Mercer’s Horticulture program took home a gold medal for their exhibit in the 2024 Philadelphia Flower Show. Led by Amy Ricco, Professor and program coordinator for Horticulture, Plant Science and Sustainability, this marked their 11th year participating in the event.
Mercer selected urban community gardens as their exhibit to tie into the show’s overall theme, “United By Flowers.”
Ricco was originally asked by the Pennsylvania Horticulture Society (PHS) to base the garden around Philadelphia but says, “We didn’t want to do just Philadelphia because we’re from Trenton. We came to a common ground that we would do a section of Philadelphia and Trenton and do a sister city concept.”
Though the show ran from March 2-10, volunteers joined Ricco in early December to start preparing for the event. To plan the design for the community garden, Ricco collaborated with Dave DeFrange, adjunct Professor of Landscape Construction and Design.
DeFrange says, “Amy really looks at the education side. My focus is really on the construction, making sure that we can build out and create [the garden]. That’s where my specialty comes in.”
Students from the horticulture program joined Ricco and DeFrange throughout the winter to start the planting process. In the earlier months, they spent their days growing vegetables from seed, inspecting for insects, and watering and repotting the plants.
Matthew Shteynberg, a second-year Ornamental Horticulture major says there were some challenges in the beginning. He continues, “The first batches that we planted, a good part of them turned out to be pest damage. It was mainly the later batches that we decided we could take to the flower show.”
While the plants were maturing in the greenhouse, Graphic Design Club advisors, Professor Zamora and Professor LaPlaca along with student volunteers worked on the signage for the exhibit which included the educational displays, the 26-foot by 10-foot backdrop for the garden, and the logo for “Two Cities, One Garden.”
Professor Ricco and horticulture student volunteers building the garden wall. PHOTO | Julia Meriney 
Professor Ricco and horticulture student volunteers building the garden wall. PHOTO | Julia Meriney 
Graphic Design Club students who worked on the signage for MCCC’s exhibit. PHOTO | Tina LaPlaca 
Beehives placed in the pollinator garden at MCCC’s Flower Show exhibit. PHOTO | Julia Meriney 
Educational signs and 26-foot by 10-foot brick building backdrop made by the Graphic Design Club for MCCC’s exhibit. PHOTO | Julia Meriney
In addition to the graphic design displays, the final exhibit featured a tool shed, washing station, and greenhouse that visitors could walk through, and beehives placed among the gardens.
Jeff Burd, a local beekeeper and returning student at Mercer, provided the beehives for the display. Burd says this was an important feature in the exhibit because beehives are beneficial for community gardens.
Burd continues, “Honeybees are very important when it comes to pollination. They make the quality and quantity of the plants increase for the benefit of all when it comes to harvest time.”
Including these elements in the final design earned Mercer’s team a gold in the education department. Ricco says, “Only two golds were awarded, us and Temple.”
They also earned the Chicago Horticulture Society Award for their demonstration of knowledge and technical skills at a nationally recognized flower show, and the Pennsylvania Garden Federation Award for “Unusual Excellence”.
In addition, they were recognized by the Herb Society for their usage and quality of herbs throughout the display.
Shteynberg says he learned a lot during the four months of preparation and plans on starting a vegetable garden of his own modeled after the exhibit.
When asked about his reaction to the awards, Shteynberg says, “I had high hopes. I expected to win gold. I would not have put all that effort just for a silver.”
