things like \u201crecycling\u201d or \u201crepurposing\u201d and \u201cupcycling\u201d and \u201csustainability.\u201d<\/p>\n

That\u2019s what Black gardening tradition is. We\u2019re just using a different language for it today. We are using it as decoration, and as beauty, and as something to feed our soul, and now we relabel it \u2014 but it\u2019s same thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Throughout the year, PHS offers events and programs throughout the region. For more information, visit: www.phsonline.org.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Entrance Garden at the 2026 PHS Flower Show, entitled \u201cThe Forest Floor,\u201d was inspired by this year\u2019s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":141501,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[69,71,70],"class_list":{"0":"post-141500","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-philadelphia","8":"tag-philadelphia","9":"tag-philadelphia-headlines","10":"tag-philadelphia-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/141500","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=141500"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/141500\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/141501"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=141500"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=141500"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=141500"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}