Garden Picture Contest September 2007
The winners are here.
The Prize
The winner will get their choice of 3 free ebooks.
Runner's up get their choice of 1 free ebook.
How it Works
Submit your pictures using the form below.
Deadline Sept 30, 2007
Judging starts Oct 1 and will run for 2 weeks ending Oct 14. You vote on the picture by making a comment under it.
Readers vote by making comments on each entry. Entries with the most number of comments gets into finals (always assuming they are good comments) :-) Doug can also enter pics into finals.
Decision of judge is final. (Doug is judge)
Please put your email on the entry so I can email the winning entries.
Other readers pictures and comments
Click on the links below to see other gardeners comments about this picture.
The Unique Rose
This is a Tropicana rose in which I entered as a novice, and took first place at the show.
My Cereus Bloom
I may be too late for the contest but wanted everyone to
see this gorgeous bloom. It opened tonite and will be closed back up by morning.
Hybiscus
Simply, BEAUTIFUL
Our beautiful Birch - gone forever-
This space in our garden will never look the same, as we recently lost this lovely tree due to "old age". The Ice storm a few years back did not help.
Pillow Created with Leaves from my (now departed) Birch Tree
As you can see, my beloved
Birch tree lives forever. I used the leafs as "stamps" - each leaf and stem applied with fabric paint, that I had to mix myself ...
Chicory
Usually seen on roadsides,A MUST in a herb garden
cosmo
just after a rain...the last drop...
Ant on Borage
This borage is a nice addition to my garden. It has a very delicate blue flower and is quite pretty.
Delicious Dinner
Sitting by the creek I noticed a black bird with what I originally thought was plastic in it's beak. Then I realized it was a dragonfly!
Golden Leaf
I caught the drip as the sun was melting the ice on the Purple smoke tree leaf.
The Empty Nest
The nest was hidden in the arbour under the virginia creeper vines until fall. It was a delightful fall surprise!
Heavenly Hardy Hibiscus
I just love to photograph these flowers. I thought this one didn't make it this past winter but voila, here it is in all its glory!
Iris 'Immortality'
Captured this re-blooming iris after a rain shower.
Sunflower Delight!
Taken last fall on Manitoulin Island
Taking it all in!
Caught this picture while vacationing at my parent's cottage (Manitoulin Island).
Chestnut
I started this from a nut approx 28 years ago. The sweet smell in spring is almost overtaking.
Giant Hibiscus Blossom
The Botanical Garden in Hannover/Germany (August 2007) showed some wonderful displays of all shapes and sizes of Hibiscus. I just HAD to capture this Blossom....
Dahlia
Dahlias are my favorite summer/fall bulb. I particularly like the fact that it will bloom right into fall and frost.. And of course they create more bulbs ...
Sanctuary
This is on the east side of our brick courtyard. We often sit on the swing and just relax and unwind, and count our many blessings as we watch the birds ...
'Tiger Eye' cutleaf sumac
A stand-out plant with interesting form and color.
Roses
Pink Roses
Dahlia
dahlia picture
Backyard Sanctuary
I recently moved from an apartment to a house that I bought. The previous home owners had 2 big dogs running around in the yard and could not do much ...
Got Cabbage?
My 9 year old daughter grew this cabbage for a contest at school. The contest was cancelled not long after it started due to a regional drought. However,...
Yellow Trumpets from heaven
A first time attempt at growing these beautiful plants from cuttings!
Night Blooming Cereus Catus
Received this plant from friends just a few weeks ago. It had three buds and I have had the privilege of watching them bloom. Two bloomed in the same night ...
Clematis Jackmanii
This "faithful" Beauty adorns
our bedroom window - just like a curtain
Passion Flower
This is the only type of passion flower that will grow here in Ontario.
BUGGY BUDDIES
This is the only purple and white columbine I had this year, and the bug visitors were a bonus for this picture.
Autumn Birches
The leaves remind me of an Impressionist's brushstrokes.
Butterfly on Butterfly Bush
This was one of those picture perfect moments.
Honeybee
Gymnocoronis spilanthoides variegated, also known as Bengal Tea plant, is an invasive plant in temperate areas. In Colorado it is an annual plant. It attracts ...
Poppy Riot
What a colour riot. Too bad they last only a very short time!
Campion Early Evening
Some call it a weed; some call it pretty.
Best Blue Poppy
This is a photo of my blue poppy in bloom, which took three years to really bloom. I purchased the plant at the Montreal Botanical garden weekend.
As ...
Yellow Hibiscus
I thought this yellow hibiscus with the orange center fits right in with Autumn almost here.
