Step Right Up!

Here is the online link to this week's The List: Top Home & Garden Events on page 22 of today's print edition in the Washington Examiner.

BTW if you are considering whether or not to go to the Seed Exchange based on whether you have seeds or not -- no worries! Seeds are not required. Neither is previous knowledge of gardening! We have plenty of both to share and pass along to you. That is the purpose of our event!

The 2nd Annual Washington Gardener Photo Contest is now open! We are accepting entries until Saturday, January 19. See the categories and rules posted here.

Congratulations to Ellen Johnson of Greenbelt, MD! She is the winner of our December 2007 Washington Gardener Reader Contest. We are mailing Jan today spring-blooming bulbs from our friends at Brent and Becky's Bulbs. She can still plant them up until the ground is frozen hard and unworkable, though they may be a bit shorter and later than they normally would if planted earlier. Or she can use these great bulbs as an opportunity to try her hand at indoor bulb forcing for wonderful, fragrant blooms to brighten up your late winter days. For complete instructions on indoor bulb forcing, see the “GardenBasics” column in our November/December 2007 issue of Washington Gardener magazine.

The bulbs in our giveaway include 10 each of the following:

· Hyacinthus China Pink -- a sport of 'Delft Blue' is soft pink with coral stripes on the outside. Many tubular, slightly reflexed florets cover the 8"-10" stems making one large flowerhead; two linear leaves per stem; their rigid, uniform structure lends them for use in geometric designs; plant where the sweet, reminiscent fragrance of spring, can be enjoyed.

· Narcissus La Belle -- a precious little intermediate flower that gives a garden a bright spot and lots of color punch; great in pots; 6"-10"; late-mid spring.

· Tulipa Yellow Baby -- (pictured above) cute as a button; a real half-pint that is about half the size of the popular 'Monte Carlo'; sort compace and fully double; rich buttery yellow; superb in pots and windowboxes; early midseason; 8"-10"; spectacular with Hyacinthus 'Delft Blue'; early-mid spring.

Stay tuned for news about our January '08 Washington Gardener Reader Contest.