Spring blooms
at Convention Center

By William Kenny
Times Staff Writer

Political and social issues facing the world today don’t get much bigger than global warming.
Meanwhile, indoor horticultural exhibitions don’t get any bigger than the Philadelphia Flower Show.
That combination of factors made theme-selection a snap for leaders of the five-county region’s TreeVitalize program in planning their second annual entry into the world-renowned show.
Solve the Puzzle with Trees, TreeVitalize’s 500-square-foot exhibit, debuted to the public alongside some 150 other booths on March 4 at the Pennsylvania Convention Center. The exhibits cover 33 acres of floor space and will remain on display through March 11.
The Pennsylvania Horticultural Society has presented the show annually since 1829.
"The idea of the exhibit is that there’s this huge issue (global warming), but as individuals there are things that we can do, and trees play a huge role in that," said Patrice Carroll, director of the 3-year-old TreeVitalize project.
Carroll and her colleagues hope that many of the expected weeklong throng of 250,000 visitors absorb the message of their exhibit in addition to beholding the young American Linden and Eastern Redbud trees, along with the colorful bed of cone flowers and flowering tobacco.
"We want them to stop and really be engaged," Carroll said.
Designer Christian Kanienberg’s study of a typical suburban-style home forms the backdrop. The majority of the display represents a backyard with a stone walkway arcing through a thick lawn adorned with the aforementioned plantings.
Horticulturist Marilyn Romenesko explained that the organization wanted to emphasize native trees and flowers in the exhibit. At one end of the booth, a windowed wall shelters an "interior" section of the house, decorated with an original thematic painting by Kanienberg.
The primary educational feature of the exhibit is the "Carbon Counter," a jigsaw puzzle-shaped information board detailing the carbon dioxide footprint of several real-life households in the region.
A typical person will produce many tons of the harmful gas each year by their activities at home and in transit. For instance, Erica Solberger, a Fox Chase native who works on the TreeVitalize project, is considered responsible for over 11 tons each year. That total figures in emissions from her home and car, the public transportation that she uses and a bit of air travel.
According to the Carbon Counter, she would have to plant 34.8 trees to offset that annual CO2 output. Luckily, Solberger helped plant 125 trees in South Philly and a bunch more along Broad Street last year in her TreeVitalize role.
Naturally, there are other ways in which people can reduce their output of harmful gases, Carroll noted, such as a variety of conservation practices. However, tree planting is a very effective and practical method, too.
"They actually absorb carbon (dioxide) and store it," the program director said. "Every leaf will absorb CO2 for the photosynthesis process. Younger trees won’t store as much, but a 25-year-old or 30-year-old tree is really going to store a lot."
Trees can also reduce the carbon dioxide people generate by helping their homes run more efficiently. Other factors being equal, carefully placed trees can shield homes from prevailing winds to reduce heating-related energy use. In the summer, trees can shade a home from the sun’s rays and reduce cooling-related energy consumption.
"That’s something we really want to emphasize with our exhibition," Carroll said.
The Flower Show is one of many community outreach efforts year-round by the TreeVitalize program.
Gov. Ed Rendell launched the program in April 2004 as a four-year effort to plant 20,000 shade trees and 2,000 acres of forested riparian buffers in Southeastern Pennsylvania. The $8 million initiative is a response to the decline in tree cover across the region.
The state’s Department of Conservation and Natural Resources is a leading partner in the effort, along with the Department of Environmental Protection, the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society, the Fairmount Park Commission, PECO Energy, the U.S. Forest Service, Aqua Pennsylvania, the Philadelphia Eagles, Morris Arboretum, Penn State’s College of Agricultural Services, the Pennsylvania Landscape and Nursery Association and the William Penn Foundation.
The program is volunteer-driven with hundreds of individuals and community groups taking part in plantings and selected "stressed" locations throughout the five-county area.
This spring, TreeVitalize will plant trees in Pennypack Park and in Disston Park in Northeast Philadelphia, Carroll said. Dates are yet to be confirmed, but the program is targeting dates in April.
Also, the project will conduct "tree tender" training sessions at the PHS headquarters, 100 N. 20th St., on May 16, 23 and 30, where volunteers can learn more about tree care and urban stresses on trees. ••
For more information about the TreeVitalize project including scheduled plantings and training, visit www.treevitalize.net. For more information about the Philadelphia Flower Show, visit www.theflowershow.com or call 215-988-8899.
Reporter William Kenny can be reached at 215-354-3031 or bkenny@phillynews.com