Curious Koi enjoys Marsh Marigold
The Marsh Marigold is one of the earliest blooms in the pond during the spring. The Koi become more active as the temperatures begin to rise and this ...
Bright and Cheery!
My first flowers to bloom in the spring.
Tomorrow We Fly! - Morning Doves
It was fun watching these two morning dove youngsters grow up. Their nest was just outside of our landscape design office window. The parents would let ...
Morning Doves - Tomorrow We Fly! -
It is a closer view of the birds.
Snow Balls
These came out so full and lush this year...a real pleasure to view.. I just love the color.
Rose of Sharon Delight
These are one of my favorites..just beautiful blooms this year. I love sitting in my backyard with my morning coffee, just drinking in all of this beauty!...
Peeping Tom
I caught this beauty peeping out at me
A sunflower smile
This is a special sunflower. It survived a damaging hail storm in August and came out smiling
Granny Will Never Know
This is my grandson, we'll call MP. He and I planted the corn and beans this year, and he feels now all the beans are his. So when we are out in the yard ...
My Little Piece of Paradise
Once a level, dry and partially grass filled lawn has evolved rock by rock, plant by plant..It has thankfully been my hobby for 10 or more years. It has ...
New beginnings
Our garden is a monarch waystation, and throughout the summer we've had numerous monarchs hatching. I caught this one just as the chrysalis split and followed ...
These Leaves are Delicious !
I took this picture in my vegetable garden this summer. Despite the tomato worm's big appetite, the plant managed to produce tomatoes !
Antenna or Horns
This is a photo of a monarch caterpillar on milkweed. It was poised and ready to have its picture taken. I have tried to let milkweed plants grow in the ...
Skipper and the flower
Patience payed off and i finnaly caught this Skipper on a Nicandra bloom
Tree Peony
I planted a tree peony in the spring of 2006, and the plant did nothing at all until this spring when it produced three glorious flowers.
Fall Rose
A rose in Fall is always special
My New Perennial Garden
We built this garden last year. We had lots of fun searching for the many, many rocks needed to line the pathways. This photo was taken July 16th, 2007....
Spring Tree Peony blossoms
I've planted many tree peonies in my yard and they do take quite some time to produce a show. Two of them did so this Spring and I just had to bring them ...
Showered Poppy
One of the poppy variations that I have in my wildflower garden.
Matching Flowers
I am a daycare provider and this was a fun task for my little ones to do, is to take a box of crayons and match them with flowers in the garden
We ...
Caught in the act! Turtles love tomatoes
My very first ripe tomato of the season and this box turtle found it first..
Lotus pod
I like it when it's fresh..... but it last only for 2 days
Cheery Faces!
Ahhhhh, to have a south facing window for these babies through the winter!
Frosted Dahlia
Late september frost on my Dahlia
Nights Sunflower
The light from a deck light made this shot
spider lily
only blooms we got in 4 years
A Different View
Taking pictures of flowers is my love, especially from my own garden.
I love the diffent way I took this picture.
Fun Veggies, Mittens and Snowballs in Texas in July!
I garden at Our Saviour Community Garden in Dallas, Texas. Every week we harvest vegetables from our "Plot Against Hunger" to be donated to the Southeast ...
Zinnia past it's prime
Even after the colour has gone, this zinnia still looks great in the way out.
Dahlias after the rain
Dahlias are one of my favourites summer bulbs..
Raindrops - Begonia
I took this picture just after a rainfall. I like the gentle effect of the raindrops on the flower.
From Rubble to Beautiful
We ownd this vacant lot across the street from our home that everyone seemed to use as a dumping site , so one day we decided to turn it into a garden....
Beautiful Begonia
This year I tried growing some begonia in pots and I must say, they are thriving. I especially like this one!
Apple blossom
We have two large apple trees and this year there were blossoms plentiful! I couldn't resist capturing it's beauty.
Even with a dry summer, had a GREAT Garden 2007
Loved my garden this year. I have cut flowers every week, I canned tons of tomatoes for the first time. Raspberries--I get 3-4 quarts every other day....
Roses
I am not big on rose bushes, but this one is beautiful.
Day lilies
I do so enjoy day lilies. Such a pity that each bloom just lasts for a day, so I intend to have lots of large clumps.
Calla lily
I absolutely love the colour of this graceful lily in the spring.
A Sunflower's Early Days
This is one of a series of pictures that I had taken of this particular sunflower. I have having a series of 3 mounted and framed.
East Tennessee Sunshine
This is a great photo of one of the sunflowers I had in my yard this summer. The wild yellow finches love the seeds from them and the bummble bees love ...
Yellow Swallow Tail
My butterfly bush actually works!! This plant has attracted so many Monarchs and smaller versions, but the Yellow Swallow Tail is the largest and most ...
