Amateur gardeners who are Boston residents, operate a Boston business, or who design and maintain an organization garden, join the citywide celebration of urban gardening with Mayor Menino’s 2013 Garden Contest, generously sponsored by Comcast.  The Grand Prize is provided by jetBlue.  Photographs or images submitted to the Boston Parks & Recreation Department become City of Boston property and may be used for press or marketing purposes.  The Department has the right to choose the appropriate garden category for entrants, if one has not been chosen, or if management believes the garden should be placed in a different category.  Gardeners may only win one category.

Categories are: Porch, Balcony, Deck, or Window Box Garden; Shade Garden; Small Yard Garden (250 square feet or less); Medium Yard Garden (250 to 500 square feet); Large Yard Garden (larger than 500 square feet); Community Garden; Vegetable or Herb Garden; Senior Garden Category (65+); and Storefront, Organization, or Main Street District Garden.  The judging criteria are general appeal, use of color, neatness, variety, quality, sustainability, and art.  Participants who have won three or more times in the last ten years will automatically be entered in the second annual Mayor’s Garden Contest Hall of Fame.  These distinguished garden hall-of-famers are able to participate as an honorary judge during the 2013 contest, but will not be eligible to participate as a contestant.  The winner of the grand prize will be awarded roundtrip flights for four to any nonstop destination from Boston.  Terms, conditions, and blackout dates apply.  Applications with photos may be mailed to Mayor Menino’s Garden Contest, Boston Parks & Recreation Department, 1010 Massachusetts Avenue, 3rd floor, Boston, MA 02118, or apply online at www.cityofboston.gov/parks/gardencontest. Thank you, boston.com, for the image of a past winner’s garden, below: