Tag Archives: Flowers

Community Gardens Day

Community Gardens DayPhoto by Jeff Stroud, Nature Spirit Photography

WHEN:     SATURDAY, JUNE 21, 10 A.M. TO 3 P.M.

WHERE:   BEL ARBOR COMMUNITY GARDEN,  10th & Kimball Sts., South Philadelphia

WHAT:   The newly revitalized Neighborhood Gardens Trust is kicking off the summer season with the first citywide Community Gardens Day! Participating gardens of NGT and the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society, as well as others throughout Philadelphia, will celebrate with a variety of family-friendly activities. Gardeners and garden lovers of all ages can join in garden tours, hands-on garden workdays, arts and crafts projects, and opportunities to enjoy the city’s beautiful community gardens and learn more about gardening. A perfect way to celebrate the first day of summer!

The event at Bel Arbor will launch the festivities with noted guests and the reading of a Mayoral Proclamation announcing Philadelphia’s inaugural Community Gardens Day.   Check www.ngtrust.org for the up-to-date map of the 30 participating gardens, many of which are protected from development by NGT, whose mission is to acquire and preserve community gardens and shared open space in order to enhance the quality of life in Philadelphia neighborhoods. With 42 million Americans growing their own food in home and community gardens, residents and visitors to Philadelphia can experience how community gardens enhance the quality of life in their neighborhoods, provide healthy food for everyone, and help the environment.

WHO:

  • Margaret McCarvill, Board President, Neighborhood Gardens Trust
  • Mark Focht, First Deputy Commissioner, Philadelphia Parks & Recreation
  • Drew Becher, President, Pennsylvania Horticultural Society
  • Councilman Mark Squilla, First District
  • Carla Puppin, NGT Board Member, Bel Arbor Garden Representative & Co-Founder

Additional Photo and Video Ops:    Visit the Strawberry Mansion Green Resource Center for a workshop on composting.  (link to: http://ngtrust.org/index.php/2014/01/18/strawberry-mansion-grc/)

The Strawberry Mansion Green Resource Center is located on Ridge Avenue at Natrona Street. The lots that make up the site are leased from the Philadelphia Redevelopment Authority and contain 31 community beds and 15 beds for students at the Strawberry Mansion High School across the street. The site acts as a Green Resource Center for the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society, one of five spaces that support neighbors and other urban farmers in growing fresh, healthy food and creating a more beautiful city landscape.

Drop by the Spooky Gardens (http://ngtrust.org/index.php/2014/01/18/spooky-garden/) to check out the “community backyard” and complete an arts & crafts activity.

The Spooky Garden, located on two lots that stretch from North Fourth Street to North Leithgow Street, between George Street and Girard Avenue, acts as a “community backyard” for the nearby residents. Like many city gardens, the lots that compose the Spooky Garden were a former dumping ground that the surrounding neighbors cleaned up more than 20 years ago. The yard hosts community vegetable, herb & flower gardens, trees (including a magnificent elm that is estimated to be over 75 years old), shrubs, a community composter, sitting areas and a small open lawn.

The 2,000-square-foot space has seven distinct mixed-use growing plots, and currently serves 11 member households (18 adults and eight children). While some members follow a traditional community garden approach, focusing on growing vegetables, herb and flowers, others use the yard primarily as a gathering space to socialize with and get to know their neighbors, and some see it as a safe place for their young children to play and learn about nature. This wide range of uses makes the Spooky Garden unique among community gardens in the city and enables it to meet the needs of a diverse group of neighbors.

Since the clean-up years ago, neighbors tried all avenues available to preserve these lots as open community green space. When the lots were listed as “For Sale By Owner” in a craigslist auction in January 2011 without any posting or notice to adjacent neighbors, a powerful wave of community support and network news coverage got the attention of Councilman Darrell Clarke. After visiting the garden and meeting with neighbors, Clarke expressed his approval of and support for the community’s efforts by removing the properties from the auction block and securing the current license agreement between the city and NGT.

The name Spooky Garden is inspired by the garden’s annual Halloween celebration, which attracts hundreds of Philadelphians from across the city.

Help finish a mosaic art project at Hicks Street Garden (http://ngtrust.org/index.php/2014/01/18/hicks-street-garden/).

