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Yesterday’s Flower Show
 A
Quick Trip Into Philadelphia’s Flower Show History
While peering into the future in this new millennium,
we cannot help but be aware of our history. James Boyd, president
of the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society from 1918 to 1929, said
in the preface to the book PHS History 1827-1927, “A people
who care nothing for the record of their past achievements are not
likely to achieve much worth recording for the future.”
In light of PHS’s current achievements—the
ever-popular Philadelphia Flower Show, Philadelphia Green, our acclaimed
McLean Library, and Green Scene magazine—a brief look
through the pages of history reaffirms PHS’ role in bringing
greater recognition to horticulture and the support of community
endeavors. It is because of this 175-year tradition that we now
look back upon the early years of the glorious Philadelphia Flower
Show with both pride and fondness.
The 1829 Show
Less than two years after the founding of the Pennsylvania Horticultural
Society in 1827, the organization produced its first Flower Show.
It took place on June 6th at the Masonic Hall on Chestnut Street,
where it stayed until 1841. With Zaccheus Collins as its president,
the Society’s first public exhibit featured fruits, vegetables,
flowers, and other plants. By awarding prizes to plant specimens
of horticultural excellence, the Show attracted a diverse array
of plants. It was noted in the minutes that the “Brilliant
exhibition owes its merit to the individual patronage and contributions
of gentlemen amateurs and professional cultivators.” (The latter
designation included working gardeners and those engaged in plant
commerce.) Although it wasn’t until 1835 that women were made
members, as history clearly bears out, they would become very prominent
exhibitors at the Show.
The plants shown at the first Flower Show included:
Aster muscosa, which “...diffused a musky scent as powerful
as that imparted by any animal from Tonquin or Thibet”; Magnolia
macrophylla “with its flowers four feet in circumference”;
peonies described as “Paeonias from China, rare and of delightful
fragrance”; and “Testudinaria elephantipes, or Hottentot
bread, supposed to be upwards of 100-years old.” (This latter
plant—actually a woody climbing perennial from South Africa—is
now known as Dioscorea elephantipes and is also commonly called
“Elephant’s foot.”) Other plants and trees presented
were pelargoniums, carnations, lilies, double-white pomegranate,
“The Coffee Tree of Arabia,” and sago palm. Clearly, the
Philadelphia gardeners of that era were highly sophisticated and
had access to an interesting array of specimens.
The Poinsettia
One of the very earliest contributions of the Society has actually
never received its proper due. The ubiquitous symbol of the Christmas
holiday season, the poinsettia (Euphorbia pulcherrima) was
exhibited for the first time at the Philadelphia Flower Show in
June 1829. In the minutes, it was written, “The new Euphorbia,
with bright scarlet bracteas, or floral leaves, [was] presented
to the Bartram Collection by Mr. Poinsett, United States Minister
to Mexico.” Bartram’s nursery in Philadelphia was then
under the care of Robert Carr—a PHS member and exhibitor at
the plant at the first Show—who was married to John Bartram’s
granddaughter, Ann.
In the Curtis’s Botanical Magazine
of 1836 (Volume 10), it was noted that Mr. Poinsett had the plant
shipped to him in Charleston, South Carolina, and some were later sold to Robert
Buist, owner of a noted seed-catalog business in Philadelphia and
a very active member of PHS. It was Buist who introduced the plant
to the trade and “his sale of the double form [of poinsettia]
is said to have been the first transaction of the kind accomplished
by ocean telegraph.” A native of Scotland, Buist originally
trained at the Edinburgh Botanic Garden. In 1834, sent the poinsettia
to the famous Scottish garden, thereby introducing this Christmas
favorite to Europe. And just think, it all started at the Philadelphia
Flower Show.
The Next 60 Years
The following decades featured a large number of domestic and international
plant introductions at the Show. As early as 1842, members Caleb
Cope (PHS president from 1841-51) and George Pepper were enthusiastic
collectors of exotic orchids, while John B. Smith and Richard Fetters
were cacti enthusiasts. Gerhard Schmitz, meanwhile, was considered
the leading dahlia grower. A sampling of the plants brought for
exhibition throughout the years indicates the vitality and strong
interest in horticulture. Such plants included ardisias, euphorbias,
hibiscus, aristolochias, abutilons, aloes, achimenes, bouvardias,
ericas, jasminums, plumbagos, azaleas, and calceolarias.
The library, set up in 1833, flourished in spite
of setbacks, including fires. Until the Civil War, the Society prospered,
but following the conflict there was a lull in the activities of
the organization. After 1871, however, there appeared to be a rejuvenation
when the commercial elements of the organization began to be more
active. That, combined with the Society’s participation in
the Centennial Exposition of 1876 held in Fairmount Park, appeared
to provide the right stimulus. Membership soon leveled off at about
800 until the year 1900, when it rose to 1,344 and the library had
increased its shelf space to accommodate 2,300 volumes.
Into the 20th Century
The Exhibition of 1900 was held in Horticultural Hall from November
13-17. Exhibits included chysanthemums, palms, ferns, dracaenas,
maranthas, begonias, cyclamens, geraniums, and anemones, while a
gold medal went to Mrs. George B. Wilson for her corner display
of “George Washington sago palm, foliage plants, and orchids.”
The Philadelphia Flower Show of March 1926—held in cooperation
with the Florist’s Club at the Commercial Museum—had a
paid attendance of 45,000 at 50¢ per admission. The previous year,
the Show had drawn 80,000 visitors, though no admission fee had
been charged on that occasion.
In May 1927, PHS undertook another major event
when it hosted the American Orchid Society’s 2nd national exhibition
at Memorial Hall in Fairmount Park. The attendance was extraordinary,
approaching a staggering 110,000 visitors. PHS had gone all out
to help make the event a success and it was pronounced the most
beautiful show ever produced in this country. Other large events
that year included the June show of roses, peonies, and other spring
flowers (16,800 visitors), the Dahlia show (26,720 visitors), and
the Hardy Chrysanthemum show.
Three years earlier, in 1924, the Philadelphia
Flower Show, Inc. (PFS)—a not-for-profit corporation of horticulturists
including W. Atlee Burpee, J. Liddon Pennock Sr., Fred Mitchell,
and Alfred Campbell—was set up and ran the Show for 40 years.
In 1965, PFS decided against putting on the Spring Flower Show,
as it was then known, due to renovation of the Philadelphia Civic
Center. Sensing an opportunity, the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society—under
the guidance of Executive Director president, Ernesta Ballard—re-launched
the Show under its own auspices. The organization eventually gathered
enough experience and courage to bid against Philadelphia Flower
Show, Inc. for the right to put on the Show, finally winning the
city’s approval and beginning full management of the Show in
1968. In one fell swoop, the Philadelphia Flower Show had been put
on the path to its present-day glory. But that, of course, is a
story for another day. —Wilbur Zimmerman
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