Hi PS, good of you to join us - welcome to the forum!

I found your topic very interesting and I agree fully that it would be disappointing to lose a competition to someone who clearly bought their way in. From the perspective of a garden tour, it would be nice to look at I am sure. From a competition perspective, it seems a bit like using steriods in the Olympics or plastic surgery in a beauty contest.

Most of us on this forum are heart and soul gardeners who care more for zone pushing, winter sowing, learning about new plants, and having fun than winning Competition X. I hope I represent us fairly in saying that. I have to admit I am a bit sour grapes about people who have endless money to spend on a garden they care nothing for and put no work into.

This makes me think of why I stopped reading Canadian Gardening, it was like "Well, I wanted the patio windows in the west wing of the house to look out over 4 acres of rare orchids landscaped into a glacier-fed network of marble bottomed ponds, but we vacationed in Venezuela and Bertha liked the look of Angel Falls so we had that brought up to Brampton for us. The mist it produces is good for the peacocks..." I could never relate to the featured gardens. People might stop and look over the fence, but nobody's ever gonna feature my garden in a mag. I'm happy with what I do my way.

Sorry I meant to call you PT not PS

IMO, these kinds of competitions just shows who has the most $.

I like it my way too NS... down to earth and not scared to get the hands dirty, although I have found these great gardening gloves this spring ;)

Sharon

Gloves??? But then you can't feel the slugs when you're weeding!

Many of the gardens in the competition are done entirely by hand and feature many plants that some experts would say you shouldn't grow in Calgary.
Almost all the people you talk to are very enthusiastic and take great pride in all the things they've accomplished themselves.
The garden that beat the topic of this post in perennial gardens featured many rare plants with hand-written labels. I enjoyed it much more after seeing its competitor than I would've otherwise. It was almost like a breath of fresh air.
I voted a small garden in the south as the overall winner because in my opinion it made much better use of space and had more originality than the garden done in part by professionals.

PT, i believe a friend of mine was on the tour this year. Her yard isn't very big, but it's all garden, and the pictures i've seen are lovely. She would have been the hostess with her wrist in a cast. Did you go there?

Well I kind of have a problem with these garden competitions.

A few years ago the city here started a yearly competition....some one asked me to enter so I did. It seemed like they were unorganized....They called me and said they would be here at such and such a time and on what ever day.......they didn't show up. A week later I got another call.....they were going to show up the following day ...would I be home.....so we waited for them.......they finally showed up over 3 hours later than what they said......they slowed down driving by my house...I only had a few planters out front that year....but the big perennial bed shows at the side of the house......they got past my house and slammed on the brakes and back tracked.....Check it out thoroughly from their car....then finally turned around and came back and pulled in the driveway. The first thing they said to me was that they saw a few planters and didn't think it was worth their time to stop.

There was different catagories to enter...and I had entered several....one being a single planter.....so their first comment made me a LITTLE upset! These two women stomped through my perennial bed...knocking flowers down and stepping on them....they didn't care. Then we took them around to the back.....My whole back yard is in gardens....they made some remarks about it just being an old kitchen garden...took a couple of pics and left.

I never heard a thing from them after that......I also have never entered again.

I did hear from some other people and was told that the winners were the ones that had professional landscapes and the main winner..their garden was even maintain by the landscaper.

I was asked a couple of times this year if I had entered....but I didn't. It sounds like the judging was handled a bit better this year...but it sounded like there were still a lot of competion with the $.

Maybe they should test the owners by asking questions...if they have to refer to lists...well...
Real gardeners pretty much know every inch of their gardens and how they maintain it.

Sorry this is a thorn in my side......errrrrrrrr!!!
Sierra

I really dont know too much about these type of competitions, but I agree that there probably should be a separate category for "professional landscape" and then for "amateur landscapes".

I think a huge part of gardening is being creative and artistic. Its often an individual work of art.