Yellow Crab Spider on Yellow Marigold
I like the yellow of the crab spider on the yellow marigold.
money plant seed pods
I like interesting textures and unique effects. I thought the light coming through these seed pods was fantastic.
Anise Swallowtail Caterpillar
This little guy caught me by surprise hiding out in the rue.
Pink Rose
I don't think there has ever been an ugly rose. I can't take credit for growing this lovely pink beauty, but i can still admire it's beauty through a camera ...
Blue Flax
I planted flax because it's indestructable, yet one blossom is so delicate.
Monarch on Royal Blue
A Monarch on a Giant Delphinium in the back 40
Welcome to My Web
This Crab spider spent 3 days on the same bloom of this False Sunflower...Good Hunting
A Ghostly Chit -Chat: Indian Pipes
While walking with my friend at the edge of a forested area that is kept as a natural wild flower area, she pointed out what appeared to be a clump of ...
japanese beetle on milkweed
This little guy is so beautiful. He was fattening himself up on the milkweed. I love the metallic color.
The East is Red.
I wanted to try a bold colour with my new garden ornament. It worked very well, and I'm so pleased.
My Patio Garden in Spring
I built this little patio myself. It is a pleasure to sit here and enjoy the morning activities of the squirrels, bees, hummers and butterflies. Hope you ...
Butterfly
love zinnia's, love butterflys
Resting in the Zinnias
I have stood at my living room window hour after hour trying to capture a hummer in the flowers which are right outside the window. THAT is a difficult ...
Jack
Saw the rain drops on the leaves and thought i looked nice
hungry bee
saw the pure white flower and liked the bee position
see through dalia
Lighting on this flower looked cool.
twin lilly's
These look like twins to me.......
A Beautiful Spiderwort
We have several Spiderwort plants of various colors, but I think this one looks like it was just airbrushed by an artist.
Crocosmia
This was my first Crocosmia and I fell in love with the beauty in simplicity of the flower. We now have many Crocosmias, in different colors, growing in ...
Beautiful Milkweed
Sometimes weeds can be just as beautiful as the flowers we grow in our gardens
Sunflower Dinner Plate
This sunflower was planted by our daughter, her first planting experience and our first attempt at growing sunflowers. What a surprise it was for her and ...
Zinnias at Night
These are all photos from my home garden in Potomac, Md. The photos were taken by me. And this one is a zinnia
Doing Double Duty
We 've had a very dry summer.This picture was taken the morning after I had soaked this flower bed with a weeper hose.The extra moisture seemed to create ...
Free Plant Volunteer
I have a number of bird feeders in the garden and if I see something coming up I will let it grow just to see what turns out, the birds must have brought ...
Have a little bee with your Zinnia
I planted these zinnia's from seed, I'm so pleased with the variety of colors and the fact that they just keep flowering!Not only do bees like them, but ...
Surprise
My first tomato of the season. Yummy.
tropical vine, macuna
New guinea creeper,or Macuna,a vine in my garden, the flowers are similar to jade vine .Flowers two to three times a year as it rains all most throughout ...
symmetry
I took this picture while strolling the streets of Old St. Charles, Mo.
Lotus
Picture was taken in the morning on the 2nd day of the blomming.
Pretty Trumpet Lilies taking over the garden
My Daughter gave me two trumpet lily plants and now they are taking over my small flower garden and now my vegetable garden. I love their smell after they ...
Yellow bird takes a ride on the coneflowers
I took this picture of a cute little yellow bird on one of my coneflowers. Although he was probably nibling on the center of the flower, I have noticed ...
Almost there...
While looking at my sunflowers I noticed this one that's not quite open yet. I really like the interesting pattern inside the unopened flower. Usually ...
Mill Wheel
I built this as a backdrop for the garden. Love the sound of water in the gardens.
A huge Orchid
I took this at Meijer Garden and Sculpture Park here in Grand Rapids, Mi. Orchids are my passion, I have eight plants now, only one in bloom
I may ...
Pink is Pretty
I took this photo at the Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park in Grand Rapids Mi. Its one of my favorite places to spend carefree time at.
Butterflies Delight
Swallowtail butterfly with a hole in it's wing. I've wondered if it got caught on something.
Bee Mine
Sunflowers planted by birds. They were really large and beautiful and evidently smelled very good at least the bee thought so.
Hydrangea Coming into Bloom
This is the 3rd year for this Hydrangea and it is finally blooming. I planted this out 3 yrs ago and it was blue. It died off the first year and the second ...
Lily
Summer blooming bulb
Is this your garden?
