NVCC’s Horticulture program took home two awards during its debut appearance at the 38th Annual Connecticut Flower and Garden Show. The “April in Paris” display showcased a Parisian street in the midst of bloom and impressed Thursday’s judges winning “Best Outdoor Living Space,” and “Best Urban Garden.” The display was “truly a community effort,” said Christopher Tuccio, Associate Professor and Program Coordinator of Horticulture at NVCC, who said that the flower show was something he was glad to see the college participate in.
Nearly 50 students and several faculty and staff members collaborated to bring the display of tulips, daffodils, Boston ferns, cyclamen, and sedum to life. To prepare for the show students helped propagate, prep, pot, and force a variety of flowers and bulbs so they could be ready in time. During NVCC’s Fall 2018 semester, students from Tuccio’s Landscape Construction class participated in a one day charrette to come up with the design. Students from the College’s spring semester Landscape Design class assembled and installed the design at the Connecticut Convention Center in Harford where the show is held. Students, faculty, and staff spent about 40 hours installing the award-winning display and a different mix of NVCC students volunteered to talk with attendees walking by the exhibit Thursday-Sunday. Tuccio says he hopes to return to the show next year, but plans to have his design class involved in planning the design and his construction class installing it.
“Our Horticulture program brings vibrancy and beauty to our lives on a daily basis,” said NVCC President Daisy Cocco De Filippis, Ph.D. “The gardens of Naugatuck Valley Community College, cultivated by our talented faculty and students, are above all, microcosms of the values we hold dear at our beloved college, and truly powerful outcomes assessment of the work undertaken in our classrooms, greenhouses and teaching gardens. I am not surprised, therefore, that our faculty and students are recognized for the designs that incorporate these values. We, at NVCC, celebrate their achievement!”
NVCC is the only community college in Connecticut that offers a degree in horticulture. Through the program, students can continue their education at a four-year university or apply for employment in landscaping, greenhouses, garden centers or landscape design centers. More than 500 students have received training at NVCC and have gone on to start their own businesses. For more information, visit nv.edu/horticulture.