Hi GPODers!

I’m back with more photos from the 2025 Philadelphia Flower Show. Last week I showcased a Best in Show winner (and one of my favorite displays), a lively scene of fantastical floral wildlife created by Jennifer Designs in Mullica Hill, New Jersey. If you missed that post, be sure to check it out here: Welcoming Wildlife Home. 

Today I’m looking at a couple of exhibits that sit on the opposite end of the gardening spectrum, swapping the kaleidoscopic arrangement of colorful blooms and blossoms for the interesting shapes and forms of trees, shrubs, grasses, and lush foliage. First up is a creation by Laurel-Brook Gardens in Belleville, Pennsylvania aptly named, Roots. Also winning several awards at the show (including a Pennsylvania Horticultural Society Gold Metal, Anne Vallery Award, and PHS Council Trophy), this exhibit sought to give attention to the parts of plants we can so easily forget.

The description for the out-of-this-world display said: “Shrouded in mystery because we usually can’t see them, roots are key to a plant’s life systems and serve as the anchors that hold and support them. Explore the following topics to learn more about roots, soil health, and the web of life that roots weave beneath us.”

Most of the exhibit highlighted bare branches (and, of course, those fabulous roots), but some pockets of lush foliage and bright flowers were scattered throughout that created an incredible contrast. The scene also celebrated early spring, with daffodils, hellebores, and evergreen foliage.

I thought the choice of plants was a great reflection of the diverse patterns and shapes created by roots. It truly seemed that no two plants were too similar, and that each was selected to bring a unique element to the design. It all came together to create a textural wonderland that didn’t require lots of color for interest.

While there were plenty of fabulous plants and vignettes, it was absolutely the “floating” root balls that stole the show.

The next exhibit, Tomorrow’s Eden – Gardens for a Changing World, was a collaboration between Ishihara Kazuyuki Design Lab from Japan and TREELiNE DESiGNZ based in Portland, Oregon. This exhibit also won several awards (including the PHS Gold Medal, Pennsylvania Landscape and Nursery Association Trophy, and the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) Choice Award) and continues some of the same themes and concepts epitomized in the Roots exhibit.

As Roots wanted viewers to explore the hidden world of roots and the web of life they create beneath us, Tomorrow’s Eden – Gardens for a Changing World asks us to celebrate the adaptability of plants and emphasizes humanity’s responsibility to preserve nature’s delicate balance.

The display was an immersive scene with all kinds of levels created from waterfalls and platforms on top of these giant root balls. The landscape was very naturalistic, but in a fantastical way. My mind instantly transported me to Middle-earth as I envisioned a scene from Lord of the Rings playing out amongst the bubbling pools and mounds of moss.

I appreciated that both exhibits highlighted the importance of thinking below the surface when tending our landscapes. It was a beautiful reminder of the power our soil has, and that the health of our plants and planet is dependent on us nurturing the ground.

I hope you all enjoyed these woody displays and looking at plants from a different perspective. Even just imagining the wild web of roots growing beneath the surface of our gardens can give you a whole new appreciation for the plants that we grow and ecosystems we create.

I also hope this encourages you to go outside and look at the simple landscape of early spring in a whole new light! Some of us are still waiting for color to emerge from our beds, but that shouldn’t stop us from admiring the the hardy plant “bones” that survived winter and allow our gardens to continue. If you get outside to take some pictures of your still-emerging spring gardens, consider sharing those photos with the blog. Follow the directions below to submit photos via email, or send me a DM on Instagram: @agirlherdogandtheroad.

 

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