Tesselaar announces August 2011 blog contest winner!

Congratulations to Toril Milbrath of Portland, Oregon, the August winner of Tesselaar's "Great Gardens" blog contest!

She'll be receiving her prize – bare-root Flower Carpet roses – in the spring. Don't miss your chance to win them, too. This month, just submit your best gardening tips or tricks - along with a picture, if you can. The winner will be announced at the beginning of October.

Here's is Toril's winning submission:

Why Gardening Is So Important to Me

By Toril Milbrath

I've been thinking about this for a bit. There are many reasons that gardening is important to me, but I think what means the most to me is all the memories that gardening evokes. I see a spring bloom on a mock almond or smell lily of the valley and it will trigger a vague recollection of a neighbor's yard that I would cut through when I was a kid. Tulips and crocus remind me of rabbits, chicks and Easter.

In my own yard, friends and family have been generous with their plants. A rambling tombstone rose that has taken over an arbor reminds me of my co-worker Mary, who moved from Portland to Boston and left me her plants. (Her herb garden didn't take nearly as well to my heavy clay soil …)

Unfortunately, I'm not good at taking pictures when things are in bloom and spectacular. I also just massively pruned the rambler. It is much more contained than it was a week ago. But, I think my dog adds some visual interest. AND in the rose picture, yes, those ARE Scarlet Flower Carpet roses just poking up in the lower right corner! I didn't even notice until I downloaded the pictures — it wasn't blatant product placement!

Most of my iris collection came from my friend Shelah, who demonstrated how to properly divide the rhizomes in her own iris patch and then gave me what we had divided out.

This fragrant 'Jim's Pride' daphne was a 40th birthday present from my best friend. She said that the bloom was to remind me that we are all fabulous at 40 and going strong! When I planted it, I didn't realize it was a perpetual bloomer. I get that little affirmation every day.

Thanks for the inspiration! 

Thank YOU, Toril! Keep joining us here at Your Easy Garden, and enjoy your Flower Carpet roses!