First Signs of Spring 2020 Photo Contest Winners

We are excited to announce the succeeder of theFirst Signs of Spring Photo Contest : Lynn O’Shaughnessy , with over 700 right to vote !

Fine Gardeningreached out to Lynn to learn how she got such a nerveless photo and to learn more about her , her garden , and her photography . Lynn won a $ 500 giving card toMonrovia.comand will be featured in government issue # 195 ofFine Gardeningmagazine , which will be on stand later this summertime . Second prize went to Marsha Lomis , and third prize decease to Ruth Little .

1st Prize Winner:Lynn O’Shaughnessy

I started gardening as a child . I would much rather have been digging in the dirt and planting thing than encounter with chick . My daddy enjoyed growing vegetables and was my mentor and encourager .

As an grownup , I just played around with frame flowers around my star sign , but nothing serious until about 10 age ago when I began to translate the shady areas in my front yard into beautiful garden . I am still make novel areas . It is like potato chips — you ca n’t have just one .

I have also been taking picture since I was a kid and started with a Brownie camera . I eventually graduated to a Canon SLR , then went digital . Recently I have been work with my Samsung S10 + phone , since it is always ready to hand .

I had the chance some 40 eld ago to take a weeklong photography workshop from leading nature photographers John Shaw and Larry West . That workshop fan the fire of my desire to do nature photography . I never did it professionally , but I thoroughly enjoyed spending time out in nature in search of photos . mighty now with the Covid-19 thing going on , I am doing trivial mini lessons with my two garden club on Facebook and by e - post , then encourage them to go out and try some things for themselves in their own backyard .

I found that when I went out to shoot my Hellebores it was difficult to get a good photo because the flush were mostly face down . This led me to think , “ Why not use selfie mode on my phone ? ” It worked beautifully ! So I have been dally with this proficiency ever since . I have even cause some beautiful photos of the bottom sides of a efflorescence that was face upwardly . This photo was occupy this year on April 2 . My hellebores are one of the first industrial plant to flower in the spring .

I have all-encompassing tad gardens that I desire to redo and move things around . I have been see for subtlety works that also are attractive or that attract pollinators . I am also calculate for native plant . I go on to the Monrovia website and saw that they have 94 pages to expect at . On the first page alone I incur two things I need : Hakonechloa macra‘All Gold ’ and Black Negligee snakeroot . I have no dubiousness that Monrovia will have plenty to choose from .

The JOY I get from get my hand in the shite , communing with my plants , creating each garden country , being out where it is quiet , and follow things mature .

I have over an Akka of garden arena , but my most exciting universe is my sanctified geometry circle garden . I started it last summer , and I am doing all the oeuvre myself ( except for the ground prep , which I hire out ) . I did the design and wheelbarrow all the material in to create it , one spadeful at a sentence . The photo below is one my nephew took from his lagger .

It is the net one he accept last year before I had to throw in the towel for the season . This garden will be made up entirely of Michigan native plants for pollinator and is 100 feet in diameter . I have a nursery and get word how to sprout several of my native choices from seed . I am now in the process of getting plants into this newfangled garden .

2nd Prize Winner:Marsha Lomis

“ This brilliantly risque anil bunting alight on our child’s play table ( en path to the feeder ) . His feather certainly complemented the early natural spring blooms of pulmonaria and King Alfred Narcissus pseudonarcissus . These colors exalt the palette of my summer and fall garden , ” say Marsha Lomis , second booty winner , in her entry to the contest .

3rd Prize Winner:Ruth Little

“ Spring is an amazing time here , before it start out too live , and set aside me to pamper in my love for former give bulbs in my tad garden , ” said Ruth Little , our third place winner .

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Photo: Lynn O’Shaughnessy

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Photo: Lynn O’Shaughnessy

“All taken this spring with my iPhone either in my garden or on local trails here in the Piedmont of North Carolina. Spring is an amazing time here, before it gets too hot, and allows me to indulge in my love for early spring bulbs in my shade garden.”Photo: Marsha Lomis