News and Events in Brief
Read the Winter Newsletter for the latest news:
PHS 2025 Philadelphia Flower Show Mar 1-9
The 2025 Philadelphia Flower Show was a huge success, selling 235,000 tickets, surpassing pre-covid levels!
🌺 #Gardens of Tomorrow was the theme.
Our subtheme was Conservation and Collaboration, and included a demonstration table to show conservation through propagation of Gesneriads, Begonias, African Violets and Ferns, both indoor and outdoor.
More than 74 volunteers filled over 200 slots to set-up and greet visitors. making our exhibit a hub of collaboration at the 2025 Philadelphia Flower Show.
Our gardens from the past: The Henry Botanical Garden and Foundation loaned us a Wardian Case to fill with ferns and orchids as they had been shipped to gardens in the west for many decades.
Our gardens of tomorrow: Brigida Di Genova, an award winning Montgomery County artist, created futuristic garden towers of crystal and glass over layers of green and white that was a magnet for art-lovers lining up to take a selfie with their friends.
Our guest plant societies: The Delaware Valley Rock Garden Society displayed a trough of flowering plants that had been forced into early bloom by Fern Society and Rock Garden member Janet Novak, and planted into her trough by Rock Garden Society member Eric Sternfels.
John Hollister from The Mid-Atlantic Carniverous Plant Society displayed his giant Sundew and the smallest and newest confirmed carniverous plant, a Corkscrew plant discovered by Darwin in the 1880s and confirmed by DNA in 1999. Kevin Zhang displayed a terrium full of pitcher plants and sundew.
Those who attended the 2025 Flower Show as a DVFWS volunteer were granted early admission before 9 am the day they volunteered. Please join us next year.
Recap: Fall Fern ID Workshop - At the Henry Foundation
18 members attended the Fall Fern ID Workshop held in the Sand Barn at the Henry Foundation last September. Look for another workshop and fern ID walk open to a wider audience in September 2025.
Membership Link to Form
All are welcome with an interest in learning more about ferns, taking garden walks and field trips to see native plants. Dues are $10 a year or $14 for a couple in one household. Click on Membership on the left to see the membership form.
We hold three business meetings in November, April and at a summer luncheon. From April to October we take walks, aka field trips, to explore natural areas and gardens displaying native plants and ferns. We educate others from an exhibit at the Philadelphia Flower Show. A speaker on ferns is available for lectures to other societies.
About Us: Mission
The Delaware Valley Fern & Wildflower Society is a group of fern and wildflower lovers formed in 1975 to explore ferns in nature and educate themselves and others. We will celebrate our 50th year in 2025 all year long. We welcomes people with an interest in learning about, growing and visiting native ferns, native wildflowers, and native shrubs, and sharing the experience with other plant lovers. From April to October, members meet on field trips and short walks to appreciate plants in nature or in gardens. JOIN US!