Ready, Aim, Shoot!

When you’re busy digging, weeding, and watering your summer garden, it’s easy to forget to take time to enjoy the fruits – and flowers – of your labors. So, the next time you’re out there, be sure to stop for a few minutes to sit and appreciate the beauty.

Ok, that was nice. Now, grab your camera and start taking pictures! It doesn’t have to be a magazine-worthy combination or a stunning close-up: you never know what might come in handy for a future blog post. To help you focus your photographic efforts, we’re giving you a rundown of the Garden Bloggers’ Design Workshop and Picture This Photo Contest themes that we’re considering for the upcoming year. Print out the lists, build up your photo archives now, and you’ll have plenty of images to pull from if you want to take part in either or both of our regular features during the off season.

Garden Bloggers’ Design Workshop

• Coping with Slopes
• Evening Gardens (plants and lighting)
• Covering the Ground (groundcovers and other lawn alternatives)
• Designing with Shrubs
• Vines and Climbers
• Pocket Gardens (small-space plantings)
• Gardening with Grasses
• Winter Gardens
• Paths and Walkways Revisited
• Incorporating Edibles Revisited
• Walls and Fences Revisited
• Garden Gates

Picture This Photo Contest

• Fauna in the Flora (birds, butterflies, and other critters in the garden)
• Harvest Bounty (vegetables and fruit)
• Heavenly Herbs (edible, medicinal, or ornamental)
• Perfect Partners (combinations of 2 to 5 plants)
• Fabulous Foliage
• Glorious Grasses
• Autumn Abundance (fall foliage color, berries, seedheads)
• The Garden in Winter
• Garden Whimsy (anything that makes you smile: silly-looking flowers, accents, etc.)
• Celebrating Annuals
• Weeds and Wildflowers (not necessarily natives)
• A Bounty of Bulbs
• Containers Revisited
• Vines and Climbers
• My Favorite Perennial
• Best Buds (new shoots and emerging sprouts; seedlings too)

• Bio
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Nancy J. Ondra

Nan gardens on 4 acres in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. In the firm belief that every garden ought to have a pretentious-sounding (or at least pretentious-looking) name, she refers to her home grounds as "Hayefield." There, she experiments with a wide variety of plants and planting styles, from cottage gardens and color-based borders to managed meadows, naturalistic plantings, and veggies--all under the watchful eyes of her two pet alpacas, Daniel and Duncan.

Latest posts by Nancy J. Ondra (see all)

• What’s in a Name? Whence They Came - December 17, 2010
• What’s in a Name? Uses, Flavor, and Fragrance - December 2, 2010
• What’s in a Name? Form and Function - November 19, 2010