For the third year in a row, The Mercer County Community College Horticulture Program will create a display for the Philadelphia Flower Show, running March 5 to 13.
WEST WINDSOR -- This year, Mercer County Community College is bringing the Jersey Shore to Philadelphia's annual Flower Show.
The college's horticulture program is currently showing "New Jersey Coastal Heritage," for the show's theme of "Explore America: 100 Years of the National Park Service."
The show started March 5 and ends Sunday.
MCCC is the only community college and the only college or university from New Jersey at the show, Horticulture Program Coordinator Amy Ricco said.
"Being the only school from New Jersey we said we got to do something New Jersey," Ricco said. "And everyone loves the shore."
Ricco said she and other staff members of the horticulture program thought up the shore concept in May and students started getting involved growing, building and researching the shore's national park heritage since the fall.
She said 12 students in the program are contributing to the display - coming to the college's greenhouse on Saturdays and in between classes to get it completed.
"I am so proud of the students' dedication to the process and everyone involved," Ricco said.
Not only did the horticulture students participate, but Ricco said the Graphic Design, Architecture, Art, Maintenance and Television and Radio departments all helped as well.
With their assistance, she said ocean sounds will be heard throughout the exhibit and a 3D model of the entire display was built to guide them as they grow.
"One of our goals this year was to get more programs and people involved," Ricco said.
At the flower show, visitors of the New Jersey Coastal Heritage Trail exhibit will first walk through a 22-foot replica of the Sandy Hook Lighthouse, a part of the Gateway National Recreation Area reserved by the National Park Service, Ricco said.
She said that structure had to be built in a student's home because the greenhouse on campus was not big enough to house it, referencing the "literally hundreds of hours" student volunteers put into the project.
Ricco said after walking through the lighthouse, visitors will then step onto a boardwalk surrounded by dunes, Prickly Pear Cactus and beach grass - all which are currently in pots in the greenhouse and need to be removed and planted at the Philadelphia Flower Show.
She said the team of student and staff volunteers had only three days and 23 by 33 feet of space to work with when setting up.
"I can't even describe how chaotic it is," Ricco said.
She said the first year MCCC participated, they only had half that amount of space to work with.
"Then you walk over a body of water representing the Barnegat and Manahawkin Bays," she said, continuing to talk through the design. Surrounding the water - which will also be installed by the students and staff - will be marshes and 1,500 pounds of sand.
Topiary sculptures of a Loggerhead Turtle and Great Blue Heron will be in the bay area of the display.
Student Colleen Wurtz said to make the topiaries she and other volunteers had to stuff and thread metal frames of the animals - both endangered - with Sphagnum moss and then plant materials into the moss.
Wurtz said the shell of the turtle is covered in purple succulent plants while the heron has Black Mondo Grass on it giving it the allusion of having hair.
Ricco said the last part of the display will show where the Delaware River empties into the ocean. A formal butterfly garden will be in this area along with a mural showing the colonial tea burning protest in the river.
"Not many people know that a tea burning happened in the Delaware River too," Ricco said. Most people only know of the Boston Tea Party where prominent colonial figures dumped tea into the Boston Harbor. However many protests of its kind occurred along the eastern shore during the years of 1773 and 1774.
Ricco said this year she focused more on the educational aspect of the flower show. Signs will display short facts which then two volunteers - always on site - can explain further to visitors.
Student volunteer Pam Mills said one fact she found was that New Jersey was the first state to cultivate blueberries, which will be represented in the exhibit by blueberry bushes.
"I found New Jersey is celebrating 100 years of cultivating blueberries so I thought that was cool," Mills said, who also "loves the theme because she loves national parks."
Ricco said she is excited to see the reaction of visitors when it is all done.
"A week from today it's going to be done," she said. "You've watched the place come to life. I'm a little nervous, excited to see it all unfold."
The 2016 Philadelphia Flower Show ends Sunday. It's located on Market Street between 11th and 12th Streets in Philadelphia. Tickets can be purchased on the event website.
Lindsay Rittenhouse may be reached at lrittenhouse@njadvancemedia.com. Find NJ.com on Facebook.