Dave Sandell gushes about his Edina garden.

"It's absolutely gorgeous from the first warm day in spring until late fall," he said.

But he doesn't take the credit for it. "My wife, Bonnie, is the real gardener. I'm the gopher in the garden," he said. "I dig dirt and put in plants where I'm told."

He also takes pictures of the garden. An amateur photographer who has had his own darkroom since the '70s, Sandell takes photographs of "what catches my eye": landscapes, people and plants, such as the bleeding heart, right.

Flowers are a favorite subject. "I love the texture, the three-dimensional quality. Every flower tells a story," he said. "Life is so distracting, taking a picture stops everything. It really does capture the moment."

CONNIE NELSON

To submit photos for consideration, send uncompressed jpeg images to gardenphoto@startribune.com. Please include your phone number. To see more garden photos, go to www.startribune.com/homegarden.