Ecosystem Gardening 2010 calendar
I wanted to give a round of applause to all the gardener’s who have submitted their photos and articles to the Ecosystem Gardening Showcase. So I’ve decided to run a contest so you can vote for your favorite showcase garden.
Here’s what to do:
Look at all of the gardens in the Ecosystem Gardening Showcase Come back to this page and tell us who is your favorite Ecosystem Gardener and why.
Your favorite gardener in the showcase will recieve a copy of the 2010 Ecosystem Gardening Nature in Focus Calendar as a token of our appreciation.
Plus, a randomly chosen voting commenter will receive the calendar also. Here’s your chance to receive a great stocking stuffer for yourself and your favorite gardener.
Please remember that this is all for fun, and I think every one of these gardens is beautiful and amazing. This is not about winners and losers, just a fun way for you to take a new look at these wonderful gardens and maybe give you some ideas for your own Ecosystem Gardener.
I’ll keep this open until my birthday on December 19th, so I can be a hobbit and give things away on that day.
So, who’s your favorite? Let us know here.
Update: the title of Favorite Ecosystem Gardener has gone to Helen Yoest. YAY for her! The winning randomly chosen commenter was Lisa Gustavson. Thank you all for your wonderful comments.
© 2009, Carole Brown. All rights reserved.
{ 20 comments… read them below or add one }
Argh I voted in the wrong place. Here goes again! Delete the other one if you like.
So, so hard to choose. I love Ellen Sousa’s vistas, Evelyn Lovitz’s masses of bird feeders among the flowers, and Cindy Brown Ahern’s critters.
My first choice though is Michelle Clay’s garden. The way she took everything down to Gabe’s level is wonderful and inspirational. And that red bowling ball… we should all grow one of those!
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I vote for (and cheer for) – Helen Yoest! Helen Yoest! Helen Yoest!!!
For over a year I have followed Helen’s blog. I follow her on Facebook as well. And there’s a special incredible thing that happens when you spend time truly touching someone’s thoughts for a whole year. You get to see a complete picture of their good days and bad days.
Helen’s days are golden days – most all of them. She’s always positive and good to her fellow gardener; willing to help everyone. I love that about Helen. She’s genuine and real and well… special. We need more Helen’s in the world.
Helen’s garden is a native wildlife haven – literally. I featured her on my blog recently I was so very impressed with the incredible garden and inspiration she has created – http://thecasualgardener.blogspot.com/2009/09/2009-get-it-garden-challenge-helen.html. Look at that LIST – it’s a list of all the wildlife she has documented in her garden. Her specialty is more than being good to nature, it is taking that next step to truly include wildlife and the natural world in her every day life.
I think that’s a gift for nature, but also for all of us. She is a fantastic eco-system gardener and deserves to win!
Thanks for bringing all the gardeners to our attention – it’s awesome to see caring people making a difference for nature.
Shawna
K, though I loved ‘em all, I have to vote for Helen’s Haven for a couple reasons:
1) I love the name “Helen’s Haven” … sounds as lovely and peaceful as it is.
2) I can’t stop looking at the pic of the back porch surrounded with Cleome and wishing I was sitting there.
3) I love that she has specific colors for beds.
4) Seeing her goards made me laugh and remember my own adventures and giggles growing ‘em.
5) Laughed, too, to hear that voles are her nemesis — mine too! LOL
Runner up for me was Ellen Sousa — just love the whole place, her barn/shed, the rock wall (so gorgeous) with sedum (the deer come MILES to eat mine), ferns (an all-time fave for me) , and enough space for her horses.
Second runner up was Cindy Brown Ahern as the whole place is so natural looking (not contrived) AND she holds the little creatures in her hand! Gotta love a girl for that!
I LOVE this series and seeing what others are doing!!!!!!!
My favorite garden is Ellen’s. I have been there and it is probably the most peaceful place I’ve ever been. So many beautiful gardens set on hillsides, riverbanks, along the banks of the lilypad studded pond, etc. I particular love sitting under the gian hemlock with a glass of wine in hand, listenening to natures sounds…keeping watch of the polinating bees and sighting the many butterrflies and hummingbirds which are all attracted via the beautifully colored blooming gardens. Hurray for Ellen…the best sister-in-law ever!
Ellen Sousa all the way! I have been reading her blog since the beginning, have walked her land, have seen the transformation and restoration of habitat, and I LOVE her photographs. Ellen is the only person I know who, when she discovered composting many years ago, long before THB Farm, admitted to loving turning the compost pile. That transformation from yard waste to garden gold has continued to fascinate her and inspire her, and everyone who meets her. Ellen is truly a steward of the land and cares deeply about walking her talk, and teaching anyone who wants to learn about how to enhance the land around you with healthy, pollinator-friendly, and beautiful plantings, as well as the fauna who are so important to maintaining the balance of the ecosystem, micro and macro. Ellen is The Ecosystem Gardener.
