Pennsylvania Horticultural Society - Philadelphia Flower Show

At the center of Thomas W. Sear's central feature is a circular pool with Beatrice Fenton's nereid fountain. 6 x 9.5 inch b&w photograph. Philadelphia Flower Show 1935 album.

Description of central feature from Horticulture, April 1, 1935, p. 174: "The Philadelphia Flower Show, held as usual in the capacious Commercial Museum, during the week of March 25, was voted unanimously, by the vast crowds which thronged the paths winding between the endless displays, the most distinguished show the city has ever witnessed. For several years an outstanding attraction has been a superb collection of acacias, possibly the finest in the East, from the estate of Joseph E. Widener. This year these fine plants took their place with brilliant effect in the keystone landscape arrangement. A serene canal ran through the large center aisle of the hall, on either side of which wide beds of hyacinths glowed in two colors of blue. From these delph carpets, the dazzling acacias, in full flower, raised their soft plumes and were reflected in the silver mirror of the canal. The waterway was broken in the center by a circular pool, where a Nereid fountain by Beatrice Fenton held the place of honor. The fountain and pool were flanked on four sides by low flights of steps which joined the flagstone walks dividing the two small canals running at right angles to the pool. The center exhibit was walled in at either side by tall continuous hemlock hedges which lent seclusion to the scene. Immediately before these, the motif of acacias and hyacinths was repeated. More than 20 works of sculpture, the product of Philadelphia and New York artists, loaned to the show through the instrumentality of the Philadelphia Art Alliance, were placed at accent points in this display. The 20,000 hyacinths woven into the picture were especially imported from Holland for the show, and forced in local greenhouses. " Penciled on verso: 1935-14

“The World of Tomorrow” is this year’s theme, and a nod to the New York World’s Fair. Show layout designed by Walter V. D. Hengel. Central Feature is a huge modernistic garden with a central fountain of four tiers, white pylons with chartreuse tops, and sculpture throughout the exhibit. Walter Hengel (also known as Van Den Hengel) was a retail florist, a designer of the Philadelphia Flower Show, and one of the “incorporators” of the Philadelphia Flower Show, Inc. He died in 1941 at age 63. Born in Amsterdam, Hengel was, according to his obituary in the New York Times (August 9, 1941) the designer of the Glendinning rock garden on East River Drive in Fairmount Park, an artist as well as a floral architect, and was a member of the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society and the Art Alliance of Philadelphia. Letter "B" inscribed in lower left corner of photograph.

Bruce Rawlings, of Robert Montgomery W. Landscape Nursery, is seen setting up the central feature, titled Hometown USA, at the 1986 show held at the Civic Center. The exhibit featured a typical American hometown of the 1940s, complete with a park, pond, bandstand, and railroad station. A working locomotive and tracks were part of the staging.

The 1987 Central Feature "Tea at Grays Ferry" commemorates an historic day, Thursday, July 17, 1787 in the garden of Gray's Ferry Tavern on the banks of the Schuylkill River, where George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, James Madison and Alexander Hamilton took tea. In Philadelphia to construct the country's constitution. This exhibit recreates this 200-year old garden. Rendering by Doug Julian.

Artist Doug Julian's rendering captured key elements of the Central Feature for the 1988 Flower Show theme "The World is Your Garden."

Artist Doug Julian's rendering of "Pitmedden," a garden of the Scottish National Trust that inspired the central feature of the 1993 show. [ARC2010.07Box59A]

Pitmedden, a garden of the Scottish National Trust, inspired the central feature of the 1993 show. Pitmedden's head gardener, left, is seen handing plants to Elizabeth McLean, project manager for this exhibit, which required more than 2,000 plants for its colorful floral carpet.

Jack Blandy of Stoney Bank Nurseries works at set-up on his trend-setting Central Feature design at the Flower Show which forecasted technological changes in gardening.

Part of the Central Feature for the 1996 Show was a replica of the 1876 Centennial Pool in Fairmount Park.