Monday, March 2, 2009

Bella Italia Dazzles!

When you enter the Philadelphia Flower Show this year you will instantly be greeted with the sights, sounds and scents of Italy.
A huge piazza welcomes visitors and at the top of a grand entranceway leading to elaborate formal gardens opera singers and string quartets entertain with the music or Bella Italia.
It is a glorious experience, especially amidst all the frigid weather, snow and ice that we're having up and down the east coast in what is one of our coldest winters in decades (so much for global warming!).
The show divides Italy's treasures into seven main regions: Rome (the dramatic gateway), Venice, the Italian Riviera, Milan, Tuscany, Florence and the Lake Region. Each region surrounds the grand promenade presented by J. Cugliotta Landscapes and Valley Forge Flowers.
Beyond the big exhibits nearly all of the other presentations carry an Italian-inspired theme as well.
Make sure you are at the show for the live musical entertainment (presented several times throughout the day) and don't miss the Tuscan Garden, floral fashions from Milan, the soaring palms trees of the Italian Riviera and the smaller exhibitions of arbors, front porches, balconies and back yards (including an Italian-inspired South Philly garden).
We were lucky enough to be present for the opening of what is the world's largest flower show (presented by the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society) and we can report that the Society has chosen a theme and presented a show that is designed to please everyone who loves the feast-for-the-senses that we call Bella Italia!
The show runs through Sunday, March 8 at the Pennsylvania Convention Center.
Hurry on over and get ready to proclaim: "Bravo!"
BTW: A special "Thank you" to the good folks at PNC Bank for their support of the Flower Show and their kind welcome to us this year.

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