Your National Gardening Association weekly news for December 3, 2016

Announcing the winners of the 2016 Garden.org Photo Contest!

This is it! Our highly anticipated 2016 photo contest has finished with 3,136 photos submitted by 169 different members. Today we reveal the Best of Show winners, as well as the winners of each individual category. Special thanks to our good friends at Gardener's Supply for sponsoring this year's contest with prizes for the winners.

First Place - Best in Show: By lelehmann:

Second Place - Best in Show: By KariRFrey:

Third Place - Best in Show: By evermorelawnless:

Congratulations to the winners, and thank you to everyone who participated. You can view all the winners of each category, and see how all the other photos placed, by visiting the 2016 Photo Contest page. And now, for the rest of the newsletter:

Articles you may enjoy:

The Importance of Snakes

A Hardier, Fall-blooming Gardenia

How to Fertilize Trees for Winter Survival

Store and Prepare Winter Squash

Colorful Grasses for Winter Interest

Caring for Birds During the Winter

Grow Wisteria for Winning Color

Gardening Ideas from other NGA Members:

By chris1948 December 3, 2016

Multi-Hanging plant rack for a greenhouse Need more room to overwinter your hanging plants in your greenhouse(s) like I do? This easy to build rack will help. (402 words - Read the full article)

By valleylynn November 27, 2016

Sempervivum 101 Sempervivums are plants that originate on the European continent. Found at high altitudes known as alpine zones, they thrive in this harsh and rugged terrain. Sempervivums are becoming increasingly popular in the United States as gardeners fall in love with the textures and colors of these amazing little plants. (1,053 words - Read the full article)

The most popular images last week from our plant database:

The most popular Landscape Photos from last week:

Click an image to view the names of the plants in each photo.

Noteworthy acorn tips given this week:

4 people gave for post #1327557 in "Bird Photos, December 2016" by mcash70

4 people gave for post #1324884 in "Banner for November 27, 2016 by dirtdorphins" by dirtdorphins

3 people gave for a photo of Lady Tulip (Tulipa clusiana) by dirtdorphins

3 people gave for post #1324824 in "Share Your Photos" by GoatDriver

2 people gave for post #1327552 in "Banner for December 2, 2016 by Whitebeard" by Whitebeard

2 people gave for a photo of Lily (Lilium amabile) by BUGGYCRAZY

2 people gave for post #1327461 in "Bird Photos, December 2016" by RobinSeeds

2 people gave for post #1327541 in "Share Your Photos" by GoatDriver

2 people gave for the idea "Sempervivum 101" by valleylynn

2 people gave for a photo of Tall Bearded Iris (Iris 'Lording It') by cliftoncat

The most active threads this week:

Subject	OP	Area	Replies
Professor Fawkner -Sweden	Mieko2	Peonies forum	31
Brooks Gardens Black Friday sale!	Mieko2	Peonies forum	30
Bird Photos, December 2016	mellielong	Gardening for Butterflies, Birds and Bees forum	29
Farming in Wisconsin	AnnaZ	Farming forum	27
Early peony growth	Oldgardenrose	Peonies forum	27
I harmed my daughters plant	PamelaLynn77	Ask a Question forum	26
What are YOU adding for 2017!!!	Nysbadmk8	Daylilies forum	23
2017 orders	Lestv	Irises forum	22
Our Orchid blooms in December 2016	Ursula	Orchids forum	22

Check out these numbers from last week:

• 289 members joined.
• 3,660 posts written in our forums.
• 805 photos posted to the plant database.
• 376 plants added to personal inventory lists.