Matt Rader bounded into the main exhibition area for the Philadelphia Flower Show the Monday before it opened. He marveled at the Big Timber Lodge, with animals designed by volunteers from Valley Forge Flowers, and couldn’t wait to peek into the room where the show’s first railway garden, designed by the South Eastern Pennsylvania Garden Railway Society, would stand.
The theme of the 187th Flower Show is “Explore America.” It starts March 5 and runs through March 13 at the Pennsylvania Convention Center. The Pennsylvania Horticultural Society, called PHS, hosts the show and partnered this year with the National Park Service to help the organization celebrate its centennial.
The 50th-annual opening reception takes place from 7-11 p.m. March 4. Tickets cost $300-$650, depending on level of donation. Flower Show tickets cost $15-$34, depending on time of purchase.
Rader has attended the flower show, an annual competition and fundraiser for PHS, but never before as its president. An out gay man, Rader took the reins in January. He replaced Drew Becher, who left in June to join his partner in San Francisco.
“I keep saying I’m like a Yelp reviewer,” Rader told PGN on a tour of the Flower Show during its set-up. “Everything I discover about PHS, I want to go out and tell the world, ‘This is so cool, you have to know about this.’”
Rader was especially excited about the participation of students from W.B. Saul High School in Roxborough, one of only a few agricultural high schools in the country. The juniors and seniors were constructing a replica of Valley Green Inn from Wissahickon. Their exhibition space stood next to a creation by students from Williamson College of the Trades in Delaware County.
“It’s amazing to me that this show and this organization can give those students at Saul a really meaningful and memorable part of their high-school experience that will help catapult them into a career,” Rader said. “If you think of the show as something that does everything from entertaining somebody who just wants to spend a nice day in spring all the way to inspiring a kid to get really excited and passionate about horticulture, it’s amazing.”
Because Rader is new to PHS, he considers himself “much more of an observer and a champion” of this year’s Flower Show.
“I say I’m Sam’s apprentice,” he said, referring to Sam Lemheney, chief of shows and events at PHS.
Lemheney called Rader a quick study.
“He’s not unfamiliar with the show,” he said. “But working on this side of it is a lot different than just attending. His analytical mind will really help us.”
Lemheney said he and Rader both enjoy the energy of the set-up and having the exhibitors on the floor of the Convention Center. He added that the diversity of the plant material is a major selling point for this year’s show.
“We’re not recreating national parks, but we’re using them as inspiration,” he said, noting people will be able to see everything from orchids reminiscent of Volcanoes National Park in Hawaii to sea grasses in homage to Cape Cod National Seashore in Massachusetts.
NPS rangers will be on hand to answer questions and share pieces from their educational programs. Attendees will also be able to videoconference with rangers from West Coast parks and see scenes from places like Yosemite National Park.
“The Flower Show is like an 18-month design cycle,” Rader said. “Next year, I will really understand the design and have specific things I want to watch and be a part of some of it unfolding.”
In the meantime, Rader has a genuine curiosity to meet everyone who interacts with PHS. Most days this week, he will arrive at the Convention Center at 6 a.m. and won’t leave until midnight. His schedule is full of meetings and tours of the show with various interest groups.
“He’s entertaining and keeping everybody happy throughout the week,” said Alan Jaffe, communications director for PHS.
Rader said he feels inspired by the longevity of the members, some of whom have been participating for more than 40 years.
“I’m a historian by original background,” Rader said. “PHS is first and foremost a community of people passionate about horticulture. We’ve got 4,000 people as part of the Flower Show. We’ve got probably another 20,000 who are involved in community gardening or as tree tenders. For me, as the president of the organization, I want to know these people. These are the people who go out and do the wonderful things that we do and who we’re supporting every day. I can’t serve them well if I don’t know who they are.”
At one point in the morning, Rader stopped to talk with Michael Petrie from Michael Petrie’s Handmade Gardens in Swarthmore and Jack Blandy from Stoney Bank Nurseries in Concord Township. Petrie has exhibited at the Flower Show for the past 36 years and Blandy has for 37. Rader asked them questions about what they were working on and how things were going.
“He’s in a haze,” Petrie joked, after laying out a bunch of information.
“I’m completely excited,” Rader said. “To actually see the thing come together and understand the number of people and the amount of creativity and the amount of energy that goes into it is incredibly exciting.”
“People are using math and geometry, people are using artistic skills, all to create the Flower Show. This is a huge learning experience and we get to be a part of this event that’s kind of central to the story of Philadelphia.”
As Rader left the exhibition area, he pointed to a banner that said, “Start gardening today.”
“There’s a good message,” he said.
For more information or to purchase tickets, visit www.theflowershow.com.