Hicks Street Garden is located on South Hicks Street between Moore and Mifflin. The garden was founded and preserved in 2007. More than 20 gardeners, including young children, cultivate primarily ornamental plants in this single-lot garden. The lot is located on a small street in South Philadelphia where increasing development pressure has created demand for open space. The garden provides an opportunity to restore the quality of life for residents and make the entire neighborhood safer. In addition to planting, the gardeners have been developing a wall mural engaging children and families as it evolves to completion.

Hear the AMLA Youth Latin Jazz Ensemble performing at 11 AM at the NET Garden at 4404 N. 5th Street as part of Make Music Philly,  AND MUCH MORE!! 

Through its ongoing programs and special projects, AMLA promotes the development, dissemination, and understanding of Latin music in the Philadelphia area and beyond.

AMLA’s programs are directed mainly to Latino youth, families, and community members, but are open to all students, families, musicians, dancers, and aficionados of Latin American music and culture. By teaching and inspiring love for and disciplined knowledge of Latin music and dance, AMLA helps build bridges between frequently divided racial and ethnic communities. AMLA, like its partner organization Esperanza, believes that strong engagement in culture strengthens community.

Community Gardens Day is made possible through the generosity of its sponsors: Chanticleer, Mostardi Nursery, Whole Foods Market-South Street, Urban Jungle, and Valley Green Bank.

Gardens

The Neighborhood Gardens Trust acquires and preserves community gardens and shared open space in order to enhance the quality of life in Philadelphia neighborhoods. Over the past two years, NGT has re-examined its mission and gone through an organizational renaissance that has led to new vision for the future. Now, with a new board of directors and a recently completed strategic business plan in place, NGT seeks to re-introduce itself to the Philadelphia region and establish itself as the city’s leading non-profit community land trust.

Media contacts: Alan Jaffe, PHS, 215.988.8833, (m) 267.968.0859ajaffe@pennhort.org or Nina Zucker Assoc at 610.457.4387 or nzapr@aol.com.

Photo by Jeff StroudNature Spirit Photography

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ARTiculture

ARTiculture, Philadelphia Flower Show

2014 PHS Philadelphia Flower Show, Explores the Fusion of Art and Horticulture. Great museums collaborate with floral and garden designers for “ARTiculture

PHILADELPHIA – Beautiful flowers, gardens and landscapes have always been an inspiration for artists, while great horticultural design has become a form of living art.

The fusion of art and horticulture will be celebrated in “ARTiculture,” an extraordinary presentation of the 2014 PHS Philadelphia Flower Show on March 1 to 9, 2014, when guests will be inspired to let their inner-artist bloom in their own gardens.

An unprecedented collaboration of Flower Show designers and the nation’s great art museums will turn the exhibition space of the Pennsylvania Convention Center into a 10-acre living canvas of exquisite landscapes, gardens and floral arrangements.

ARTiculture, Philadelphia Flower ShowJ. Downend Landscaping

Pennsylvania Horticultural Society also will announce the hot new flowers, plants, products and design ideas for Spring 2014 at the Flower Show to serve as a consumer’s guide to creating fantastic home gardens.

The entrance garden of “ARTiculture” will be inspired by the paintings and dynamic sculptures of Alexander “Sandy” Calder, a member of the historic family of artists whose works are found throughout Philadelphia, and will feature a remarkable vertical dance troupe who will perform above and within the multi-dimensional display.

Marsden Hartley, Flower Abstraction

Marsden Hartley, Flower Abstraction

The Pennsylvania Horticultural Society will partner with internationally renowned art museums, organizations and institutions for the exhibits in “ARTiculture.” Participants include the J. Paul Getty Museum (Los Angeles), the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum (New York City), the Smithsonian Institution’s National Portrait Gallery (Washington, D.C.), the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Barnes Foundation (Philadelphia), the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (Philadelphia), the University of Pennsylvania Museum (Philadelphia), the Brandywine River Museum (Chadds Ford, Pa.), the Brooklyn Museum (Brooklyn, N.Y.), the Noguchi Museum (Long Island City, N.Y.), Storm King Art Center (Hudson Valley, N.Y.), Grounds for Sculpture (Hamilton, N.J.), the North Carolina Museum of Art (Raleigh, N.C.), Fresh Artists (Philadelphia), the Wayne Art Center (Wayne, Pa.), and the Woodmere Art Museum (Philadelphia).

