All - America Selections , for the 2018 Landscape Design Challenge , went a bit out of the traditional garden comfort geographical zone with a new theme . This yr ’s idea was “ Get Social in the Garden ” and it was left up to each garden to rede how to bear out this composition . Using social media was certainly well - used but many garden went above and beyond with the social motif , which is explain in each garden ’s description below .
For this challenge , AAS supply the garden with Winner seed from the last five year . They also had the choice to incorporate any former AAS Winners from the past 85 years . garden not only had to make and execute a design establish on this year ’s theme , but were also encouraged to generate publicity via social medium and “ real life ” social events .
Gardens were divided into three family base on the identification number of visitors per year :
All - America Selections recognizes and thanks the competition judges ( two long - time judge and two firebrand new judges ) who are industry experts in the field of battle of horticulture and landscaping :
Click here to see Rules and Regulationsfor the Landscape Design Challenge .
THE make headway GARDENS ARE :
Category I : fewer than 10,000 visitors per yr
First Place Winner : MSU - South Mississippi Branch Experiment Station , Poplarville , Mississippi .
MSU ’s Display Garden has some very good , permanent design features such as the summerhouse , which bring home the bacon a substantial focal full point . Surrounding the gazebo is an orderly arrangement of AAS Winner plant and engaging lineament such as the span , river bed and fountain . This background provide a great location for picture taking and selfies , promote the “ Get Social ” theme . Judges gave gamey peak for both plant health and garden quality . Volunteers furnish material corroboration of their social media activities and draw the numerous events they promoted on Facebook . The theme hashtag , # AASWinner , and signage were prominently displayed in print medium and in the garden . Additionally , the inclusion body of local garden personalities and line adds a sense of residential district and extends the stretch of their efforts , particularly via video .
Second Place Winner : Kenosha County Center AAS Display & Demonstration Garden , Kenosha , Wisconsin .
" I scream . You call . We all scream for ice emollient ! " … and AAS Winners ! With a slight twist to the theme , visitant to the Kenosha County Center were treated to an AAS Display garden tastefully decorated as an previous - fashioned frosting cream societal . By combining an previous - fashioned “ social ” event with the advanced rendering of " social " , Kenosha provided a playfulness and refreshing break from our tight - pace world . Colorful plastic form waffle cones and crank ointment cone sip cups do as planting container as did an internal-combustion engine emollient bucket and base of an shabu cream maker resembling a bar retinal cone . The repurposed satellite dishful became a topnotch - sized Delizz hemangioma simplex ice-cream sundae . With inverted cone chapeau , gnome shaped signs were sprinkled throughout the garden ’s bring up beds to share the scoop on the history of ice pick garden and the many unlike “ flavors ” of AAS Winners . Judges feel that the planting of AAS Winners were dense , colored and in honest wellness plus the garden location was quite salient and well used .
Third Place Winner : Master Gardener Association of Tippecanoe County ( MGATC ) Display Gardens , Lafayette , Indiana .
The Master Gardeners at Tippecanoe used a party base which tied together multiple mini - root word in this year ’s garden . Strategically place word-painting frames with attractive background signal throughout the garden create multiple “ selfie - ready ” position for garden visitor . A " footpath for Pollinators " gateway provided another attractive musical theme garden , evenly ready for exposure . A Lycopersicon esculentum try out with garden visitors further civilise the public and provide fodder for social sensitive posts . The MGATC posted their garden on a regular basis on Facebook and consistently used the # AASWinners hashtag . All in all , MGATC used a miscellanea of media to advance the garden and made good use of textile and ideas offer by All - America Selections .
Category 1 Honorable Mention Winners :
Honorable Mention:“Good employment of AAS Variety Markers ” : Hendricks County Master Gardeners Demonstration Garden , Danville , Indiana .
Honorable Mention:“Prominent AAS Garden Placement ” : Miami University Hamilton Conservatory , Hamilton , Ohio .
Honorable Mention:“Creative Use of AAS Winners ” : Morris Horticulture Display Garden , Morris , Minnesota .
Honorable Mention:“Use of Amazon Reviews ” : Southwest Indiana Master Gardener Demonstration Gardens , Evansville , Indiana .
honest Mention:“Community / Group Involvement ” : UW Spooner Ag Research Station Teaching and Display Garden , Spooner , Wisconsin .
good Mention:“First Time Participant ” : Willow Oaks Country Club , Richmond , Virginia .
Honorable Mention:“Tea Social Theme ” : River Valley Extension District Master Gardeners , Belleville , Kansas .
Category II : 10,001 – 100,000 visitors per twelvemonth
First Place Winner : Purdue Extension Marion County Demonstration Garden , Indianapolis , Indiana .
For the 2nd twelvemonth in a row , the Purdue Extension in Marion County has excelled at the AAS Display Garden Challenge ! Their lotion did a wonderful job of key out the garden , give relevant details about how the garden embraced the " Get Social " theme as well as evidence about the numbers of AAS Winners used in the garden .
