Selected Garden Photo Contest Submissions and Winner

This is a lighter version of my newsletter as last edition I covered a lot of the Fall work. 

Following is a selection of photos submitted for the photo contest. Some of the submissions came from client’s gardens with which I am familiar, but most were new gardens that I have never seen across New England. The other photos in the newsletter, all with Butterflies, are from additional submissions.

These are my choices for a series of arbitrary sub-category winners and the overall prize winner at the end. The only editing that I performed was to crop so they would work well in the various newsletter formats. Unfortunately, in a few cases the image quality declined a little.  M.K. of Waltham, MA is the winner of a free 2 hour consultation for her garden.  Congratulations, and I look forward to visiting your beautiful garden.

Thank you for the many submissions, and I wish I could publish them all as you clearly have a passion and love for your gardens and gardening.

Winner- Best Re-Use of Recreational Equipment
J.M. Bedford, NH

Love the use of the old canoe as a large planter. Drill some big drainage holes and go to town. This also gets an award for “Most Shameless Use Of A Family Pet To Influence The Judge”. Nice Try, J.

Winner- Most Colorful Foundation Border
M. S-M. Arlington, MA

Beautiful, mid-Summer border filled with Phlox, Verbena, Hemerocalis, Dahlia, Monarda, Leucathemum, Rudbeckia, Hydrangea and others, and this is only part of the border. This one looks to be a bit of work with annuals, tubers, perennials, but it is clearly worth it and a well loved garden in a high profile space. Sometimes you can just pick a smaller space that you see regularly and go all in.

Winner- Macro Photo of Important Pollinator
J.R. Branford, CT

A Sachem Skipper on an ornamental onion. These moth-like insects are also part of the butterfly family with their antennae and long tongues to reach hard to get nectar. Beautiful color when seen close-up, even if they aren’t as colorful as their Monarch cousins. If you stop and take a long look, you will be amazed by the number of different insects that come to diversely planted beds.

Winner- Best ‘Set It And Forget It’ Garden
V.B. Lexington, MA

A beautiful, natural garden of largely, but not completely, native plants: Rudbeckia, Pulmonaria, Liatris, Monarda, Leucanthemum, Asclepias, Oenothera, Solidago, Eutrochium, and others. Also, beautiful texture with the bigger evergreens in the background. This is a garden that is shifting from Summer flowers to late Summer flowers.  Some people like clean, heavily-tended gardens, while others are willing to let things go a little. Both can be beautiful. 

Winner- There’s A Fungus Amungus!
B.J. Sherborn, MA

Those are some big mushrooms! I am no expert on fungus and would never recommend any fungus to eat, but this reader said a neighbor identified it and enjoyed a substantial meal. Maybe it is a Chicken of the Woods mushroom. In any case, fungal bodies like this indicate some form of rot or decay of wood. Not always a great sign, but does not necessarily indicate imminent danger.

Winner – Best Butterfly Photo & Overall Runner-up
C.E. Nashua, NH

I told you I was a sucker for photos with Butterflies, and this is a beautiful photo focused on an Eastern Swallowtail Butterfly on some Garden phlox. They provide a nice flat flower and nectar for Swallowtails when they are present. The aperture used for the photo also teases with fuzzy color drifts of other red, blue, white and orange flowers in the background. A well-composed photo of a beautiful pollinator in a large and colorful garden.

OVERALL CONTEST WINNER
M.K. Waltham, MA

A beautiful garden photo that reveals the wonderful textures of the bigger trees: Seven Son’s Flower, Cryptomeria, Chamaecyparis. Then you get to the amazing color layer of the many perennials and annuals: Salvia, Agastache, Petunia, Delphinium, Verbena, Phlox and so many others. You just want to sit under that umbrella with a glass of iced tea. I sense this garden may be a bit of work, and it is worth it with its mostly cool palette. M.K. says this garden was built from a bare lot 18 years ago. Congratulations, and I can’t wait to come and see!

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