Congratulations to Dean Delgiudice (plantsville_gardener) of  for his winning entry in the August Photo Challenge, Summer Bouquets: Flowers in the Kitchen.

Linda Galbraith (LindaGal) takes second place with her post, Beautiful Buddleia.

We asked Dean and Linda to tell us a little about themselves. Dean writes:

“My partner and I have been working on the gardens around the yard since we built the house in 2003. We love working in the garden just as much as we enjoy strolling the gardens in the morning and in the evening. We love to bring flowers into the house because we can appreciate their beauty so much more in a vase in the kitchen at all hours of the day. It’s nice to have flowers inside on those hot or rainy days when you can’t get out to see them in the garden. We make arrangements of dried flowers and evergreens in the winter.”

Linda tells us:

“I have gardened since my college days (and am now 60). One of my favorite pleasures is bringing flowers, branches and foliage from the outside into my home any time of year. There is always something growing or flowering in my yard… from evergreens and red twig dogwood branches in the winter; to the abundance of blooming branches, flowers and leaves in the spring and summer; to bittersweet and seed pods in the fall.  I especially enjoy mixing things from my garden with purchased flowers. By adding a few focal flowers from the grocery store or florist, when needed, to things from the garden you can create stunning floral arrangements to brighten your home every week of the year.”

Here are a few other staff favorites:

Summer Delight by guildrez.

First Place Winner: Flowers in the Kitchen
Photo/Illustration: Dean Delguidice

Magenta dahlias and celosia by Anniecan.

Second Place Winner: Beautiful Buddleia
Photo/Illustration: Linda Galbraith