Philadelphia — A vacant lot in the center of the
asphalt jungle has suddenly gone green. The Pennsylvania Horticultural Society recently
introduced “PHS Pops Up” at 20th and Market Streets, a showcase for PHS’s
community greening programs.
Thanks to the
generosity of Brandywine Realty Trust and Independence Blue Cross with funding
from the William Penn Foundation, PHS is cultivating a temporary oasis that
will grow much more than vegetables, herbs, grains and flowers. The effort will
garner support and awareness for PHS’s City Harvest program, which provides
fresh produce for underserved residents. Joining the effort are six of
Philadelphia’s well-known chefs – Daniel Stern of R2L, Guillermo Tellez of
Square 1682, Chris Scarduzio of Table 31, Michael Schulson of Sampan, Marcie
Turney of Barbuzzo, and Lynn Rinaldi of Paradiso – who will create special
dishes using the garden’s bounty and donate proceeds back to City Harvest.
“This unique
project brings together an amazing team of corporate partners, great chefs,
landscape architects, academics, and urban farmers,” says PHS President Drew
Becher. “Our goal is to engage residents and visitors in the beauty and impact
of community gardens, and inspire them to support programs that build healthy
communities.”
The garden
brings together the nonprofit and corporate sectors for an extraordinary
collaboration.
“We are
delighted to participate in PHS’s inaugural pop-up garden,” says Gerard H. Sweeney,
president and CEO of Brandywine Realty Trust. “This greening initiative is an
important program that activates the urban landscape and creates a community
gathering place within our central business district. We believe this is an
excellent use of our site for this growing season as we prepare the land for
future development.”
“Independence
Blue Cross is excited to partner with PHS on this project that combines
greening and improving the community’s health in a unique way,” says Daniel J.
Hilferty, president and CEO of IBC. “The Pops Up Garden beautifies this Market Street
corner and offers an original way for thousands of workers, residents, students
and families to learn more about nutrition and a healthy lifestyle.”
The transformed
landscape, covering nearly 32,000 square feet, includes an herb and vegetable
production area; a variety of flower beds; a stand of blue spruce; whimsical
topiaries, and patches of found art from the site’s excavation. A meadow of red
clover, grasses, grains and corn are planned. Standouts among the plants will
be winners of the PHS Gold Medal Award, which are specially chosen for their
aesthetic appeal and hardy nature.
Visitors will be
greeted at the main entrance on Market
Street by a structure that recently appeared in the
Philadelphia International Flower Show. “écolibrium,” an exhibit of sustainable
building and gardening, was created by Temple University Ambler and combines
classic French garden components and the art of Piet Mondrian with sustainable
design. Mondrian’s geometric grid compositions inspired the pattern of the
entire Pop Up landscape.
The garden is
open to visitors every Wednesday and Thursday from noon to 2 p.m., when free,
on-site programming will include horticultural workshops on container
gardening, flower arranging, organic pest control and other topics. Tours,
special events and family programs are also planned at the garden throughout
the summer and early fall. A complete listing of activities is available at the
society’s website.
The garden will
be dismantled in late October, but will bloom again next spring in a new
location.
Locally produced
food is available year-round in the region. The Greater Philadelphia Tourism
Marketing Corporation’s (GPTMC) Philly Homegrown™ program highlights local,
fresh food resources in the Philadelphia
foodshed. The public face of Philly Homegrown™ can be found at the website, a new and constantly growing microsite on the Philadelphia region’s
official tourism website that enables visitors to plan their local food experience
from start to finish.
“Each spring,
our visitors and residents look forward to the Philadelphia International
Flower Show,” says Meryl Levitz, president and CEO, GPTMC. “With PHS Pops Up, we
now have another great reason for garden and food enthusiasts to visit Center City
from summer into fall. Through our networks and partnerships, we are well
positioned to cast a spotlight on the programming in the garden and on the
restaurants serving locally grown foods. It’s the perfect fit for our Philly
Homegrown™ program, and we’re proud to be a marketing partner.”
The 20th and
Market garden is one in a series of PHS Pops Up sites this summer. In May, nine
carousel animal sculptures that were featured in the Flower Show were installed
around the gardens of the Swann Memorial Fountain on Logan Square. Meanwhile, the PHS
headquarters at 20th and Arch Streets is in the midst of a transformation to
celebrate the 2012 Flower Show theme, “Hawaii: Islands of Aloha.”
The PHS City
Harvest program helps make locally grown produce more readily available in Philadelphia
neighborhoods that lack easy access to fresh vegetables and herbs. With
training from PHS staff, inmates of the Philadelphia Prison System grow seedlings
that are transplanted into more than 45 community gardens throughout the city,
as well as the garden at the Northeast prison facility. Inmates and volunteer
gardeners grow the plants to maturity, and the produce is distributed to food
cupboards, where clients receive the food and take part in nutrition and
cooking workshops. City Harvest provides produce for more than 1,000 families
each week during the growing season.
The related City
Harvest Growers Alliance is a network of entrepreneurial food growers who sell
produce within their communities to make healthy food more accessible
throughout the city.
PHS also
operates the Roots to Reentry job training and placement program, which
provides landscaping experience, life-skills training and job placement
assistance for ex-offenders who have participated in the prison component of
City Harvest. R2R participants assisted in the installation of the PHS Pops Up
garden and the carousel animals at Logan
Square. To support City Harvest, get involved in
community gardening, and for more information, please visit the website.
The Pennsylvania
Horticultural Society, a nonprofit organization founded in 1827, motivates and
inspires people to improve the quality of life and build healthier communities
through horticulture. Membership dues, donations and ticket sales from the
Philadelphia International Flower Show make PHS programs possible. Membership
in PHS includes free tickets to the Flower Show and other benefits.
