Your Guide to the 2025 Philadelphia Flower Show

The Philadelphia Flower Show is back at the Convention Center, and it’s a welcome reminder that spring is not too far off. Till then, indoor flowers! And this year’s Flower Show provides plenty of visuals and spectacle for those there for the ‘gram, while still devoting a healthy amount of its space and mission to gardening for the originalists among us.

The theme this year is “Gardens of Tomorrow,” which they define as “creating a future where gardening plays a central role in enriching our lives and sustaining our planet.” And designers had vastly different interpretations of the theme. Some went futuristic, with neon lights, technological elements, cityscapes, and metallics — Schaffer Designs’ “The Nexus” is a glowing example of this.

Or “Florists of the Future,” which imagines “It’s the year 3025 and the Earth is still livable — but we have chosen to live in space.” How will florists express their creativity then?

Others focus on sustainability and optimism, whether it’s floral animals enjoying a tea party in Jennifer Designs’ “Welcoming Wildlife Home” or Mural Arts Philadelphia’s “Blooming Beyond Your Wildest Dreams,” an interactive mural that “reimagines urban architecture as a canvas for nature’s exuberance” and invites viewers to share their dreams for the future.

Psst … look for the SEPTA bus stop sign! (Artist Caitlyn Augustyn of Fistful of Flowers promises she got it through the proper avenues and didn’t just run off with one.) The exhibit also includes a “graffiti garden” newsstand, for which Augustyn collaborated with street artists Allie Rainey and Blur.

Suffice it to say, there’s something for everyone at this year’s Flower Show. So, whether you’re going to pick up some green tips, spend the day with family, or just take in the colorful artistry, here’s what you’ll want to know for your visit.

The Basics

Now in its 196th year, the Flower Show showcases designers, gardens and floral displays along with food and merchandise vendors. Expect dozens of gorgeous larger-than-life floral installations plus some hands-on activities for kids and adults alike.

As in the past, the main hall includes the entrance garden, leading to the promenade of large-scale artistic installations. In keeping with this year’s futuristic theme, the entrance garden, “Futura Florentia,” blends neon lights and metallic and glass accents with floral elements.

The center of the main hall is the Horticourt — that’s where you’ll find more gardening-focused displays, demonstrations (including Potting Parties), and competitive categories ranging from botanical jewelry to store windows to tiny movie scenes made of flowers. (Totoro was the cutest!)  The rest of the main hall is devoted to the Marketplace.

The show spills over into the concourse — an area they call Bloom City — with more vendors, craft activities, live butterflies and a kids’ play area — a welcome carryover from the pandemic-era FDR Park version.

Let me make it easier for you: Here’s a map to keep handy so you don’t miss anything you want to see.

The show runs from March 1st to 9th. Hours are 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily, except for the final day which closes at 6 p.m. PHS members can get in an hour early each day to beat the crowds.

Things to Do

Head to the Marketplace to shop at 100-plus vendors. In addition to all the various gardening items you’d expect, you’ll find everything from jewelry to kids’ clothes to home goods and personal-care products. You’ll find even more shopping in the Bloom City area, which has a Makers Market.

Don’t forget to snap a pick with Rosebud, the mobile flower bar from Best of Philly winner The Flower Mama, who has both pre-made and build-your-own bouquets.

If you’re not content to marvel at flowers and shop for various flower-adjacent (and completely unrelated) items, there are some special activities to look for. Every day, you can visit Artisan Row to make crafts alongside horticultural artisans — like flower crowns, succulent terrariums, bouquets, and candles. You can even customize you own trucker hat with Modern Misfits.

Each craft is an add-on, with prices ranging from $20 to $35. (If you don’t have the time or desire to make your own flower crown, head to the Bloom Bar inside the main hall to buy one for $35.)

If you’re coming with kids, don’t miss out on the free Cocoon play area, where you’ll find open play, crafts, and — new for this year — a Lego table from the Franklin Institute’s erstwhile “Art of the Brick” exhibit. The space will host hourly programming every day. Also available here as an add-on every day of the show: Butterflies Live! Armed only with a Q-tip coated in sugar-water, enter a pollinator garden full of exotic butterflies and snap the perfect selfie with some fluttery friends. This exhibit requires an additional $5 ticket, available online.