The region’s great garden clubs will be paired with area art schools – the University of the Arts, Philadelphia University, Moore College of Art, and Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts – to compete in the show’s Artistic Classes.

Marsden Hartley, Flower Abstraction

Special exhibitions at the show will include a selection of the Andy Warhol “Flowers” Series from the Bank of America Collection; selections from the West Collection, of Oaks, Pa.; and works by sculptor Steve Tobin, of Bucks County, Pa.

International exhibitors in the 2014 show will include British garden designer Andy Sturgeon and Provence-based garden designer James Basson, whose exhibit will be inspired by a painting from the Collection of the Prince’s Palace Monaco.

An interactive exhibit designed by the Crayola Experience will give show visitors the opportunity to express themselves in the Convention Center’s Grand Hall. Visitors also will show their artistic side in an expanded “Make & Take Room,” where they can create a variety of craft and garden projects. The family attractions at the show will include the Butterfly Experience, where visitors will interact with 20 species of exotic and domestic butterflies, and the Camden Children’s Garden.

Let yourself bloom at the interactive, collaborative 2014 PHS Philadelphia Flower Show, and leave equipped to practice “ARTiculture” in your own home and garden.

Zoe Walker, Neil Bromwich, Siege Weapons of Love, Tank 1, 2007Zoe Walker and Neil Bromwich, Siege Weapons of Love, Tank 1, 2007, The West Collection

ABOUT THE FLOWER SHOW

The 2014 PHS Philadelphia Flower Show is the nation’s largest flower show, which blooms every March at the Pennsylvania Convention Center. The show features the world’s premier landscape designers and florists, who turn 10 acres of the Convention Center into a floral fantasy of beautiful plants and cutting-edge designs.

In addition to the major garden displays, the Flower Show hosts world-renowned competitions in horticulture and artistic floral arranging, gardening presentations and demonstrations, special events, a mammoth indoor Marketplace, and a Flower Show Week celebration throughout the Philadelphia region.

The Premier Sponsor of the 2014 PHS Philadelphia Flower Show is Subaru, and the Exclusive Sponsor is Bank of America.

Official Sponsors are ACME, Bartlett Tree Experts, Einstein Healthcare Network, EP Henry, Green Mountain Energy, Organic Gardening, Parx Casino, and Tourism Ireland. Supporting Sponsor is Celebrity Cruises. Contributing Sponsors are LeafFilter Gutter Protection, Mid-Atlantic Waterproofing, and QVC. Promotional Partners are Apple Vacations, Collette Vacations, Cruise Planners, Gold Key Resorts, Greater Philadelphia Falun Dafa Association, Mid-Atlantic Center for Arts & Humanities, On the Avenue Marketing, and Power Home Remodeling. Garden Tea Sponsor is Stash Tea. Preview Party Sponsor is U.S. Trust, Bank of America Private Wealth Management. Media Partners are WPVI-TV 6abc and CBS Radio.

Proceeds from the Flower Show benefit the year-round programs of PHS, which is celebrating its 186th year of gardening, greening and learning. PHS initiatives include the PHS City Harvest program, which creates green jobs and supports a network of community gardens that raise fresh produce for more than 1,200 families in need each week during the growing season.

For more information, please visit www.theflowershow.com and follow us on Facebook and Twitter @PhilaFlowerShow.

ARTiculture, 2014 Philadelphia Flower ShowARTiculture2014 PHS Philadelphia Flower Show

ABOUT The Pennsylvania Horticultural Society

The Pennsylvania Horticultural Society is a nonprofit organization, founded in 1827, dedicated to creating beauty and building community through gardening, greening and learning. With more than 25,000 member-households throughout the world, PHS offers programs and events for gardeners of all levels, and works with volunteers, organizations, agencies and businesses to create and maintain vibrant green spaces. Proceeds from the PHS Philadelphia Flower Show and donations from foundations, corporations, government and individuals support PHS programs, including Plant One Million and PHS City Harvest. For information, visit PHSonline.org.

ARTiculture, 2014 Philadelphia Flower ShowVincent Van Goat

MEDIA CONTACT: Alan Jaffe, PHS Director of Communications, 215-988-8833, (m) 267-968-0859, ajaffe@pennhort.org

Photographs by DoN Brewer

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