Entries for the second annual Great Gardens competition have begun to trickle in. So where's yours?

The entry deadline is June 28 for the contest sponsored by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and the Horticultural Society of Western Pennsylvania. Gardeners can compete in two categories: non-professional and professional help, which means the garden was designed by a professional. To enter, send your name, address, daytime phone number, description of your garden and at least five 4-by-6-inch photos of your plot to: Great Gardens Contest, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 34 Blvd. of the Allies, Pittsburgh 15222.

How to enter

		Entry form Download an entry form in .pdf format

For complete rules, prizes and an entry form, stop in at your local nursery or garden center or go to the Gardening page at www.post-gazette.com.

But first, let's meet the judges chosen by the Horticultural Society and the Post-Gazette:

Susan Walters Strahler is a certified garden designer with a master's degree in landscape studies from Chatham College. A Phipps Master Gardener since 1997, she has been consulting and designing garden spaces for clients for the last 10 years, from family gardens to historical period gardens. Strahler's own garden in Oakmont serves as her favorite hobby, "test bed" and escape.

Mark McKenzie's company, Landscape Architectural Services Inc., offers professional landscape design, consultation and project management. A Pittsburgh native and Swissvale resident, McKenzie received a master's degree in landscape architecture and environmental planning from Utah State University. He has traveled the world extensively, experiences now reflected in his international approach to design.

Bill Frank is vice president of sales at Eichenlaub Inc., a landscape contracting firm in the Pittsburgh area. He has 26 years in the field, managing and designing residential and commercial properties. Before coming to Pittsburgh, he worked for nine years for two landscaping firms in Boston. He now makes his home in Mt. Lebanon.

Artist Stephanie Flom of Highland Park is a fellow at the STUDIO for Creative Inquiry at Carnegie Mellon University, where she is the founder/director of the Persephone Project. The project, which promotes gardening as contemporary art, has commissioned artist-made gardens for the ArtGardens in Curto Park and Magic Penny community gardens in various neighborhoods. Flom is an avid gardener as well as a community activist and arts advocate.

Amanda Fox, an East End native and Squirrel Hill resident, has a bachelor's degree in plant sciences from the University of Arizona in Tucson, where she focused on desert ecology and xeriscape horticultural practices. She worked in product management at the Ball Horticultural headquarters in Illinois before moving back to Pittsburgh to pursue a career in landscape design. Fox has worked closely with local landscape architect Joel LeGall and at Friday's Perennials.

Else Schiller is a native of the Bavarian region of Germany who gardens around her home, the historic Schiller farm house in Penn Hills. Schiller, who started to garden after her retirement 10 years ago, won third place in the nonprofessional category of the Great Gardens Contest last year. This year, her garden will be featured during the Horticultural Society of Western Pennsylvania's Open Gardens Day in June.

Susan Banks is the gardening editor at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. She has gardened passionately for more than 20 years, first on a small lot on the North Side, and now on a larger, more rural lot in Ross. Her credentials for the garden editor position are simple: She's made every garden mistake possible but still finds the hobby fascinating.

Kevin Kirkland is the homes editor at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. He is the only rank amateur among the judges. In nearly 14 years of owning a home in Mt. Lebanon, his gardening know-how has progressed from impatiens and yews to shade-loving perennials, shrubs and trees. Now if only his garden could keep up.