Here in Nanoose Bay, Vancouver Island these are the biggest drawback to growing a complete garden. We have daily visits from our "deer" friends, so our ...
From clay to "Hey!"
Having clay soil prompted me to build this raised garden, using cement bricks I got for free and 7 yards of top soil hauled in. A friend helped with the ...
Raku Place, almost at full flood
Koi Island is one of twenty named gardens on 47 acres in northwestern Pennsylvania
Gardening Dogs
This was a posed picture taken of our late dogs Taffy and Licorice. They spent most of their summers assisting me with yard work.
Zinnia bud...almost ready.
Each year I plant 2 zinnia crops...early may and late July. this is one of the first buds on the late crop. I plant them to attract butterflies...which ...
Bee on globe thistle
This is a picture which surprised me. A bee enjoying a globe thistle.
Morning Rose
Early one morning as the dew lay softly on the earth, the morning rose gave glory to it's Maker.
Pretty In Pink
This picture is from my Sister-In-Law's Garden, It is a beautiful tree peony.
Container obsessed
Went crazy with containers....
Jen's Hosta Garden
This is my favorite flower bed. Every year it just gets prettier and bigger!
Lilly in May
I love this picture because it looks like you can reach in and touch it.
Old Rose
A close-up of an old rose I inherited when I bought my house. I think it's lovely. Maintained organically and worth every effort.
Too many flowers?
To all that think there are simply too many flowers, I answer:
Just like there can never be too much money, there also can never be too many flowers....
Captain Jack Marigold
I made a small flower bed in the bottom of an old wooden boat.
Butterfly Garden
My son and I followed this beauty as it flew around my 20'x90' perennial garden in the back yard until it settled.
Toad Lily
This one is for you Ted...
A late bloomer, but worth the wait!!!
Feast for Body and Soul
I just love planting "Eddibles" in
shallow bowls by the pond and
near the kitchen. Here, some pansies are trying to compete with some lettuce.
Water lilies, Fairy Moss and Duckweed
A closeup of my hardy Water lilies. They overwinter at the bottom of the pond (18" deep)
with no problem ever.
Lobelia, Impatiens and Bellflowers Between Rocks
Landscaping with rocks is Hubby's passion, like presenting me with a blank canvas, ready to "paint"
Good omen
My garden is new this year. I was thrilled to find this little frog quite high up in a rhododendron. I subsequently saw a smaller version of him/her-...
Gazanias in bloom
These orange beauties are such a beautiful sight the moment the sun, shines just as bright.
My little haven
This is actually the first time I tried gardening so I thought I'd start with the basics (or at least what the lady I met in the store said.) Tried the ...
Giant Tulip
This was one of those pics I quickly snapped off , and loved the result...
Zinnia
Zinnia's are my old time favorite's...they love to be photographed
On Stage in Twilight
Love to walk through the garden before the sun sets. Enjoy the hues and colors at this special time of the day.
Creepy Old Oak
This old oak has withstood many a storm. Has lost several huge limbs including the one that held our "old swing under the old oak tree". The virginia ...
Fern Peony
Picture Taken May 27. This plant is my first Peony to flower in the spring. Kanata is in zone 4b.
Backyard
This picture gives a general view of a portion of my yard in mid-June
Yellow Brugmansia Tree in Bloom
I rec'd this Brugmansia a year ago as a new rooted clipping. Approx. 18 inches high. It is currently approx. 7 feet high.
Pond
Pond reflections
Where is Kermi the Frog?
Every year, the kids next door
present me with some frogs for our garden pond. They catch them in their grandparents swimmingpool - and yes - I also LOVE ...
Asian Lilies and Poppies
Yellow Lillies among a sea of red
Poppies now hidden by the Lillies
Poppies and Lilies
Just love my Poppies, so much,
that every fall I scatter the seeds
whereever they may fall and after they give me a wonderful "Show", I just remove them,...
Red Poppy - my Favorite -
I am "inlove" with Poppies, here
is a single bloom photographed
"Unnamed" Watergarden plant
During my recent visit to Germany, I visited a botanical garden in Hannover, where I found this lovely plant in a pond. Too bad, I did not get its name,...
Spring Colour
Nothing like the fresh colours of spring to brighten your day.
The ties that bind
A volunteer this year in my veggie garden. I have a fascination
with these beauties which wind, and wind, and wind.....
SnowStorm & Poplars
I wondered at the time, whether I should really be out here in this storm ... but hey.
Look at my "Lilies"
These are my "Lilies" in full bloom, I have battled deer, squirrels, and thankfully no lily bugs. I planted these Lilies in honor of my Dad, each year ...
Persian Shield & Coleus
Nice rich colors from container plant foliage.