“Flower Power” and the spirit of the 1960s was the theme of this year’s Philadelphia Flower Show at the Pennsylvania Convention Center. Hosted by the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society (PHS) and dating back to 1829, it is now the nation’s largest flower. This year’s show also hosted the Interflora World Cup. The last time this event was held in the United States was 1985.
Crowds filled the Center, many embodying the spirit of the event, wearing hippy flower crowns, bell bottom jeans and psychedelic colors surrounded by even brighter flowers.
Mercer’s own Horticulture students presented a display. The title of the project was “The Power of a Rooftop Oasis” and it paid homage to the difficulties and unique beauty that urban container gardening can bring. Mercer won a silver medal in the educational category.
Mercer’s exhibit featured a flowered edged walkway, a water fountain, and a graffiti painted hut set against a backdrop of Trenton’s skyline.
Amy Ricco, coordinator of the the Horticulture program says, “We had to decide what was going to be our platform for teaching container gardening and we decided to do something completely different this year in our sixth year doing this. So we decided to use a rooftop as our platform.”
Professor Ricco says one of the hardest elements is forcing the plants to bloom on time.
“We’re shooting for the end of February to have stuff in bloom that might normally bloom in the summertime…Some people will hire other people to do it but we’re doing it here and it’s a challenge,” Ricco says.
This project wouldn’t have been possible if not for cooperation of the whole team. The help of the graphic design, digital media art, graffiti artist, and horticulture departments worked with each other to piece this exhibit together.
James MacDuff, who was is studying graphic design at Mercer had his logo chosen for the display. He says “The whole convention was about flower power…so I looked at certain fonts that were from the 60…and then our thing is ‘urban oasis’ so for the urban I used a cityscape”.
Professor Rico says “It’s great collaborating with other programs on campus…It’s neat for us to be able to represent Mercer in this way and have it be such a valuable learning experience”
Reese Amorosi, who participated in the flower show and had plants in the competition that won various places and ribbons says, “I like being around people who are also so involved in growing whether it’s for food or beauty. To be around people that are also inspired by your dream and of our city or county is inspiring.”
One attendee of the event, Lisa Cawley who lives in Philadelphia says “Since I was born in the 60s this is awesome for me” The sentiment was echoed by many.
