For the second year in a row, the Purdue Extension in Marion County has excelled at the AAS Display Garden Challenge! Their application did a wonderful job of describing the garden, giving relevant details about how the garden embraced the “Get Social” theme as well as evidence about the numbers of AAS Winners used in the garden.

To encourage photography and posting on social media, their design featured masses of color and an inviting garden atmosphere. The garden added three types of seating areas to encourage relaxation and a longer visit to the garden. “Photo ops” were created with a vertical wall garden, and two archways made from metal fencing for climbing plants (one arch with a 9-foot span featured two Jasper tomato plants). Additional “Get Social” signs with the hashtag #AASWinners were sprinkled throughout the garden as additional reminders. All AAS winners had variety markers which goes a long way with the challenge’s judges. Those judges also praised how well explained and documented the Social media postings were. Lastly, a lunchtime lecture on “Plants We Liked This Year” promoted their favorite AAS Winners in the 2018 garden.