Inspired to grow your own garden? Attend a daily Potting Party ($20) in the show to learn container gardening (so even if you don’t have a yard, you can exercise your green thumb), then take home your creation. Or attend a talk at the Know to Grow speaker series that runs every day during the show.

Special Events

The first weekend of the show pulls out all the stops for kids of all ages. On Sunday, March 2nd, the show hosts Family Frolic, a special day for families. In addition to the rest of the show, there will be hands-on activities, giveaways, and programming from local museums and nonprofits. All activities are included with tickets.

If you’re looking to experience your flowers with a more adult-oriented crew, grab a ticket for Flowers After Hours, the show’s annual after-hours 21-and-up event that features an all-woman DJ lineup, as well as beverage tastings and show entry. This year’s theme is “Out of This World,” which “blends the nostalgia of ’80s and ’90s pop culture with futuristic, space-age aesthetics.” That party will be held on March 8th from 8:30 to 11:30 p.m., and tickets are $75.

New for this year is the wellness-focused Blossom & Breathe event on March 7th. The evening includes a silent yoga experience (sign up here) and wellness vendors in a botanical bazaar. The event is included with show tickets, and yoga is $10.

Flower Show Fun Around Town

And if all that’s not enough for you, the flower-themed splendor has inspired some specials around Philly.

If you want to make a whole day (and night) of it, head to the Loews Philadelphia Hotel. Its Flower Show package includes two tickets to the show, two themed cocktails at on-site restaurant Bank & Bourbon, and a room upgrade — plus some Instagrammable decor in the lobby for some photo ops. Or stay at the Canopy, also right near the show, which has themed cocktails, along with a schedule of happy hour parties throughout the week.

Not to be outdone, the Rittenhouse Hotel‘s Luxury in Bloom package includes tickets to the show with roundtrip transportation. Then relax with in-room florals, and a floral-infused spa turn-down service featuring products from the Rittenhouse Spa & Club brand partners, LAFCO and Lola’s Apothecary.

But wait, there’s more. Because Franklin Mortgage is throwing an entire pop-up for the week called Rittenhouse Flowers. It’ll be a speakeasy attached to an actual pop-up flower shop, floral installations designed and arranged by Marianna Coppola, and even a build-your-own-bouquet bar. It runs from March 2nd to 8th.

For even more Flower Show cocktails, head to Oltremare, Square 1682, the Twisted Tail, Vernick Fish, and Liberté Lounge at the Sofitel.

Cocktails not doing it for you? How about a hibiscus churro sundae? El Merkury has it at both locations (Rittenhouse and Reading Terminal Market). It’s drizzled with housemade hibiscus syrup, and topped with caramelized hibiscus flowers — and it’s only available for the duration of the Flower Show, so go get one. (And wash it down with their hibiscus latte.)

Also in Reading Terminal Market? A Flower Show-inspired squash blossom cheese boat from Saami Somi!

And High Street is hosting an entire flower-themed dinner called Edible Blooms. It’s an “experiential evening of edible beauty, where decor becomes food and food becomes decor.” Menu highlights include saffron risotto and hibiscus-rose semifreddo. The dinner will be held on March 7th and 8th; tickets are $105 per person, with an optional beverage pairing for an additional $45.

Plan Your Trip

The Philadelphia Flower Show takes place at the Pennsylvania Convention Center at 12th and Arch streets. It runs from March 1st through 9th.

Tickets
Tickets are available online. They’ll run you $50 for adults ($40 on weekdays), $35 for students ages 18 to 24 (with valid ID), $25 for kids ages five through 17, and free for children four and under.

Looking to save some money? This year, they’re offering discounted Twilight Tickets, which get you admission after 4 p.m. for $30 on weekdays and $40 on weekends. And, honestly, it’s a good deal because it can get really crowded during the day, especially on weekends. Add-ons like crafts and the live butterfly encounter are extra. You can also buy discount tickets from select SEPTA stations listed here.

Getting There
A benefit of the Flower Show moving from FDR Park back to the Convention Center: It couldn’t be easier to get there. It’s a quick walk from City Hall (if you’re coming on the Broad Street Line) and 13th Street Station (on the Market-Frankford Line), and it sits directly on top of Jefferson Station on the Regional Rail, those of you coming from the ‘burbs.

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