April 25, 2011
"Party in the Garden" Benefits Philadelphia's Favorite Public Landscapes
Robert Doyle READ TIME: 2 MIN.
PHILADELPHIA - The city's most photogenic site, the Azalea Garden on Kelly Drive, will be the setting for the "Party in the Garden," on Wednesday, May 4, from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.
Hosted by the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society, the party will benefit the treasured public landscapes throughout Philadelphia enhanced and maintained by PHS. Future parties will be held in the gardens of the Rodin Museum, the Swann Memorial Fountain on Logan Square, and other signature civic landscapes.
This year's event, formally known as the Azalea Garden Party, will actually be held in the Azalea Garden for the first time. Three tents - a large party tent, a smaller "lounge" area, and a tent for children's activities - will be pitched in the blooming, four-acre garden located between the Philadelphia Museum of Art and Boathouse Row.
The party setting will be designed by David Fierabend of Groundswell Design Group, an award-winning exhibitor at the 2011 Philadelphia International Flower Show. Hors d'oeuvres and refreshments will be provided by Max & Me Catering.
The party will feature children's activities presented by the Please Touch Museum, and live music. Guests will attend in their finest spring hats and garden party attire. Event chairs are Karen and Ed D'Alba of Berwyn, Pa.
PHS, the nation's first horticultural society, inspires people to improve the quality of life and transform communities through horticulture. In 1954, PHS gifted the Azalea Garden to the city of Philadelphia to commemorate the 125th anniversary of PHS.
Due to municipal funding cuts in the 1980s, the garden became overgrown and was in disrepair. So, in 1988, PHS selected the Azalea Garden for restoration. Since then the nonprofit organization's public landscape division has guided the landscaping and maintenance of the garden, which is home to one of the most impressive collections of azaleas and rhododendrons in the region.
For ticket information on Party in the Garden, please visit www.pennhort.net/partyinthegarden Tickets will be available at the door.
Long-term New Yorkers, Mark and Robert have also lived in San Francisco, Boston, Provincetown, D.C., Miami Beach and the south of France. The recipient of fellowships at MacDowell, Yaddo, and Blue Mountain Center, Mark is a PhD in American history and literature, as well as the author of the novels Wolfchild and My Hawaiian Penthouse. Robert is the producer of the documentary We Are All Children of God. Their work has appeared in numerous publications, as well as at : www.mrny.com.
