Pennsylvania Has One Of The Best Flower Festivals In America
Spring is here, and flowers are in full bloom. USA Today: 10 Best highlighted some of the best flower festivals in America. Their ten best were selected by an expert…
Spring is here, and flowers are in full bloom. USA Today: 10 Best highlighted some of the best flower festivals in America. Their ten best were selected by an expert panel and voted by readers as the best in the U.S. These festivals "allow attendees to enjoy fragrant, colorful blooms, learn about flowers and plants, and simply have a wonderful time." The outlet said, "Some events offer a marketplace of flowers and plants that you can take home with you."
Pennsylvania has one of the best flower festivals in America
Philly's PHS Philadelphia Flower Show scored spot number 7 on the list. Hosted by the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society since 1829, the Philadelphia Flower Show is the largest and longest-running horticultural event in the United States, as pointed out by the study. The event includes flower and garden displays, horticulture and floral arranging competitions, gardening presentations, and a marketplace where more than 150 vendors sell cut flowers, plants, garden tools, and floral-themed crafts.
The theme this year was United by Flowers. According to the show's website, The proceeds from the Flower Show provide support for PHS’s year-round work in the Greater Philadelphia region. "The Flower Show helps fund the thousands of trees PHS plants each year, the design and maintenance of our free public gardens for all, and the support of more than 170 community gardens throughout the region," they stated.
Snagging spot number three on the list is Holland, Michigan's Tulip Time Festival. Each year, around 6 million colorful tulips bloom in the area, with over 200,000 of them in the downtown area alone. Of course, it's a town called Holland so that visitors can expect the Dutch heritage celebrated with music, dancing, markets, parades, and beautiful floral displays. This year, the festival takes place from May 4 to May 12.
Following behind at number two is Michigan's Mackinac Island Lilac Festival. The 10-day Lilac Festival takes place each June. This year, the festival is scheduled for June 7 through June 16. They pointed out that the festival began as a way to entice visitors to the island with horse-drawn carriage rides among the island’s fragrant flowers. Today, events include the coronation of the Lilac Queen, a 10k run/walk, lilac planting seminars, a cornhole tournament, live music, and the popular Grand Parade.
The best flower festival in America is in Ohio.
At the top of their list is Ohio's Zoo Blooms at Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden. They highlighted the garden for coming to a "floral feast for the senses during the Zoo Blooms." This garden offers one of the largest tulip displays in the Midwest (more than 100,000) and visitors can stroll among more than 1 million yellow and white daffodils, hyacinths, flowering trees, shrubs, and various spring bulbs.
Take a look at the complete list here.
5 Plants That Will Make Your Garden Smell
Plants don't always give off beautiful floral aromas, scents, and smells. There are plants that give off unpleasant smells that could stink up your garden. Most plants give off produce scents to lure in pollinators and repel predators.
Bees and butterflies are drawn to your garden by sweet scents from fragrant flowers. Plants with foul odors smell this way to attract flies and beetles which normally lay their eggs in feces and rotting materials.
With the gardening season around the corner, you may want to consider avoiding putting these plants in your garden.
Here are five plants that can smell up your garden.
Crown Imperial Plants
Getty ImagesThe flowers have a potent, musky scent almost like a skunk, which deters rodents and voles as well as squirrels and deer from the garden. Crown imperial plants are native to Asia and the Middle East. They come in These flowers come in shades of red, orange, and yellow.
Stinking Corpse Lily
Getty ImagesThe flower has a large central opening surrounded by petal-like structures and can grow huge, weighing up to 24 pounds. Also known as the rafflesia arnoldii, which smells and even looks like a rotting carcass.
Carrion Flower
Getty ImagesThese flowers are often pollinated by flies and other insects that are attracted to the smell of decay. The most common odors describe it as smelling like a rotting animal, a dead mouse, foul, and sulfur-like during flowering.
Skunk Cabbage
Getty ImagesSkunk Cabbages get their name from the fact they produce a smell of rotting meat or skunk when their leaves are bruised or crushed. While the smell may be unpleasant, the odor can help keep pests away and attract beneficial pollinators including bees and butterflies.
Corpse Flower
Getty ImagesThis flower is far from sweet. The United States Botanic Garden says its the worst-smelling flower in the world. Also known as the titan arum, some people compare its smell to a stinking corpse or rotting flesh.
