Great Garden Contest Winners: 2006

The following are winners of the 2006 Great Gardens contest, sponsored by the Post-Gazette and the Horticulture Society of Western Pennsylvania.

Previous winners

Great Garden Contest Winners: 2005

Great Garden Contest Winners: 2004

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	Tony Tye, Post-Gazette A hillside shows the variety of textures Mrs. Silverman has created. Click photo for larger image.

Co-winner, large gardens category: Susan Silverman, Murrysville

Thirty years ago, Susan Silverman was struggling to cope with the illness of her beloved mother. She turned outdoors to her garden and found, to her amazement, that the place was both mentally and physically healing.

Go to article: Gardener's gospel: She passes on the joy and comfort she found

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	Bill Wade, Post-Gazette White-leaved caladium brightens up a shady spot in the Shaws' garden Click photo for larger image.

Co-winner, large gardens category: Dr. Bill Shaw, Upper St. Clair

A clump of pink and orange impatiens seems to grow from the rushing stream that cuts through the patio at Bill and Norma Jean Shaw's house in Upper St. Clair.

"What a great idea! Who planted it there?" a visitor asks.

Dr. Shaw blushes a little.

Go to article: Dentist put years of work into his garden and left room for serendipity, too

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	Darrell Sapp, Post-Gazette Beneath her trellises, Lorna Secrest installed wood planters alternating with boxwood hedges. Click photo for larger image.

Winner, small gardens category: Lorna Secrest, North Point Breeze

For the first time in four years, all of the judges for the Great Gardens Contest agreed on the top winner in the small gardens category. But even a consensus winner can make a misstep in her garden, and get lucky, too.

In eight years, Lorna Secrest has turned a long, narrow, overgrown city lot in North Point Breeze into a shady retreat that's short on color but overflowing with texture, unique plants and vertical and horizontal visual interest.

Go to article: Green gambler goes out on a limb when picking plants

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	Lake Fong, Post-Gazette Gilbert Dadowski bought this statue for his front garden because it resembles his granddaughter. Click photo for larger image.

Runner-up, small gardens category: Gilbert Dadowski, Moon

Growing up in Canonsburg, Gilbert Dadowski was the family yard boy. When he grew up and bought his own home, he just kept on doing yard work. The self-taught gardener and retired businessman is one of the few who still do their own yard work in the fancy gated community in Moon where he lives.

Go to article: Busy do-it-yourselfer creates lush plot using trees, shrubs and groundcover

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	Bob Donaldson, Post-Gazette Small ponds form the centerpiece of David and Elaine Taylor's Slippery Rock garden. Click photo for larger image.

Runner-up, large gardens category: Elaine Taylor, Slippery Rock

Elaine Taylor was named runner-up in the large garden category of the Great Gardens Contest -- without entering. Her husband, David, secretly compiled photos of their two-acre Slippery Rock garden and entered for her.

Go to article: Slippery Rock garden thrives without annuals

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	Bill Wade, Post-Gazette Cleomes are among the flowers brightening Nancy Gibson's patch. Click photo for larger image.

Runner-up, small gardens category: Nancy Gibson, Brookline

Nancy Gibson, 65, is a gardening convert. For the first 59 years of her life, she wasn't much interested in digging, planting or weeding. Then, six years ago, her daughter called from Frederick, Md., to say she was taking gardening classes. It sounded so interesting that Mrs. Gibson decided to give it a try.

Go to article: Brookline woman learned to make a prize-winning garden from daughter

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