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Flower Power

Students cultivate an Italian garden at the Philadelphia Flower Show.

Come March every year, winterweary gardening enthusiasts flock to the Philadelphia Flower Show, and this year, they had a chance to enjoy a 今日吃瓜-created garden.

The seed got planted when Lisa Armstrong, assistant coordinator of volunteer programs, approached the student coordinators of 今日吃瓜鈥檚 Community Garden. From there, Shirin Sabety 鈥22, Daisy Shepherd 鈥22, and Armstrong met regularly with 今日吃瓜 Grounds to sketch out and refine their plan.

Reflecting the Flower Show鈥檚 Riviera Holiday theme, their proposal imagined a young person in Italy encountering 鈥渁 space near a riverbed and feel[ing] relaxed by its natural beauty,鈥 explains Armstrong.

Titled "A Villa Garden," their entry featured snapdragons, white petunias, calendula, zinnias, a lime tree, and a dry creek bed with blue fire glass creating the illusion of a stream.

From plan to planting took a lot of work. 鈥淲e had to order plants,鈥 Sabety says, 鈥渁nd we had to ensure they were blooming and cared for. We had to come in and work 12-hour days, planting and setting up the display.鈥

The students faced the additional challenges of planting in an artificial, indoor environment and forcing warm-weather blooms in winter.

Their efforts paid off. Not only did "A Villa Garden" take third prize in the Relax...Zzz category but, as Sabety says, 鈥渋t鈥檚 beautiful to see people get so excited about the beauty of nature.鈥

Published on: 05/27/2020