If a huge, fabulous professionally landscaped yard competes in the "amateur" category and wins, in a way it intimidates other amateur gardeners from entering. They might think "my yard isnt good enough". In a way this type of competition is meant to encourage the hobby of gardening, trying to show people that they dont need lots of money or a huge property to do something creative. Yet, if a professionally landscaped property wins, this goes against that message.
Professionally landscaped properties should be recognized though, just maybe in their own category with the understanding that these are properties that are professionally done.

Then again, just my personal feeling, but my reward for gardening is watching my plants grow, knowing I had a hand in it. I also like taking an interest in the plants, learning what conditions they prefer, etc. I do appreciate the occasional kind comments from friends, however, but I dont think Im quite in the garden tour category.

Glen

Sierra that is awful what happened to you. I hate snobbery. You should just continue to SNUB them and not enter. When those yellow & brown irises start blooming nobody else would have a chance against you anyway LOL

Sierra, what happened to you was awful.

Such competitions are meant to be fun, educational and constructive. Above all else if it didn't meet these criteria then it failed.

I most heartily agree with the original poster. I have friends of mine threatening to send in my garden as a candidate for the Hort Soc here in Calgary and I have informed them in no uncertain terms that if they should even breathe to someone about it, I would stop any and all contact with them. The idea of a garden competition just curdles my blood- all gardens are beautiful and deserve prizes - just for the sheer amount of work that people put into them- not to mention the love. It also irks me that (aside from hardscape) this person who won in Calgary bought her way in (from the way she didn't even know her plants)- how declasse and cheap of her as a person(obviously not her as a gardener-she doesn't). I too could have a breathtaking yard with about 20k worth of improvements - but I can't afford it- so I do it the old fashioned way- time and effort. That is what builds a garden - not some (not referring to the winner here) suburban princess with too much money and delusions of Martha Stewart on her hands. But enough vitriol- I prefer to find out if people are gardeners first before asking them to see my garden- that way I know they will appreciate the work-since my yard started out as a junk yard special- you know the kind with rotting appliances, car seats, metal junk and odds & ends with knee high weeds and grass. Not to mention the nasty half dead poplar in the front yard- which I had torn out but I dug up the sod & roots and made my front a flower bed. It will look better next year of course (isn't that a gospel truth)and I can name every plant in my garden by latin nomeclature to common names - and I have a heck of a lot of plants. I would also say I am no gardening expert and have no formal training - I just have done a heck of alot of reading. So to get back to the main point- I know that gardens have gardeners- landscapes have landscapers and this woman who won sounds like she bought a landscape from a landscaper - not developed her garden as a gardener. Sorry for the spew- it just gets my goat!

Maybe, the winning lady is innocent. I would suspect, the landscaper entered her garden for her, made sure that he won the contest and uses it now as a promotional tool. This version would fit my perception of the CHS.

and while we are at it ......... I just posted here a question about Castor Oil. I got several helpful, honest replies. Try the same question at the CHS and you get shoved out the door as a nuisance.

A few years ago, I attended some of the CHS seminars. They were thinnly disguised sales pitches by one business or another. Nothing I could have taken home and tried myself.

northspruce and The Passionate Thumb......yes it was awful and yes it was snobbery. I was upset at first....by the way that they treated me......not that I didn't win....I didn't care who won. But when I really thought about it...I love my garden....it has bits and pieces of history for me. And this yard started with packed down clay that was trampled where not even grass would grow...and it had huge trees that had splits so they had to be taken out. This garden may not be loved by everyone....but we love it....and it came about with a lot of work on our part.

I had joined the garden club in hopes of finding out what would grow here and for information about zones and stuff when I first moved here too.......I let that membership lapse after the first year......these were snotty ladies that didn't garden at all. They have garden tours in the summer....the first one I went to was a nursery....it wasn't a garden.......The second one I went to....was this snotty lady whose yard was full of weeds and the grass wasn't even cut.....but she had an easel and was drawing a sketch as she talked about what she dreamed her yard would look like one day....she was supposed to be some sort of garden designer.....but her business wasn't doing well and she hoped to get some new business from the members. I never went back after that. The next garden tour was supposed to be one that was done and maintained by a landscaper.......

I didn't find this fun or educational either. Oh well some people/groups are like that.

