Thursday, June 7, 2012

Vote for Your Favorite

The reality show equivalent for gardeners may just be the Amercian Garden Award flower-popularity contest.

This year, there are six contestants flaunting their showy petals in twenty-eight participating public gardens throughout the United States. In the Northwest, The Oregon Garden hosts the display, at which gardeners are encouraged to vote for their favorite flowers. Garden visitors can view the entries in person then vote on their favorite by either texting their vote as instructed on the signs in the gardens or using the postage-paid postcards provided by the gardens. For those unable to visit and view the entries in their local public garden, a voting link is available at http://www.americangardenaward.com/.

This year, the entries are Angelonia angustfolia ‘Serena Blue’ by PanAmerican Seed; Begonia boliviensis 'Santa Cruz Sunset' by Ernst Benary of America; Gazania ‘Big Kiss™ White Flame’ by Syngenta Flowers; Petchoa x hybrida 'SuperCal Pink Ice' by Sakata Ornamentals; Petunia ‘Surfinia® Deep Red’ by Suntory Flowers; and Sunflower 'Goldie' F1 by Seeds By Design

Voting will remain open until August 31 and the top three vote-getters will be announced this fall. In the meantime, these flowers should be available at your favorite garden center. Ask for them by name.

Previous year's winners can be viewed at http://ngb.us1.list-manage.com/track/click?u=6b87cbdbca7a158540d881d9e&id=6667d876a6&e=91780fe17f. The American Garden Award program is administered by the All-America Selections®

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