PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — The 2025 Philadelphia Flower Show, presented by the Pennsylvania Horticulture Society, opened to the public on Saturday at the Pennsylvania Convention Center.
“I love it,” said Barbara Yiengest of Lansdowne. Her daughter, Gillian Neff of South Philly, treated her to a Pennsylvania Horticulture Society membership, including tickets to the 196th Flower Show, as an early Mother’s Day gift.
This year’s “Gardens of Tomorrow” offers a hopeful look toward a sustainable future full of growth, beauty and vitality. As PHS members, Yiengest and Neff had access to a special preview on Friday, which is typically far less crowded than the rest of the week.
Yiengest and Neff said their favorite display features a waterfall, a pond with rolling fog, moss and other vegetation and trees.
“So far this is my favorite,” Neff said. “There is such a subtle use of colors and structures. It’s very Asian influenced.”
But the concept wasn’t really growing on Yana Tamba of Delaware.
“The moss set up — I was just like: ‘Wait. What’s going on?’ I’m not a moss kind of girl,” said Tamba, who added her favorite flowers are orchids and peonies.
Organizers say the beauty of the Gardens of Tomorrow show is there's something for everyone.
“The Flower Show is everything from wowing and dazzling you down to really obtainable stuff you can take home. And then also the world’s largest specimen plant competition. So we have thousands of plants on display — succulents, orchids, you name it — just a dazzling array for you to learn from,” said Matt Rader, president of PHS.
Most people, like couple Joshua Herard and Eleanor Koepke-Heisler, who visited Saturday, say the aroma is the best part of walking in.
“Through half of it right now, but right now I'm loving the natural smells — like the smells are really getting me,” said Koepke-Heisler.
“Yeah, it's very scenic. It's very beautiful. Everywhere you look, it's like something new, and it's really just breathtaking,” Herard said. “Like, it really just takes your words away from you.”
One of the most talked-about features of this year’s show are the flower crowns for sale, which Mo and Willlow bought.
Mo said her favorite exhibit was a mock-up of a floral house. “It kind of looked like a little house and it had like this big dinner table with this big arrangement above it. And all the different dinner guests were like a butterfly, a squirrel, a frog — and they were all made out of flowers and plants.”
Friends Eden, Anri, and Brooke were dressed in costumes as Nintendo characters Princess Peach, Rosalina and Princess Daisy, respectively. Brooke says they just like to dress up and go to conventions to stand out.
“All of the flowers are just amazing to look at, and we're just making so many fun memories together, taking beautiful photos of the flowers,” she said.
Janae Bell, who came up from North Carolina, says her favorite exhibits were the ones from high school students: “I was honestly really inspired by their creativity and dedication to everything.”
Fiona McCoy, owner of Intuitive Crystal Healing, said she has been coming since she was a kid, and it’s surreal to be a vendor at the Flower Show now.
“I always loved the Flower Show as a kid, and just being here just made me feel so good. I felt like I was supposed to be here. Everything about my brand is supposed to be here. And plus l'm here for my girls,” she said.
“The vibe has been very exciting. It feels so surreal to me that I'm actually here and that I'm actually witnessing people gag over my art. As a creative and as an artist, it's like the best feeling ever.”
More information on the Gardens of Tomorrow show can be found at phsonline.org/the-flower-show.
Correction: A previous version of this article misspelled Bell's first name. The current story reflects that change.