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Michelle Clay’s garden is awesome, I love how she made a place for her son to play.
I admire all these women for their commitment to ecosystem gardening. Each one of them have carved out a very special place for themselves, and for the world around them. You’re right, Carole, they all are winners!
I was – and am – most impressed with Michelle Clay’s efforts, however. Michelle has not only created a wonderful little habitat, but she is using it to endear a sense of wonder in her son. That is a gift that will continue to benefit our natural world for years to come.
Happy gardening to everyone in the showcase! (And thank you, Carole, for championing this!)
I have to ditto Shawna’s remark about Helen’s Haven. I’ve met Helen and visited Helen’s Haven and not only is it a wonderful garden, but Helen is most passionate about being eco friendly and shares her love in an enthusiastic way that can’t help but inspire fellow gardeners.
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I vote enthusiastically for Ellen Sousa – and not just because she is a Massachusetts ‘neighbor’. Her passion and concern for the land are truly inspiring. She shares this concern in a friendly and encouraging way with all who visit her excellent blog.
commonweeder´s last post ..And Christmas Begins
aw shucks, thanks for the votes, but am I allowed a vote as a contestant? I love Helen Yoest’s garden and love reading her blog where life and gardening are one…Pat Sutton’s photos of wildlife (especially the caterpillar shots!) were amazing…and a testament to how much diversity you can expect to see up close in a habitat garden! Ro Wilson’s gardens were inspirational, she is totally dedicated to removing invasives and I like how she has connected her habitat with nearby natural areas…her wildflower meadow is just breathtaking!
Cindy Brown Ahern also had a lovely garden, just crammed with plants and so inviting. People like Cindy are the ambassadors of the habitat landscaping movement! I read Evelyn Lovitz’s profile just now and loved it because I could relate to her transformation to ‘habitat gardener’, it is definitely a process and it started with hummingbirds for me too! Irma McVey’s gardens and ponds are simply beautiful..I would love to spend some time there on a sunny day watching what shows up, I’m sure those beautifully planted pond shores attract a huge number of critters…
but I am going to vote for Michelle Clay’s garden…I don’t know her personally but I do know her suburban town and I love what she is doing with her yard…not only creating an environment where her kids can connect with nature every single day, but she is sharing her enthuasiasm and curiosity with so many others, through her blog and the fact that every day, she presents her suburban neighbors with a really interesting alternative to the typical lawn landscape!
Ellen, I love, love, LOVE how you’ve complimented every one of these gardeners! They are all amazing in my book. Thank you.
This was a tough decision… all the gardeners and gardens are amazing! I’m voting for Cindy Brown Ahern and her wonderful wildlife habitat garden. She’s in a lovely part of the country to begin with (my husband’s parents live in Huntingdon Valley) and her enthusiasm was infectious even through printed word. Carole, thanks for sharing all these beautiful gardens with us!
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All the gardens are beautiful, but I’m voting for Helen’s Haven. As a garden designer, I sometimes meet clients who think sustainable, organic gardens can’t be beautiful, but some of the borders in this garden are as lush as anything I’ve seen in Better Homes and Gardens. Plus I like Helen’s comments that they don’t really think of themselves as organic gardeners – they just garden for wildlife and the rest comes naturally.
I’m casting a vote for Michelle Clay. She’s taken her appreciation of nature and introduced it to her son at a level that they can both grow and expand with through the years. This world needs more families in a garden together and more children exploring, discovering and nurturing the world around them. Learning to do all of that in co-operation with your surroundings is simply beautiful. Just like her garden.
I vote for Evelyn Lovitz, b/c of the variety of bird-friendly habitats she’s created. I’m slightly biased b/c hers is the only garden in the mix that I’ve seen in person! Also, she encourages us all to remember building our back yard habitats takes time: “It took about 6 years to get my garden to have color from early spring through late fall. And some color during winter. I started with one bed and added one or two each spring. I now have 11 different beds that have begun to run into each other.”
Based on my first visit to all these gardens, I’m casting my vote for Irma McVey. I felt instantly drawn to her garden. Love the clay birdhouse. “Lawn reduction” has become a mission of mine as well.
All the gardens are gorgeous and inspiring.
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Big, bold, enthusiastic thumbs-up for Helen Yoest. She knows her subject matter, writes delightful narrative and always captures the perfect image to enhance the tale.
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Have to go with Helen’s Haven.
Yes, Sharon, in my book they are all winners because they are making a difference for wildlife by choosing to create welcoming habitats. Glad I’m not voting because I love them all!
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