Sierra

Prairie Gardener, I'm sorry you've had such a bad experience with the CHS. I've been a member for years, and have had nothing but good experiences with them. I've enjoyed attending meetings (although my schedule doesn't allow me to attend all of them), taking workshops, going on members only garden tours, participating on the Chat Line... (I've made some good garden buddies by trading plants through the Chat Line.) I could go on and on. I know that no everyone associated with the Society is wonderful (there are, after all, close to 6000 members) but, at least in my experience, they're few and far between.

As for the garden competition, which is the subject of this thread, I feel the need to express my opionions, although they may differ from ones already posted. I saw the garden in question. (Over the weekend, I saw 15 of the winning gardens. There were a few I missed out on because time and energy were running short.) Although it was an impressive garden, both in size and landscaping, it was not my favourite. I prefer the ones that are painstakingly created and lovingly maintained by the gardener. And, of course, ones that contain ideas that I can use in my own modest yard.

That being said, I don't begrudge the owner of that garden the right to enter the contest. This was not a newly landscaped yard--I visited the garden a few years ago when it was part of the monthly members only tours. Whether the owner and her husband now maintain the garden themselves, or have others do it for them, is a matter for their own conscience. As for the suggestion that the landscaper was using the yard as a promotional tool, I dont see how thats possible, since there was nothing, either in the description of the garden in the "garden passport", or on the property, to even indicate the name of the landscaping company.

Asking owners questions about their plants, as was suggested in a previous post, to determine whether or not they're true gardeners, would just complicate the matter, I think. I've come across many passionate gardeners, who really do all the work themselves, who can't remember the common names of their plants, and probably couldnt be bothered to learn the Latin ones. Other legitimate gardeners would feel too intimidated to enter the contest if there was a "test" involved. Plus, the rules state that the gardener is not even supposed to talk to the judges while theyre in the yard (so they dont try to influence the judging in any way, I guess. Or offer bribes?)

One last issue--the CHS contest used to include categories for Newly Landscaped by owner and Newly Landscaped by professional landscapers. They didnt have those categories this year. I dont know the reasoning behind the change. Perhaps its because there are so many degrees of do-it-yourself vs having someone do it for you, in older yards as well as newer ones. If someone designs my yard, but I do all the work, which category is that? If I do all the work involving the plants, but need someone else to install the hardscaping because I cant do that much digging or lifting of rocks, which category is that? If I take care of all the perennials, but have a lawn-care company take care of the grass, which category is that? If I prune my shrubs, but get an arborist to tackle the trees, which category is that? If the owner of the winning garden talked about in this thread sells her property, and I buy it, does that disqualify me from ever entering the contest because her yard was already landscaped? Am I less of a gardener because I hire someone to do the things I cant do myself?

Ive never entered a gardening contest, and never will, because thats not what I garden for. However, I enjoy seeing other peoples gardens and these contests open up gardens to me that Id never be able to see, otherwise. Its because of seeing these gardens over the years that Ive learned its possible to have gorgeous and lush yards without having to move to BC! Plus, I know of some gardeners in Calgary who enter the contest simply to get free advice and suggestions from the judges (that depends on how much you value the judges opinions, though...one friend (who actually ended up winning one year) overheard one of the judges criticize almost every plant choice in her garden. So, there is the occasional snob in the CHS! Good thing she has a strong ego.).

I am appalled at the way Sierra was treated by the judges in her gardening club. Shes right; those people are not real gardeners, themselves, because real gardeners tend to be nurturers...not only of their gardens, but of other living things (including people). Thats why I like this forum, so much. People are always so caring and encouraging of each other.

Thanks for letting me have my say. I just wanted to present another side of the argument, I guess.

Doris

Hi Doris,

This quote from you baffles me!????

"Its because of seeing these gardens over the years that Ive learned its possible to have gorgeous and lush yards without having to move to BC!"

