The Pennsylvania Horticultural Society (PHS) took a step forward when they finally took the Philadelphia Flower Show OUTSIDE. Granted, it happened because of COVID19, but it happened.

The Philadelphia Flower Show OUTSIDE is not perfect, but it is so much better than inside.

There are so many cool things The Pennsylvania Horticultural Society does well, and although I feel sometimes as a gardener I am not “seen” with them, they have amazing resources and I am always fond of their plant lists and the gardens we can visit. I also like the webinars they offer their members like “Ask The Expert.”

I have participated in the PHS Gardening Contest and one of our friends won one year. I don’t always agree how they judge a garden, and like many gardeners, I find it frustrating they don’t judge us in person. However, it’s a great thing and they’re killing this contest and I think it’s a mistake.

As a gardener and garden lover I find it to be a valuable program. It’s not really a program it’s a contest. It makes you feel valued as a gardener. Not all of us have what it takes to enter the Philadelphia Flower Show, but we can all try with this. And it’s a tradition as they said so themselves.

They invited prior contest participants to complete a survey about this. I told them it was a mistake, that it sucked, and that I was writing a blog post about it.

We have had enough negatives in all of our worlds since COVID-19 found us around the world. One of the nice things that we had and others discovered during this time was gardening.

I am but one voice here, but if you agree that gardening contests like this are a good thing, maybe you can contact the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society.

Gardening is a power for good. A gardening contest that so many can enter amplifies how good gardening is for all of us.

Come on PHS, you can garden better than this. This is two steps back.