Philadelphia is about to celebrate the gardeners, dreamers and changemakers who made it America’s gardening city — and you can see it all for free.
Bouquet of Stories: Celebrating Philadelphia’s Gardening Heritage opens Friday, November 6, 2026, at The Athenaeum of Philadelphia (219 S. 6th Street) and runs through January 30, 2027. Presented by the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society (PHS) in partnership with the Athenaeum, the exhibition is a centerpiece of PHS’s 200th anniversary — two centuries of using horticulture to make communities bloom.
Through rare objects and striking photographs, the show traces three centuries of Philadelphia’s gardening story: immigrant seed traditions, trailblazing women, neighborhood greening movements and the world-renowned Philadelphia Flower Show. It shines a light on the underrepresented communities whose hands helped make Philadelphia one of America’s great gardening cities — and whose traditions keep shaping it today.
Growing alongside the exhibition is The Athenaeum Garden, a brand-new garden designed by award-winning landscape designer Wambui Ippolito together with PHS and Philadelphia gardeners. Born from a year of community collaboration, this garden of fragrance and calm will keep evolving with the seasons — a living collection to explore, learn from and simply enjoy.
Opening night is a celebration in itself: a free preview from 5 to 6 p.m., a conversation with curators Tracy Qiu and Abra Lee (moderated by PHS’s Andrew Bunting) from 6 to 7 p.m., and a reception until 8 p.m.
Free admission, a historic landmark and three centuries of green joy — Philadelphia’s gardening heritage has never looked so beautiful.
Photo: N Giovannucci, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
