The Flower Show

Spring is right around the corner, and you know what that means: It's time for the Philadelphia Flower Show (March 6 through 13, 2005). The Early Show's Melinda Murphy went to "smell the roses." Her recommendation: Bring your walking shoes and a coat. They keep it cold, and it's 10 acres all told.

Some designers even painted with flowers, offering floral renditions of works by famous American artists.

They pick their own artist, and then they interpret them through floral components. It isn't hard to indentify the display that was inspired by the work of Andy Warhol.

The theme of this year's show is "American the Beautiful," and Murphy reports that you really do get a sense of the whole country inside the Philadelphia Convention Center.

Says Jane Pepper, president of the Pennsylvania Horticulture Society, "If you think about America and you think about the diversity of landscapes, the diversity of gardens, that's what we wanted to bring to our flower show visitor."

This is a ponytail palm named Sally, raised by a group of co-workers in a Social Security office for 20 years.

The show draws about 265,000 visitors every year.

Here is a floral interpreation of the famous Tiffany windows.

Phyllis Weisman, a tour guide at the show, says, the show is "really designed for the home gardener to get excited and to be able to actually extract real ideas and take them home."

Some of the eye-popping professional panoramas at the show take a year's worth of planning.

Says tour guide Weisman, "Everything you see has been forced. It means it doesn't grow in its correct season. It has been made to produce at a different time."

Philadelphia Flower show is the biggest indoor flower show in the world. It's a mix of professional displays and amateur competitions.

The show seeks to inspire visitors with great gardens and landscapes, as well as thousands of plants and floral designs.

Proceeds from the show go to the not-for-profit efforts of the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society, including its acclaimed greening program, Philadelphia Green.

Also available at the event is a Flower Show Marketplace. More than 140 vendors from all over the world gather at the Show each March to sell their gardening wares.

More than 500 free educational programs for show guests, from beginners to experts, are conducted during show week.

The Early Show's Melinda Murphy had a little chat with Sam Lemheney, the show designer. To see her report on the Philadelphia Flower Show,

click here

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