Lexington in Bloom contest is seeking your prettiest entry

Just because you don’t have a front yard brimming with flowers doesn’t mean you can’t enter this year’s Lexington in Bloom contest.

The biennial beautification contest has a miscellaneous category that encourages non-traditional plantings like beautiful pots and containers, a school or community garden, a mailbox, neighborhood association medians, vegetable gardens or a monarch butterfly plot.

This catchall division “has grown by leaps and bounds” since it was added in 2012, said Liz Pattengill, contest chairwoman. Many people may not have the time or inclination to do a full-blown garden, she said, but express their love of nature in other ways.

Lexington in Bloom is currently accepting nominations recognizing gardens and plantings in Fayette County. The contest has five categories: amateur and professionally done residential front yards, large and small gardens and plantings at businesses, plus the miscellaneous plantings.

Criteria include curb appeal, use of color and texture, maintenance, plant selection, design and creativity.

The Lexington Council of Garden Clubs sponsors Lexington in Bloom.

Deadline for entries is June 3. There will be two rounds of judging in early June. The judging teams for the final round are made up of garden club members, master gardeners, first places winners from 2014 and professional designers.

Winners will be recognized at a reception on June 26 at the visitors’ center of the Arboretum on Alumni Drive.

Entry forms are available at all branches of the Lexington Public Library, area nurseries and can be downloaded at www.lexgardenclubs.org.

For additional information, contact Pattengill at 859-223-4362 or go to lexingtoninbloom@gmail.com.

This story was originally published May 20, 2016 at 3:17 PM with the headline "Lexington in Bloom contest is seeking your prettiest entry."