Photo credit: Baltimore Sun/Susan Reimer

A postscript to The Philadelphia Flower Show: 265,000 visitors attended the show, up 12 percent from last year.

“Springtime in Paris” featured highly styled French gardens, over-the-top floral displays, cutting-edge landscape designs, new plant introductions, more than 150 gardening presentations by experts from around the world, fine wines and celebrity chefs, and an illuminated Eiffel Tower, and it drew visitors from every state in the nation, according to show officials.

Popular guests included singer Patti LaBelle. After a guided tour, Ms. LaBelle declared: “I’m in wonderland.”

U.S. News & World Report, which covered the appearance of White House florist Laura Dowling, said: “The Philadelphia International Flower Show is no longer Philly's little secret. It has become a national phenomenon that is creating jobs, generating $61 million in economic impact, and is now drawing the praise and input from Washington.” AAA World recommended a visit to “the premier gardening event of its kind in the world.” CNN touted the show nationally as one of the “12 places to see beautiful blooms.”

Internationally, the China-based Epoch Times said: “This show is the nation’s premier horticultural event with acres of gardens, parks and floral displays. …This year’s show offered the casual visitor or the die-hard floral designer a flower fix extraordinaire with French flair.”