Into swing of spring
Lilting music, high-energy dances, and flowers. Lots and lots of flowers.
Ger Reidy had a word for those closing up the Philadelphia Flower Show next Sunday.
"Leftovers will be gratefully received," she said with a laugh, so she might mail plantings back to her home in the Dublin suburb of Castleknock.
Yesterday, Reidy was working hard enough to deserve them.
She was the lead dancer in an energetic 14-member Irish troupe whose music and dance dominated the Flower Show at the afternoon preview for members of its producer, the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society.
Titled "Legends of Ireland," the show opens to the general public today and continues through next Sunday at the Pennsylvania Convention Center, 12th and Arch Streets in Center City.
Leaning against the main stage during a break from the troupe's hourly performances, Reidy sketched an exhausting double-edged life.
After college she toured for two years with the Irish company Riverdance.
Now a primary-school teacher in Dublin, she tours during summer vacations with one of three troupes of the dance company Ragus.
And because the school promotes Irish culture, she is on a three-week leave, with Ragus' eight other dancers and five musicians.
It gets better.
"This troupe goes from here to South Africa, Cape Town," said manager Ronan Brennan, 29. "That's where we'll be for the St. Patrick's week."
The Horticultural Society is spending $5 million to earn about $1 million for its year-round efforts, such as encouraging food gardening in vacant lots.
To judge from the audience roars after each of Ragus' dances, money well spent.
Marta Helmold and her daughter, Marie, were attending to flowers, not music.
"It's our annual mother-daughter outing," said Marie, 47, a dermatologist from Bethlehem, Pa.
"I want to grow orchids," she said, "but I don't have time anymore." So just looking at them at the show was treat enough.
Perhaps even music to her ears.
During a break in the main-stage performance, a single harp sounded softly.
Kathy DeAngelo was with her four-foot-tall harp at a display for a floral company from Haddonfield.
One of several local performers of Irish music who will be at the show this week, DeAngelo is a self-employed music teacher in Voorhees.
Playing against the thunder of the main-stage music, she said, was "a bit daunting."
But attempts at gardening have been just as formidable.
"I don't do vegetables anymore," she said. "Too many woodchucks."
If You Go
The Philadelphia Flower Show runs through next Sunday at the Convention Center, 12th and Arch Streets.
Hours: 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sundays, 10 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. weekdays, 8 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. Saturday. Best viewing times are 4 to 9:30 p.m. weekdays. The box office closes one hour before the show does.
Tickets at the door: Adults: $28 today, $26 Saturday and next Sunday, $24 weekdays. Children ages 2 to 12: $13.
Tickets in advance: Adults: $22. Children: $12. Service charges may apply. Online sales have ended.
Ticket locations: SEPTA ticket outlets, AAA Mid- Atlantic, Acme Markets, Clemens Family Markets, Borders Books & Music, select PNC Bank branches, local nurseries and florists.
Phone: 215-988-8899.
Information, maps, article archives and a blog are at http://go.philly.com/flowershow
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Show Winners
The Pennsylvania Horticultural Society announced these Philadelphia Flower Show winners yesterday:
PNC People's Choice Award
Voted favorite by society members: Celtic Gardens' "Rose of Glendalough"
Best in show
Landscape: J. Franklin Styer Nurseries Inc.
Floral Design: Schaffer Designs
Plant Societies: North American Rock Garden Society, Delaware Valley Chapter
Nonacademic Educational: Men's Garden Club of Philadelphia
Academic Educational: Temple University Ambler College
By Invitation: Celtic Gardens
Small Landscape: Think Green
Exhibits of Distinction
Plant Society: African Violet Society of Philadelphia
Nonacademic Educational:
TreeVitalize (Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources)
Fairmount Park Commission
Philadelphia Water Department
Netherlands American Business Association
Academic Educational: Williamson Free School of Mechanical Trades
Awards of Merit
Plant Society: Delaware Valley Fern and Wildflower Society
Nonacademic Educational:
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region III
Camden City Garden Club
Academic Educational: Delaware County Technical School
Gardening columnist Ginny Smith blogs live from the show at http://go.philly.com/kisstheearthEndText