So. Monday night I volunteered for the Philadelphia Flower Show. I took a half-day off work, made my way up to 12th street from 6th, turned right and walked down to Arch. I stepped inside, looked around, got on the �up� escalator and walked straight ahead to the ticket gate. There was barely a line. The older woman smiled as she took my ticket and told me to have a good time. The hall I walked through, to get to the other end of the expo center reminded me of a school gymnasium but designed like a science museum. There were these large, gnarly tubes wrapping around themselves in shiny metallic colors � blue, silver, green, red and I thing black. I liked the hall right away. It was huge and calm and very quiet. There were two staircases on each side of the back wall with little split-level of just chairs and tables. I almost walked up stairs to sit down and relax, but I was meeting my Mom inside the expo center. I continued past and made my way to the main entrance of the exhibit.
I didn�t see my Mom at first, so I walked behind a curtain to the right where the volunteers could hang their jackets and unloaded all my crap. I met up with my Mom and she was just beaming. She just turned 50 in December and she looks about 35. People think we�re sisters or cousins. Seriously. Mom goes on and on about the flowers and how many pictures she�s taken so far and we walk inside.
I expected the flower show to look like one huge flowering float right out of the Macy�s Thanksgiving Day parade, but it was tasteful, real and powerful. The first thing we saw were the original gates from the White House during the early 1800s til about 1928. What�s really funny about The Gates is that the Horticultural Society of Pennsylvania owned them since they were taken down and replaced at the White House. They had no idea where they came from. One of the members of the society happens to also be a White House historian and when he saw the gates he thought they looked familiar. He took pictures and measurements, did some research and found out he was right. Taa daa! There you have the story of the gates�
Back to the show�
I decided I was going to find out what my favorite flower was. I think most gals know what flower is their favorite, but I never did. I remember Rachel likes wild flowers and Danielle likes sunflowers and Laura likes tulips� I didn�t have a favorite. I liked pretty much everything equally � even dandelions. Okay, I�ll admit it. ESPECIALLY dandelions. But they aren�t a flower and you can�t buy them at a florist.
I totally found it.
My favorite flower was the first one I saw. It was like magic. Its name is Cattleya Intermedia, an orchid, and �she�s� stunning in person. Or you can see a picture here:
http://home.arcor.de/wolfgang.assmus/links.htm
Scroll down and click the word: Cattleya intermedia var.vinicolor
*sigh
Inn�it perty??
Anyway, I remember walking around looking at all these beautiful exhibits, wondering if any other flower will out-wow the Cattleya (pronounced cat�-lee-uh), but never found it�s equal, let alone its superior.
I think I finally found something to hobby myself with. I really enjoyed learning how to pot an orchid and how to kill the larvae that grow up and become Japanese beetles� it was fun!
I started my volunteer shift later that day at 6pm and enjoyed it so much, I asked to work another shift.
I mean, even the people that attend these shows are great. The ladies are classic and beautiful and the men are pleasant and charming. After walking around for hours inside the show, they were smiling and laughing with each other. That really stuck with me.
Flowers make people happy.
2:12 PM - Friday, Mar. 11, 2005
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