To advance photography and posting on societal media , their design featured masses of color and an inviting garden atmosphere . The garden added three types of seat areas to encourage slackening and a longer sojourn to the garden . “ Photo ops ” were create with a upright rampart garden , and two archways made from alloy fencing for climbing plant ( one arch with a 9 - infantry distich feature two Jasper Lycopersicon esculentum plant ) . extra “ Get Social ” signs with the hashtag # AASWinners were splosh throughout the garden as additional monitor . All AAS winners had mixed bag marker which goes a long style with the challenge ’s judges . Those judges also praised how well explicate and document the Social media postings were . finally , a lunchtime lecture on “ Plants We wish This Year ” promoted their best-loved AAS Winners in the 2018 garden .
Second Place Winner : Jardin Daniel A Seguin , Saint - Hyacinthe , Quebec , Canada .
Another multiple class success is Jardin Daniel A Sequin ! The AAS Display garden was located in the " agora " situation right at the entrance of the garden which is a societal assemblage place large enough to accommodate a lot of people . To showcase the All - America Selections Winners , a blend of bloom and vegetables were interplanted in the terraced flowerbed of the public square with each industrial plant distinctly identified . Challenge judges remark how the attractive pattern came together because of careful attention to color , manakin , grain and diverseness . Signage in the garden raise AAS and the contender include a nice selfie bill used by garden visitant then post to Social medium .
Third Place Winner : Clark Botanic Garden , Albertson , New York .
Clark Botanic Garden is a hidden treasure among the suburban sprawl of northwesterly Long Island . This yr , just beyond the main unveiling gate , was a garden overflowing with All - America Selection Winners . It was well - conceived for color , manakin , grain and salmagundi . Garden stave create a large kiosk with information about how to " Get Social In the Garden " . Behind the sensational entry is the Family Community Garden with display bottom of AAS Vegetables . Clark Botanic concentrate their efforts for the challenge at the entranceway one-year bed since visitors take delineation upon entering the garden . Throughout the summer , they come up visitor were comment about how they had seen word picture on social medium and find out how beautiful the garden was which resulted in more events reserve at the garden . In accession , more the great unwashed were asking to offer in the garden . The power of Social media !
Category III : Over 100,000 visitor per year
First Place Winner : The Annuals Garden & Pavilion ( Denver Botanic Gardens ) , Denver , Colorado .
Denver Botanic Gardens ’ Horticulturist used 80 ’s music to bring the " Get Social in the Garden " to life-time . Each garden seam was design around , and named for , a pop song from the 1980 ’s . Flower varieties were chosen based on color or texture that give a visual of the call such as Salvia Sumer Jewel White for Billy Idol ’s " White Wedding . ” A song list played as they engraft the garden last spring and as visitors saunter through , were delighted upon check about the intent theme . Once the plants grew in , garden visitor were further to take selfies then send them on Social media with the hashtag # AASWinners . The Gardens clear had a strong social medium bearing before this contention and is highly competent in engaging the online public . We clap their mind , meshing and death penalty of this year ’s Challenge stem .
Second Place Winner : Norseco at Montreal Botanical Garden , Montreal , Quebec , Canada.(second year in a row ! )
The horticulturist team at the Montreal Botanical Garden decided to carry out this year ’s design theme by bring people together . They create seat for garden visitors to sit down down , loosen up , take a photo or selfie , and stake it to social media . They integrated the AAS blossom bed into the Novelty garden , using 25 AAS Winner plants , both ornamental and vegetables that bloom all season . The design was divided into several color schemes from pink , orange and reds to blues and whites , all offering unlike textures like the vertical stems of Allium ‘ Bunching Warrior ’ that contrast with Cuphea ‘ Flori Glory Diana ’ or Capsicum ‘ Onyx Red ’ . alloy social system were also integrated to support the tomatoes and the bean .
The crown resplendence was the regal blooming arch made of Petunia ’ Evening Scentsation ’ and Gypsophila ‘ Gypsy White Improved ’ representing the blue and white colors of Facebook . The blueish archway became the spicy spot in the garden when three blue Adirondack chairs ( with # AASWINNERS printed on the arms ) were installed on the lawn behind the arch . These chair are the focus detail of the archway which build a perfectly put picture when visitors are sitting in the professorship .
Third Place Winner : Green Bay Botanical Garden , Green Bay , Wisconsin .
Throughout the summer of 2018 , visitors to Green Bay Botanical Garden were enthralled by their first - ever visiting display , Nature Connects ® : artistry with LEGO ® Bricks which featured larger - than - life sculptures made with LEGO ® Bricks . While they searched the Garden for these sculptures , they also identify a variety of incredibly beautiful plant life and flower including AAS Winners in spaces throughout the garden . The snap and plowshare stations , or “ Selfie Stations ” , were a huge hit for visitors to share their experience with the garden and advance # AASWinners on social media . Each post was build up of decorative wood piece with trough planters which create a systema skeletale of AAS Winners around the viewing windowpane . By placing a number of snap and share stations that highlighted AAS Winners and providing visitor with a white flag to vote on their favorites plant life multifariousness in their AAS Trial Gardens , they calculated that more than 45,600 visitant this summer get societal in the garden !
Category III good Mention:“Quilting Theme ” : Boerner Botanical Gardens , Hales Corners , Wisconsin .
Each of these contest winners are profile on the AAS website , under “ Display Gardens ”
A concluded collection of photos from all competition entrants can be notice on the All - America SelectionsFlickrandFacebookaccounts .
For more information about the competition winner or how to participate in 2019 , contactDiane Blazek , All - America Selections .
