Hello Fellow Gardeners!

Boy it was a tough selection this time around! You all submitted such good tips that we almost had to resort to the very professional eeeny- meeny- minie- moe system to choose the winners of our Mother’s Day contest!

Luckily, we were finally able to narrow it down to three, here are the lucky winner’s responses…

Cheryl wrote:

“My favorite garden tip is this, at the end of the season, leave the spent plants to overwinter. There are many birds and beneficial insects that will be attracted by the seed heads, plus come spring you may be surprised by how many of those *annuals* come back again! Not only is it a very pleasant surprise in spring, those new plants are generally more hardy than the originals were.”

Donna wrote:

My late father told me: “always plant your plants down in a small well so that the water doesn’t run off”.

Vikki wrote:

My best garden tips aren’t anything new but they work. I constantly apply compost and also composted manure (from my horses) on a regular basis. Also add organic fertilizer and spray with liquid seaweed. Mulch well and water deeply at regular intervals especially in the summer. My roses are always beautiful and disease and insect free because they are so healthy.

Each of these ladies will receive a gorgeous Robusta rosebush or a gift certificate of equal value!

Thank you so much to all those who entered, and if you didn’t win– don’t worry! We’ll be having a lot more contests here on the Daily Weeder, so just check back with us, and you may just find another chance to win a great gardening prize!

Congratulations to Vikki, Donna, and Cheryl!

Happy Gardening,

Marie Suzanne

Hello Fellow Gardeners!

In my last article I mentioned “your friend’s garden” as a possibility for practicing the wonderful art of garden photography.

Well my friend and garden club buddy, Sharon has the most gorgeous garden! So I thought that I would share with you some of the pictures I took the last time we had a meeting at her house.

Sharon is a meticulous gardener! She pays attention to the four commandments of gardening: color, height, texture, and grouping. As you can see, she puts a lot of effort into keeping her garden beautiful—it is continuous blooming (not an easy task!) and is just as gorgeous as the pictures you see here, all season long.

Sharon loves gardening and it shows! With her permission here is some gardening eye candy for your appreciation…

A wonderful place to sit and dream…

Sharon uses this pretty statue as the focal point of her garden!

Or just sit back and enjoy the shade!

A garden is a great place to let your sense of humor fly!

These tulips are extra special because they are perennial tulips. They are much taller and sturdier than your average tulip!

Garden’s don’t have to be all straight lines! I love the curve Sharon put into her bed– it adds style and pizzazz!

Sharon did all of the work on this garden by herself– even the laying of the brick! What an inspiration!

Happy Gardening,

Marie Suzanne

Hello Fellow Gardeners,

Photography is another one of my interests I pursue…avidly! Luckily I can combine both of my passions in gardening and photography together! As promised, here is part two of Tips n’ Tricks for Garden Photography!

Where we left off…

4. In a close up situation you must control your depth of field. You need to use a wide aperture (small F stop like # 2-4-8) to blur out a busy background. Otherwise, put your camera on macro mode (indicated by the little flower shown below) that comes with a good digital camera—it’ll help you take a great close up shot!

Just what is an F Stop?

An aperture or F stop is a setting on your camera that refers to how wide or narrow the camera’s opening is. This will let you control the amount of light you let into your camera. For example, on a cloudy day you may have to let more light in, so therefore using a lower number F stop such as a 5, will let you get a better shot! Conversely, on a sunny day you wouldn’t need as much light, so use a larger number F stop, such as 11, 16, or 22!

Summarized!

Basically the larger # the F stop there is less light allowed in your camera, and the smaller # the F stop the more light allowed in!

5. I use several heavy poster boards in different colors depending on what effect I want. In general, green, slate, or white are the preferred choices for backgrounds. This is another good reason to use a tripod– it leaves your hands free to re-arrange the background to suit your purpose!

These boards can also be handy to help block wind and stop your subject from waving…

6. Take A LOT of photos! Don’t be afraid to experiment! Look at a subject from different angles, and don’t be afraid to get up close and personal! Digital cameras allow you to take virtually limitless photos and delete the photos that don’t turn out! It also allows you to see the picture instantly, rather than waiting (impatiently) for a week to get your film developed!

Don’t forget extra batteries and film or memory cards!

7. Get a good photography program and learn to use it! I like Adobe CS3, but it is quite expensive. Less expensive programs that are really nice are Adobe Elements and Corel Paint!

Original Picture, taken with a poster board in the background…

Just playing around and having some fun with photography…

8. Don’t be afraid to display your own work! I love to frame my photos and hang them around my home so that I can enjoy my garden all year round!

I find that photography always takes a little longer than I expect, so allow for a reasonable block of time to enjoy your project. Just relax and have fun!

For more information, I found three great websites that are really helpful…

Jeff Galbraith Photography

Flower Photography

Digital-Photography-School

Happy Gardening,

Marie Suzanne