What happens when you combine the gays, pretty flower arrangements and cocktails? Well, take a look at our photos and you’ll get the idea, thanks to the Philadelphia International Flower show, March 5.

Philip Watson, author of Pleasure Gardens, joined Philadelphia Horticultural Society President Drew Becher in greeting guests this year’s show, Hawaii: Islands of Aloha, which brought a spectacular Hawaii Village scene to the streets of Philadelphia. Guests were treated tp dramatic projections of crashing waves and an over-the-top, ornate display of over 2,000 white orchids, towering palms, bamboo, green walls, and a plant canopy evoking the Hawaiian rainforest.

Philly has the only LGBT night at a flower show, at least that we know of. But, really, the gays flock to almost any flower show. It’s spring and there’s plenty of time to bloom. Chicago’s Flower & Garden Show, appropriately called “Hort Couture,” is currently in bloom at the Navy Pier. Boston’s Flower & Garden Show kicks off March 14 at the Seaport World Trade Center, followed by San Francisco‘s “Gardens for a Green Earth“ Flower & Garden Show.

Photos courtesy of Jessica Vermeer Hawkes and the Philadelphia Horticulture Society

Check out the slideshow of flowers and their fans…