Ummmmm....I live in BC and ummmmmm thats zone 2b BC. Not all of BC is zone 7-9. Some of us are struggling just like you do in Calgary with harsh climates and cold temps and yes frosts in the summer. We don't get the chinooks though. This summer we have been lucky to reach 23 during the days....there has been lots of hail storms and rain and what have you.....its not all ummmm roses in BC either. Although I wish it was...LOL

The gardening club incident was a different time and place to the incident with the gardening contest that was put on by the city. This contest is not part of the garden club as far as I know.

And yes this thread just shows how passionate we really are about our gardens! That is why I look in here as often as I do. Real gardeners helping real gardeners!

Sierra

Hi, Sierra. I hope I didn't offend you...I know that there are parts of BC that are not considered "Lotus Land", and that all true gardeners work hard to create their personal vision of Eden...regardless of where they live. What I meant was, that in order to find places where lush gardens would be possible, I used to think I'd have to leave Alberta. And, lots of the photos I saw in my first "real" Canadian gardening book were from BC and Ontario. That book was published a long, long time ago, way before the current growth of gardening as a favourite pastime/passion across the whole country.

My mother was a great (and real) gardener, but her pride and joy was the vegetable plot. The flowers she grew (in very small beds, less than 2 feet wide) were common, inexpensive plants like clustered bellflowers and Iceland poppies--with a couple of peonies thrown in for good measure. (Don't misunderstand...I love those plants; they're in my own garden. In "those days", though, that's almost all the perennials anyone grew, because that's all you could find in the "garden centre"--which was usually connected to a department or grocery store. You could also buy geraniums and other annuals, but mom wasn't about to pay money for ornamental plants you had to replace each year, unless you could find inexpensive seeds. People who lived through two world wars and a depression tended to be very frugal. (Her one extravagance... she always had a couple of hybrid tea roses in the garden, even though they rarely lived longer than two or three years before succumbing to a severe winter.)

As an adolescent, I started growing and loving indoor plants. And, I started dreaming about some day having a beautiful garden...but not in Calgary. All that changed when I read about the CHS garden competition one year. To give other Calgarians an idea of how long ago that was, the addresses of the winning gardens were published in the local paper. Anyone could go see them. Although the variety of plants that people grew was still small compared to what is now available (even in big box stores), I was astounded at how people were able to transform their piece of the prairie into something magical. I was hooked. (The event was such a big success that the CHS soon stopped publicizing the addresses and started selling passes to see the gardens--partly as a money-maker, but mostly because so many people were going through the winning gardens that the yards were trampled and almost ruined.)

So, that's why I like the garden competition. I know would have become a gardener without it, but my first glimpses of the winning gardens, many years ago, gave me my inspiration to create my own "Lotus Land" in Calgary...without having to move to (the zone 6 or 7 part of) BC!!

Doris

Calinriley, I agree with many of your points especially with those pertaining to the importance and value of both the Calgary Horticultural Society and their annual competition. I have been a member of the Calgary Horticultural Society at least twice and will renew my membership in September.

Those who seek professional help in their gardens are in no way lesser persons for doing so. Although it may not have been evident in my "rant" I have respect for the winner to which I referred to. She opened up her doors to others as well as some criticism. Besides that i'm sure that she did at least part of her yard and played a role in most of the other parts. For my part I asked her why her hostas grew so big and left with saying thank you which was an accurate expression of what I felt.

As far as the competition goes though I think the Societies members (almost all of which are amateurs)would be better served if participants could choose to enter in a category with professional gardens or a category where only amateurs who did either all the design and/or all the maintenance and construction are allowed to enter. This would preserve the presence of amateurs in the competition, entice more people to enter (including a lot more homeowners with professionally done yards), give people a better impression of what can be done in an amateur amateur/professional or professional landscape, ensure that people have a better idea as to what classes of gardens they're seeing, and give credit to others so observers can get a good idea of what different landscape companies can offer. Ideally I would like to see both the landscape designer/constructor and the homeowner of the yard in question recognized because both played a part in the final effect of the garden.

Maybe I'm whinning and nit-picking too much but I believe that such events can always get better. I wouldn't have made such a fuss if I didn't care about the competition and its contestents.

