2011 Spring Photo Contest Winners

by Amanda

We had hundreds of entries in our Spring Photo Contest this year and are excited to announce our winners!

Our Grand Prize Winner is Kristi S. from Minnesota. She had this to say about her winning photo: "I love going out into my gardens and seeing what wildlife that the flowers bring. All the different Butterflies, hummingbirds, and to my surprise a very photogenic tree frog! I have always found it good therapy for me to go out and work in my gardens and I think every season has its beauty."

Esther B. from Pennsylvania won with this photo of her wildflower garden. "Yes, that one turned out beautiful. I am an avid flower bed gardener, but after seeing a wildflower patch in my next door neighbor’s yard, I got inspired to try a hand at wild flower gardening. Two years ago, I planted one plot and had such great success, that this year, I did 5 plots on our land, each with a different combination of seeds and with different color schemes. This was truly the “wildest” one with the most variety of flowers in it and it bloomed continually all summer. I have three school age daughters who spent lots of happy hours out in the sun helping me prepare the soil, rake in the seeds, water them and watch them grow. I planted them in late April and had the first blooms in about seven weeks! My daughters love picking beautiful wildflower bouquets for people in our neighborhood and everyone has commented on the success of the planting. Now we are watching the birds, especially the gold finches enjoying the bounty of seed produced!"

Debra J. from Michigan won the contest with this photo of her lilies. " I have many gardens, mixed with different flowers but I have become very fond of growing lilies. Their colors can be bright and exciting, or calm and soothing, but they never seem to fail to surprise me. I love looking for different types, and colors to add to my gardens, and add them in anywhere I can find a little room. If you have not yet tried lilies, your missing some of the most exciting , easy to grow bulbs.Flower gardening brings joy to my inner self, I hope that others find that gardening fulfillment also."

Ann W. won the contest with this adorable photo of Black Eyed Susans.

Thank you to all who entered our Spring 2011 Photo Contest! We truly enjoyed seeing all of your gorgeous photos. Happy Gardening!