The Philly Flower Show hits the ‘wow’ factor with first-day visitors

Maybe it was that tower of drop-dead-gorgeous blossoms as soon as you passed through the glowing entrance arch or all those orchids cascading from the ceiling. Or perhaps it was those moody mists, the pulsating beats, or the ooh-and-ah-eliciting changing colored lights.

But the two sisters from Clifton, N.J., were just minutes into opening day of the 2023 Philadelphia Flower Show, and already they were smitten.

“It’s absolutely stunning, better than I expected,” said Margaret Mantz, 57, a Flower Show veteran and avid gardener.

“It’s out of this world,” said sibling Elizabeth Alaeddin, 53, a nurse-practitioner like her sister. “It’s heaven.”

After two pandemic years outdoors in South Philadelphia’s FDR Park, the Flower Show — the oldest horticultural event in the country — returned to the Convention Center starting Saturday.

While some of its organizers have said the outdoor show brought more diverse visitors, including more younger people and more families, the last two years saw sagging ticket sales. That in turn resulted in less money for the community activities the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society (PHS) counts on the Flower Show to help fund.

So this year, show organizers said they were going for the wow factor. With “The Garden Electric” as their theme, they were striving for an exciting show that would woo back loyal Flower Show lovers and still attract the people who had more recently discovered it.

If the first day’s visitors were any indication, “The Garden Electric” could be off to a bright start.

“It’s the best it’s been for many years,” said Maria Wenzel, 58, a homemaker from Gettysburg.

There were long lines at quite a few of the exhibits, but there was a lot of creativity, too. And some first-time exhibitors received high honors.

IllExotics, an East Passyunk Avenue shop that specializes in reptiles and amphibians and exotic plant life, was given a number of awards for its Studio Exotic, a Studio 54-like creation that includes a DJ and disco dancers made of flowers, glitter balls, and a real recording of music played one day in 1979 at the real Studio 54. (Yes, that was Donna Summer’s “Bad Girls” you heard. “Beep-beep!”)

Chris Urban, 37, started the business with his husband, Franco Urban, 29, in 2017. Being invited to take part in the Flower Show was a great opportunity for them.

“We have a really unique and personal space in South Philadelphia,” Chris said. “A lot of people don’t know we’re there. So to be able to bring it here and share our passion with everyone is really beautiful.”

Lesley Salazar, 45, thought so, too. She was leading a customer appreciation activity for Marriott. She loved the Studio Exotic and the Flower Show in general.

“I’m from California, and I’m absolutely blown away,” Salazar said.

Shannon Ryan, 44, a meeting planner from Mount Airy, who was part of Salazar’s group, had been to the Flower Show before.

“I think this is much more electric,” she said. “It makes you want to go out and get in your garden, but I can’t because where we live, it’s not time yet.”

But you can still get inspiration. Said Christian Charles, a former paratrooper and avid gardener from Willingboro: “You get a lot of people’s creativity.”

Yari Kronin, 25, a proposal strategist, was at the Flower Show for the first time, accompanying his wife, Nelli Kronin, 25, a teacher. Residents of State College and both Penn State graduates, they were visiting the exhibit of Black Girl Florists, another first-time exhibitor that also did well with the judges. Yari liked the way the flowers seemed to pour from barrels into a carpet of color.

“Sometimes the flowers are kind of stagnant,” he said. “Here they’re flowing.”

Across the way, Maya Arthur, who works in sales support for a bank, and Amanda Silberling, a journalist, were waiting in line to get into the brain-shaped Cerebral Garden exhibit. The two friends, both 26, went to Penn together. It was Silberling’s first time at the Flower Show. Even with the crowds, she was enjoying the beauty.

“It’s nice to see so many people caring about art, and I do think this is art,” she said.

Arthur did go to the outdoor show and enjoyed it, but she said she was finding herself preferring the new show.

“I honestly find this so exciting,” she said. “The sense of electricity.”