How does your garden grow? Are your veggies and flowers of award-winning quality?
The best way to find out is to enter your little plot of green in the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society’s annual citywide garden contest. But hurry up. The deadline is June 10.
Not that entering is difficult. It’s easy. You can do it online or by phone.
For the online entry form, visit www.pennsylvaniahorticulturalsociety.org/events/city_entrantformNEW.html
That form may be printed and sent to:
City Gardens Contest
Pennsylvania Horticultural Society
100 N. 20th St.
Philadelphia, PA 19103–1495
To get more information or to enter by phone, call the horticultural society’s educational activities manager, Flossie Narducci, at 215–988–8897.
The categories are the same this year as last, Narducci said, but the judging will be a little different, and perhaps more convenient for the society’s volunteer judges and contestants.
This year, there will be just one round of judging — from July 5 to Aug. 12, Narducci said. One visit is easier to arrange than two, given that so many people might be away on vacation in July and August.
Previously, judges would visit gardens in July and select the best for another round of judging in August, during which the winners were picked in each category. Winners will be announced in September during the horticultural society’s Fall Garden Festival at the Philadelphia Navy Yard.
Contest categories:
• Flower Garden: Any size garden, most of which comprise flowers or trees and shrubs. It may have some containers. A community flower garden is cared for by three or more neighbors.
ull; Vegetable Garden: Any size garden, most of which are composed of vegetables, cared for individually. A community vegetable garden is cared for by three or more neighbors.
• Combination Garden: Any size garden with vegetables and flowers. Not always exactly half and half, but both should make a significant impact. A community combination garden is cared for by three or more neighbors.
• Container Garden: A garden area where most plants are grown in containers.
• Children’s Garden: A home garden, a plot within a community garden, or a garden on school grounds that is maintained primarily by school-age children, usually under adult supervision.
• Park: A neighborhood park with planted beds.
• Garden Block: A block in which a majority of the residents display window boxes and street planters containing shrubs and/or flowers.
• Greenest Block in Town: A tree-lined block in which residents garden in their front yards. The block may also include containers and plantings along the sidewalks and street.
• Urban Farm: An entrepreneurial operation that grows and sells fruits, vegetables and flowers and donates a percentage of its produce to its community or a food cupboard.
Contest rules:
• Gardens entered for competition must be located within the Philadelphia city limits.
• Contest deadline — June 10
• Gardens must be maintained by home gardeners for individual entries or multiple (three or more) neighborhood gardeners for a community garden.
• Individual plots within a community garden are not eligible for competition unless planted and maintained by youth up to age 18.
• For individual contestants, only one entry per address.
• Contestants volunteering as judges are not permitted to judge other gardens in the same category as their gardens.
• Individual gardens owned or maintained by PHS employees are not eligible for competition.
• PHS works to accommodate contestants’ schedules during July and August judging. If the garden is not accessible from the street, contestants must be present or make arrangements to have someone present for judging.
• Decisions of the judges are final.
• Winners will be notified by mail.
• Winners’ names and garden photos may be used in the PHS News, on the Web site and in other publications. Home addresses will not be published.
• Awards will be presented at a reception at a time to be announced later. ••