Marcia, it may seem odd but I could've spoken to your friend and been so caught up in seeing everything around me that I didn't notice she had a cast. Do you know his/her name, what categories she/he won in or where he/she lives?

Calinriley, can you tell me any of these same specifications about your favourite this year? I didn't see every garden but my favourite was David Boyko's yard in the Southwest (ist Novice mid-size) followed closely by Laurie MacLean's yard in the southwest (1st Perrennial Garden, 1st Plant Lovers, 1st Shade, 2nd Open Midsize). The yard done in part by professionals was a strong third.

I would've referred to the yard in question as so and sos yard If I hadn't have gone too far in my original post. She deserves some protection-mainly from my remarks which got too carried away. Some things I said reflected what I felt in a moment only to be ashamed of later. Epiphanies often strike you at your weaker moments; this time I realized that I'm still growing up and have a lot more maturing to do. Sorry for some of this but writing it has helped me confront what I've done.

I don't know where she lives in Calgary, but her name is Dianne. She's thin and has reddish hair. She loves clematis - has lots of that. In fact, she sent me some seedlings last summer. The funny thing is that two of the three died, but the third one (posted the picture here quite awhile ago) has turned out to be not a clematis but an elm seedling! LOL She said she has no elms in her yard so she doesn't know where it comes from. What the heck - i've always wanted a nice shade tree!

PT, just for the record, I, for one, don't think you went too far in your first post, so there's nothing to feel apologetic about, at all. Forums, like this one, exist so that people can share ideas and opinions about all aspects of gardening. Although I have a different point of view, I respect your comments and the way you expressed them. You're right when you say that all events can be improved upon--why not make your views known to the CHS? As I mentioned, they used to have a category for Professionally Landscaped gardens, and maybe they should reinstate it.

(Personal confession: I usually didn't bother going to the professionally developed gardens. Over the years, I only remember visiting two gardens that won in that category. Since I'm not interested in hiring a landscape company, those gardens hold little appeal or relevance to me. In one garden I saw, I was aghast to discover that Purple Loosestrife had been planted (the property was adjacent to a Glenmore Park, no less). This was five or six years ago--Loosestrife was no longer being sold in garden centres. The rules of the CHS should have disqualified that garden, but the plant may not have been blooming at the time of judging, or the judges didn't recognize it.)

Your top 2 favourite gardens were mine, as well. The Boyko garden was the first that I saw, and it ended up getting my vote for the "People's Choice Award". (I was doubly amazed at how beautiful the garden is when I discovered that three dogs--two huge and one, small but rambunctious--also live in the house!) While some gardens gained some of their appeal due to the location of the property (gorgeous neighborhoods, borrowed views), this yard created beauty and serenity despite its relatively small size and its surroundings.

The MacLean garden reflected my own lust for plant collecting, only hers is much better designed. (What an understatement!) My third choice was the curb appeal winner in Deer Run. Although her back yard was destroyed by hail (I found out), her front yard was spared, and it was an inviting, exhuberant mass of colour.

The one thing I hate about garden tours...they make me want to rip out my entire yard and start all over!! Thankfully, that feeling only lasts a day or two, and then I start enjoying my garden, again, faults and all.

Marcia, I'd also like to know which one was your friend. I seem to recall someone in a cast, but I saw so many gardens over the weekend that I can't place her!

PT, I hope you continue to voice your very passionate opinions. And I hope that the Far North Forum continues to be a place where posters can feel free to respectfully disagree with each other in a safe, caring environment.

Just an idea that popped into my head...since there are so many Calgarians on this forum (and others that live close by), maybe one day we can organize a garden tour of our own??? That is, after I've ripped out my yard and started over... ;-)

Doris

Hi Doris,

Of course you didn't offend me......I just wanted to make sure that everyone knew that all of BC wasn't in that high zone range.

I am thinking that your books might have shown pics of the lower mainland or the islands. Now I have seen some of those pics and even some of those gardens.....WOW is all I can say.

