This year’s Philadelphia Flower Show, which runs through March 10, showcases the Power of Flowers, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s exhibit “E=mc2: Eco-Power” hits the mark.
The exhibit shows how elements of a formal garden such as using native plants and on-site water management techniques can help power an ecosystem while enhancing the landscape.
“There is an intrinsic connection between diverse flora and fauna and healthy ecosystems,” said EPA Regional Administrator Cosmo Servidio. “Through our exhibit, EPA is demonstrating that in addition to instilling beauty, gardens can promote clean and healthy water by incorporating sustainable landscaping practices.”
EPA’s exhibit begins with a formal garden adorned with beautiful native trees and shrubs such as flowering dogwood and sweetly fragrant azaleas.
The exhibit also includes a water garden teeming with wild and unique botanical beauties such as the carnivorous pitcher plant and exquisite swamp pinks, all receiving water from a gutter system and rain barrel.
The exhibit shows how native plants grow in a formal setting and demonstrates how to incorporate them in home landscapes.
The environmental benefits of these native plants include providing buffers for aquatic resources that help to naturally manage stormwater, which can improve water quality.
EPA’s volunteers will engage with visitors on the connection between healthy aquatic resources and drinking water, as well as provide visitors with information on the benefits of using native plants, sustainable landscaping, and stormwater management practices for protecting our water.
EPA websites provide additional information on promoting healthy water through sustainable landscaping, and how to get started. Photographs of sustainable landscaping practices used in residential settings are featured at EPA’s Green Infrastructure and Soak Up The Rain webpages.
The Philadelphia Flower Show runs through March 10.
(Photo: Planted rain garden and rain barrel.)
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