We're Digging It | Journal Gazette

In Your Garden: Top 10 finalists

Anne Gregory — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 11:15:00 EST

Here are the top 10 garden entries, decided by readers’ votes, listed in alphabetical order:

Vote for your favorite garden photo

Anne Gregory — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 14:09:00 EST

Only a few days remain to vote in The Dirt’s second annual garden photo contest.

In your garden 2010: Entry 40

Bob Smith — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 16:15:00 EST

Here is a part of our gardens, out beside the driveway to the barn. It is edged , but we have allowed milkweeds to grow (the blossoms are removed after we smell them, before the seeds mature to be blown away).

In your garden 2010: Entry 39

Tracy Bellavance — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 16:15:00 EST

I garden because digging in the dirt is good for the mind.

In your garden 2010: Entry 36

Don Orban — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 14:15:00 EST

Perennial Prickly Pear cactus that blooms in early June.

In your garden 2010: Entry 37

Jane Habig — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 15:15:00 EST

I have been in this house for 13 years; the trees are now getting to be a good size and the roses did well this year.

In your garden 2010: Entry 35

Mon, 30 Aug 2010 13:15:00 EST

Sandra Zozulia lives in the Lafayette Place neighborhood on the south side of Fort Wayne.

In your garden 2010: Entry 38

Judy Johnson — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 12:15:00 EST

I like to plant impatiens each year because they continuously bloom all summer long and are loaded with flowers.

In your garden 2010: Entry 34

Mon, 30 Aug 2010 12:15:00 EST

Nancy Thrush lives in Columbia City.

In your garden 2010: Entry 33

Mon, 30 Aug 2010 11:15:00 EST

Robert D. Anderson lives in LaGrange.

In your garden 2010: Entry 32

Mon, 30 Aug 2010 10:15:00 EST

Patricia A. Anderson lives in LaGrange.

In your garden 2010: Entry 31

Kathy Dawson — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 09:05:00 EST

God has blessed me more than I could imagine by allowing me to take care of His creations!

Plant-devouring hornworm

Cathie Rowand — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 03:00:00 EST

I have been waiting for this creature to show up in my garden this summer. I had one last summer that ate half of my tomato plant.

In your garden 2010: Entry 30

Marilyn K. Byrne — Sat, 28 Aug 2010 08:30:00 EST

I consider this to be my oasis in the woods – anything planted in the ground gets consumed by the deer or rabbits.

In your garden 2010: Entry 29

Dee Smith — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 10:44:00 EST

Wendell and his drinking fountain are the focal point of our perennial garden.

In your garden 2010: Entry 27

Janet Mikul Collins — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 14:47:00 EST

I'm not much of a gardener, but I do like wildlife, so I grew a little butterfly garden this year. It worked!

In your garden 2010: Entry 28

Wed, 25 Aug 2010 14:54:00 EST

Lissa Appelgren lives in northeast Fort Wayne.

In your garden 2010: Entry 26

Wed, 25 Aug 2010 10:51:00 EST

George Csadenyi lives in southwest Fort Wayne.

In your garden 2010: Entry 25

Alan Daugherty — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 10:40:00 EST

Angelkeep is heavily perennial but seems to change on its own each year, since its beginning in 1999.

In your garden 2010: Entry 24

Linda Eviston — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 10:31:00 EST

My corn crib gazebo is a work in progress, but is a very pleasant place to sit and read with the plantings providing color and creating space and enclosure.

In your garden 2010: Entry 23

Diane Newby — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 10:06:00 EST

Produce from our raised bed garden, which we planted on May 5th. So far we've picked more than 75 pounds of green beans.

In your garden 2010: Entry 22

Stan Newby — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 09:58:00 EST

This year we constructed this flower bed with a dry creek bed, boat planter and assorted annuals to give an aquatic feeling at our home on Lake George.

In your garden 2010: Entry 21

Wed, 25 Aug 2010 09:31:00 EST

Brenda Mossbarger lives just north of downtown Fort Wayne.

In your garden 2010: Entry 15

Juanita Robinett — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 15:25:00 EST

I saw a shaft of sunlight filtering through a maple tree by my deck, highlighting this beautiful begonia.

In your garden 2010: Entry 20

Julie Boyd — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 16:31:00 EST

The butterfly sat on the bush for almost 17 minutes according to the time posted on my camera.

In your garden 2010: Entry 19

Terry Isley — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 16:18:00 EST

I added mostly red flowers to an area I was already using as a bird feeding area.

In your garden 2010: Entry 18

Joan and George Shamp — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 16:07:00 EST

This is our first attempt at raised beds – we hope to put in several more next year because they have done really well.

In your garden 2010: Entry 17

Tanya Whitaker — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 15:51:00 EST

I love gardening for wildlife and this is what the garden was devoted for: Wild creatures.

In your garden 2010: Entry 16

Lorraine Schaefe — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 15:35:00 EST

Neighbors stop, men have stopped and asked permission to take pictures and many have come to see my thyme patch.

In your garden 2010: Entry 14

Sunnie Heddon — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 15:16:00 EST

It took more than three months to finish, but now it's so relaxing to sit in the evening and enjoy the beauty.

