Five things not to miss at the Flower Show

'Oh, my God, they're those stinky plants! It smells like dead flesh," Maureen Green of Bustleton exclaimed, backing away from a row of crimson amorphophallus specimens in the Hamilton Horticourt. "Every year, I forget."

So began another year of the springtime ritual that is the PHS Philadelphia Flower Show, running from Saturday through March 13 and sprawling over nearly 600,000 square feet of the Convention Center. This year's show, themed "Explore America" in honor of the National Park Service's centennial, has plenty to interest serious horticulture fans and the merely curious. (And, if not, it has booze, including a beer garden, a Stella Artois beer trailer, and a wine-sampling station.)

Here are five things you won't want to miss amid the crowds:

There's a lot to look at in the central display, inspired by a park lodge and adorned with floral chandeliers and totem poles, flower beds, a waterfall, rather-steampunk-like sculptures of a bear and a bison, and screens that will show video from national parks. But take time to examine the intricate mosaic animal images adorning the lintels, all handmade from seed pods and dried flowers by Pennsylvania Horticultural Society volunteers.

A first-time presence at the Flower Show is the Japan Flowers and Plants Export Association. Its plant sculpture, titled "The Breeze of Spring," is a burst of curled and bent bamboo and clouds of bleached, dyed ferns that look like pink and yellow feathers.

In Stoney Bank Nurseries' Yellowstone exhibit, visitors can climb onto a walkway between a steaming representation of the park's rainbow-colored mineral hot spring and a forest regenerating after a wildfire. Plenty stopped to admire a coyote and a fox, each made from branches of evergreens bundled together to look convincingly like fur. It would have been kitschy if it weren't so well done.

Either bring your bikini or try to restrain yourself from climbing into Mark Cook's homage to Cape Cod National Seashore: an inviting deck amid lush spring blooms situated next to a water garden with vibrant pitcher plants. "I just want to lounge there," said Michelle King of Califon, N.J., snapping photos. Behind an iron fence from the alluring manicured garden are sand dunes; look at the fence from just the right angle, and an image of ocean and sky appears.

In front of large images of Ansel Adams' national-park landscapes, Schaffer Designs invokes nature in shades of white. Don't miss its rendition of Yosemite's Vernal Fall, a cascade of snow-white dendrobium orchid blooms.

Early reviews from a members'-only preview were mostly ecstatic. "I think it's remarkable how they integrated the concept of park and flower show," said Lynne Kosobucki of Keyport, N.J. "It's not just the plants, but how creative and informative the displays have been."

Though there were some who thought the result was a lot of green and brown. "Not enough flowers for us," said Sandy Katz of Center City. Elaine Muntzer of Warminster agreed, saying, "It's interesting, but not beautiful."

Green, recovered from her encounter with amorphophallus, was satisfied with her experience.

"The national park theme is one of the most inspired themes I've ever seen," she said. "I have to think a lot of these parks are going to see a lot more visitors after this."

smelamed@phillynews.com

215-854-5053@samanthamelamed

Philadelphia Flower Show

Where: Convention Center, 1101 Arch St.

Hours: Saturday, 11 a.m.-9 p.m.; Sunday, 8 a.m.-9 p.m.; Monday through Friday, 10 a.m.-9 p.m.; next Saturday, 8 a.m.-9 p.m.; March 13, 8 a.m.-6 p.m.

Admission: Box office - $34 for adults; $22 for students (ages 17-24); $17 for children (ages 2-16). Tickets online Saturday at www.theflower show.com - $27 adults; $20 students; $15 children.

Information: 215-988-8800 and www.theflowershow.com.