I lived in the lower mainland for a while and I also lived on Vancover Island. When I lived on the island, a rose gardener lived beside me. It was wonderful..they had their whole yard in roses. The fragrance from these roses drifted over toward my yard.....mmmmmmmmm

Trust me when I say it WAS a BIG shock going from zone 7 - 9 to zone 2b. :O

As for the garden competitions and clubs....I guess it just depends how each individual is treated as to what they think about them. And yes its nice that everyone on this forum can agree or disagree without being offended. :-)

Sierra

I checked my passport and there was no-one by the name of Dianne on this years tour. Dianne wasn't in the list of this years Open Gardens (something different) either.

Last year Dianne Dolha won in many categories. I think her small garden was in an urban area. It featured an almost circular rose garden, a small water feature in the back corner, several mature trees with nicely coloured bark (birch and amur cherry), some slate pathways, and a delightful mix of mostly shade perennials. There was a strong colour scheme of blue and pink mixed with some whites and burgundy/dark foliage. It was beautiful and made an arresting front page for the Societies newsletter. The host and hostess were very pleasant and accomodating. Does any of this ring a bell to you Marcia?

Calinriley- I would love to see other gardens but mine certainly isn't ready or "viewable" yet. It's almost a hazard to walk through my yard with so many unfinished projects.

Does anyone participate in the Calgary Hort Socieites Plant exchanges? I would love to do prior and preplanned exchanges that could be finalized at the event. All three times I've been chosen almost dead last and found it difficult to get plants I wanted. This time I could have well over a hundred seedlings. As weird as it may sound I almost couldn't bare to thin my seedlings. Ideally I wouldn't use over a hundred dwarf Goartsbeard in my yard among hundreds of other seedlings of few species.

No, that's not my Dianne. Maybe she was on a different tour - i know people were coming to see her garden near the end of June (or maybe later) and it was raining and miserable and she had broken her wrist. But all went well in spite of it. I'll ask her if it was the Hort. Society tour or some other one.

Our tour here doesn't have categories (this place is way too small for that anyway) and no competition. We just go to look at people's gardens to enjoy them. Of course, there's one old lady who's really competitive, so she would probably WANT it to be a contest! She's got a great-looking yard and she works hard at it, but she tends to stick tacky plastic flowers in places for some reason! LOL

Don't judge a person's knowledge or work in a garden by whether or not they refer to a written list--although I know the names of all my plants, and most of the botanical names, my mind sometimes goes totally blank. If I knew strangers (my friends already know that I lose words I want in the middle of a sentence) would be touring my yard, I would definitely want a written list to refer to.

I've never done competitions of any sort for many of the reasons mentioned. I don't mind looking at winner's gardens however! LOL

I know my gardens are a far cry from award-winning but they give me alot of pleasure and satisfaction. Seeing my winter-sown-babies blooming is rewarding enough for this girl! When neighbours walk by and stop to look you'd think I'd won the lottery. Simple pleasures are most rewarding in my book.

Having said all that, cuddos to those who enter competitions and win!

This has been very informative and much food for thought. I think everyone has made good points either way. I am an example of someone who designed my yard but needed big equipment to make it a reality. So is it amateur or professional? When my yard finally grows up I would love to have it on a garden tour, but I'm not interested in competitions. Next year I'm definitely going on garden tours here in Edmonton. Which are the best?
Kate

The garden tour here is a fund raiser - having it is more an act of charity. Different orgs take turns - do it until they are tired of it or maybe can't find workers, who knows. The members ask whether they may use your garden. We've done it twice with years in between. They asked us again for next year. I declined - it is time for some younger gardeners to carry on the tradition.

The greatest pleasure came when the university botanist came on the tour and called later to ask me to allow him to bring his students to show them what could be done with a small property. I loved having my garden used as a lab. They came until he retired.

I never really thot of gardening as a competition - more a shared interest/joy/passion. One where we learn from each other and appreciate one another's hard work and creation of a more beautiful environment for us all. Never see anyone testy, in fact some of the gardeners are busy and not seen at all on the day of the tour.
jan

Same as Marcia, our Community in Blooms is not a competition for money or prizes, just a happy bunch of gardeners on tour of all the gardens. Maps are sold for $10 and there are aproximately 15-20 gardens to view.