In your garden 2010: Entry 13

Pamela S. Barrett — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 15:03:00 EST

The hours spent planning, planting, pruning, watering, pampering and care are not only worthwhile and fun but bring the results of beauty and hours of enjoyment that are delightful.

In your garden 2010: Entry 12

Tue, 24 Aug 2010 14:46:00 EST

Connie Csadenyi lives in southwest Fort Wayne.

In your garden 2010: Entry 11

Korey A. Kord — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 08:46:00 EST

This photo was taken at my home this last spring.

In your garden 2010: Entry 10

Karen Morris — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 16:52:00 EST

Each of my flower beds is a bit different – I try to mix colors as well as foliage and texture too.

In your garden 2010: Entry 9

Ted King — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 16:33:00 EST

Attached is a picture looking up the water feature stream in our backyard.

In your garden 2010: Entry 8

Mert Mullins — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 16:23:00 EST

In the evening the crickets, locusts and frogs call to one another. It’s a wonderful place to just “sit a spell.”

In your garden 2010: Entry 7

Mon, 23 Aug 2010 16:14:00 EST

Steve Gustafson lives in Fort Wayne.

In your garden 2010: Entry 6

David Showalter — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 16:05:00 EST

One of the many daisies from our daisy garden on Lake George.

In your garden 2010: Entry 5

Mon, 23 Aug 2010 13:58:00 EST

Yellow swallowtail butterfly on butterfly bush bloom.

In your garden 2010: Entry 4

Pat Thomson — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 13:28:00 EST

I prioritize foliage interest over flower power and it never fails me ... even now, my garden's looking pretty good.

In your garden 2010: Entry 3

Jean Welker — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 11:35:00 EST

This is where I have my breakfast every morning in the summertime.

In your garden 2010: Entry 2

Mon, 23 Aug 2010 11:19:00 EST

Blooms in Grabill.

In your garden 2010: Entry 1

Sonja Sodano — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 10:43:00 EST

The beautiful hostas come up every year, and every spring I just fill in with annual flowering plants.

Dwarf Tophat Blueberries a bit of a disappointment

Cathie Rowand — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 12:43:00 EST

Last spring I ordered a couple of Dwarf Tophat Blueberry bushes. They are meant for container growing, but I planted them in the front corner of my house after the completion of a foundation restoration project. They didn't do so well despite a rainy early summer and some watering later on.

Save some and scatter the rest

Cathie Rowand — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 16:14:00 EST

The cilantro I grew from last summer's harvest of seeds didn't have much foliage and went straight to seed. I had hoped for some leaves to add to this summer's salsa.

Gardener’s notebook: Twilight Walk & Plant Sale is Aug. 14

Sat, 07 Aug 2010 09:00:00 EST

Statement from the Allen County Cooperative Extension Office: A Twilight Walk and Plant Sale will be held Saturday, August 14 from 5-7 p.m. at the Display Gardens of the Allen County Cooperative Extension Office, 4001 Crescent Ave., Fort Wayne (on the east side of the IPFW campus).

Here one day, gone the next

Cathie Rowand — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 03:00:00 EST

I started to raise a couple of black swallowtail butterflies that I found on the parsley in my garden inside, but decided to release them back to my parsley patch. When I put them back on the plants, I found two more caterpillars.

Gardener’s notebook: Gene Stratton-Porter’s birthday is coming up

Fri, 30 Jul 2010 12:12:00 EST

"Visitors can sample treats made with herbs from Gene’s gardens, listen to Bluegrass Music, explore local wildlife with Bob Walton and his educational bat and hawk and stroll the 125-acre property including Gene’s formal gardens and the Pat Bolman Heritage Tree Trail."

Gardener's notebook: Indiana native ferns, orchids now online

Fri, 30 Jul 2010 10:40:00 EST

More than 1,900 specimens of ferns and orchids that grow in Indiana can now be seen and studied online, thanks to an $8,000 grant Butler University received from the Indiana State Library.

Weeds and all

Rosa Salter Rodriguez — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 10:00:00 EST

I got around to weeding the veggie garden when I was pulling out the peas, and I must say I have never seen so many exotic - and sturdy - weeds in my life.

P.S. to pie

Rosa Salter Rodriguez — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 10:00:00 EST

If you'd like to replicate the peach-blueberry pie I wrote about recently, you need 6 peaches and a pint of blueberries.

Use caution while cooking with parsley

Cathie Rowand — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 18:14:00 EST

While clipping parsley to put in a stir fry, I found a caterpillar. I knew that it was a butterfly of some sort, but had to study some images on the Internet.

Easy as pie

Rosa Salter Rodriguez — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 10:00:00 EST

There must be something genetic in those of us with Pennsylvania Dutch (actually German) ancestry who never met a pie we didn't like.

A few of my favorite things – all at one time!

Rosa Salter Rodriguez — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 15:10:00 EST

Last week was been wonderful -- I've been able to cook with my first produce of the season.

This year's winners

Cathie Rowand — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 09:35:00 EST

It is time to celebrate. I ate the first ripe tomatoes this week from my garden. The two tomato plants that made it to the finish line before all the others are Early Girl and Yellow Pear.