Like the song says, all you need is music, sweet music, and they'll be dancing everywhere.
And Philadelphia, PA., is leading the way. This year's flower show theme is "Jazz It Up" and, with loads of live music wafting through the air, some folks are taking the phrase literally.
"People are dancing through the aisles," says Alan Jaffe, of the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society, which produces the show, theflowershow.com. "The music is infectious and people seem to be having a fantastic time."
I didn't actually see anyone boogie amid the blooms, but there's definitely a great energy to the show – maybe it's because so many people attend (about 250,000) and it's such a treat for the senses to see flowers, smell so many delightful fragrances and hear live jazz. And there's no shortage of snacks on hand!
A master gardener from the Chesapeake Bay area of Maryland, Kathy S., persuaded her friend to make the trip by saying: "It'll put some spring in our steps."
And a speaker at the flower show, author Barbara Freeman, who came in from chilly Maine, put it this way: "All I had to do was walk out of my hotel this morning and I was in spring." (In a future post, I'll have more on her book, "The Spare Time Gardener.")
Of course, jazzing it up is also a metaphor. Organizers hope attendees will be inspired to think more creatively about their gardens at home, even if it's a small space like a patio, and to view gardening as a means of self-expression.
"I always thought there could be a great connection between plants and music," says Sam Lemheney, design director of the flower show. "It's about taking something and adding personal influences and turning it into a new art."
There's also an element of drama to the show, according to exhibitor John Cullen. "I think people have come for something that's theatrical," says the proprietor of Celtic Gardens in Dexter, Mich., celticgardenimports.com, whose firm designed and staged the exhibit for Tourism Ireland, discoverireland.com.
The drama, he says, comes from the surprise of seeing lush, fully bloomed plants in late winter. "There's a quote about a stained glass window – from the outside it's dull and lifeless, without shape. But, simply upon entering, the full splendor is revealed. ... When people come inside the flower show, the full splendor of a plant is revealed."
Don't worry if you're not an artist, though. Lemheney notes that the show aims to give people practical applications: "After this year's flower show, you can go home brimming with ideas and do something different in your garden."
That's the draw for Rob and Tina Kraybill of Hershey, PA. "We're interested in finding new things, new varieties – seeing new plants we're not aware of," says Rob Kraybill.
In their case, the newbie list probably isn't that long – the couple has been gardening for about 30 years and currently tend 16 flower beds, plus herbs and veggies.
For Lois St. Pierre of Los Angeles, whose trip to Philly coincided with a visit to her sister in New Jersey, the show brought back memories of attending the event 20 years ago. "It's everything I remember," she says, "with more people!"
I'll be posting pictures from the show next week. If you attended, drop me a line and tell me what you thought.