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Just like grandma used to grow

A granddaughter's sprawling cottage gardens honor the two grandmothers who passed down their cherished plants and wisdom. Updated Mar. 20, 2012

From novices to know-it-alls

The Shannons of St. Paul scaled a steep learning curve to create their "collector's garden," which features specimens from around the world. Updated Jan. 30, 2012

Beautiful Garden winner: Garden reflects gardener

A self-taught gardener paints her exuberant landscape with a free but disciplined hand. Updated Feb. 21, 2012

There are some spectacular private gardens around the Twin Cities. We discover several each year in our Beautiful Gardens contest. From November to April, we'll bring you into one Beautiful Garden a month.

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Tricia Frostad's front yard garden in Chanhassen.

A steep learning slope
Article By: BILL WARD ,Star Tribune Publish December 28, 2011 2:00 AM / Update January 30, 2012 1:28 PM
Self-taught gardener Tricia Frostad created an eye-popping display in her front yard and a series of streams in her hilly back yard.

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Beverly Moore's garden

Tending a dream
Article By: KIM PALMER , Star Tribune Publish November 9, 2011 2:00 AM / Update January 30, 2012 1:29 PM
A design-savvy gardener fulfilled her vision of creating a beautiful landscape -- one worthy of a special event.

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Kevin Blaeser and Cooper Hipp's garden

They aren't afraid of change
Article By: BILL WARD , Star Tribune Publish October 19, 2011 2:00 AM / Update January 30, 2012 2:27 PM
A Golden Valley duo have created a gorgeous haven, but they're constantly working to enhance it.

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Gardeners Richard and Shirley Friberg

Partners in planting
Article By: KIM PALMER , Star Tribune Publish March 9, 2011 2:00 AM / Update March 8, 2011 4:33 PM
The Fribergs of Roseville are tireless gardening overachievers. They host tours, they volunteer, and they're active in multiple clubs. And, oh yeah, they still find time to tend their awe-inspiring landscape.

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Lake Elmo Beautiful Garden contest winner

The constant gardener
Article By: KIM PALMER , Star Tribune Publish January 12, 2011 2:00 AM / Update January 11, 2011 3:45 PM
An ambitious green thumb and her helpful husband team up to tend a winning garden in Lake Elmo -- and to collaborate on a humorous his-and-hers gardening book.

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A Brooklyn Park garden

Carefree cottage gardening
Article By: BILL WARD , Star Tribune Publish December 8, 2010 2:00 AM / Update December 7, 2010 1:00 PM
A Brooklyn Park yard evolved into a haven for the birds and the bees and the flowers and the trees.

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Randy Ferguson

Garden is urban oasis
Article By: KIM PALMER , Star Tribune Publish October 6, 2010 2:00 AM / Update October 5, 2010 4:49 PM
Drawing on his rural roots, a gardener creates a country-inspired haven in the heart of the city.

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Sarah Buerkley transformed her Stillwater landscape

Gardener's bloom ambition
Article By: KIM PALMER , Star Tribune Publish April 7, 2010 2:00 AM / Update April 6, 2010 6:02 PM
A Stillwater woman was surprised to find her "best self" in her garden.

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Tom and Anna Erbes in their garden

Couple display the art of gardening
Article By: CONNIE NELSON , Star Tribune Publish March 10, 2010 2:00 AM / Update March 9, 2010 4:07 PM
A creative couple rely on a unique form of organic design to turn their front yard into an award-winning destination.

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The Peden garden

Her garden became his inspiration
Article By: KIM PALMER , Star Tribune Publish February 10, 2010 2:00 AM / Update February 9, 2010 4:40 PM
Jennifer Baldwin Peden was the star in the garden. Her husband, Tom, was waiting in the wings - until a touring show took her away and inspired him to pick up where she left off.

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Reclaimed street pavers line the beds

Back-yard bouquet
Article By: LYNN UNDERWOOD , Star Tribune Publish January 13, 2010 2:00 AM / Update January 18, 2010 3:13 PM
A Bloomington woman interweaves old-fashioned coneflowers, flowering shrubs and flagstone walkways to turn her turf-covered suburban back yard into a massive cutting garden.

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Jim Smith

The final season
Article By: KIM PALMER , Star Tribune Publish November 11, 2009 2:00 AM / Update November 10, 2009 7:35 PM
A garden's beauty is always ephemeral. But as Jim Smith's flowers and foliage fade for the winter this year, it's especially poignant because Smith knows it's for the last time. Next spring, the Environmental Protection Agency plans to dig up his landscape and replace his arsenic-laced soil.

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Mark Campbell

Back-yard bounty
Article By: CONNIE NELSON , Home + Garden Editor Publish October 21, 2009 2:00 AM / Update October 21, 2009 7:27 AM
A passionate, learn-as-you-go gardener reaps the fruits of many years of labor in his Edina yard.

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Buerkleys' garden

Beautiful Garden contest winners
Publish August 5, 2009 2:00 AM / Update August 4, 2009 3:13 PM
Beautiful Garden contest winners

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Master gardener Jane Horn and her husband, LeRoy

April 2009: Garden gallery
Article By: KIM PALMER , Star Tribune Publish April 29, 2009 2:00 AM / Update October 20, 2009 1:28 PM
A passion for sculpture -- and an aversion to mowing -- inspired an ambitious landscape in Prior Lake that its keepers eagerly share with others.

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Gorgeous gardens
Article By: Steve Rice , Publish / Update June 12, 2009 8:21 AM
See highlights from all six winners of last year's Beautiful Gardens contest.

Taft family

March 2009: Where the wild things are
Article By: KIM PALMER , Star Tribune Publish March 18, 2009 2:00 AM / Update January 30, 2012 2:35 PM
Animals flourish among the flowers and foliage in a suburban landscape that's part garden, part wildlife sanctuary.

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Artistic director in her work of art

Feb. 2009: St. Paul city garden is front and center
Article By: CONNIE NELSON , Home +Garden Editor Publish February 25, 2009 2:00 AM / Update March 18, 2009 9:20 AM
A learn-as-you-go gardener transformed a small city lot into an imaginative, innovative garden.

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Sun shines on Bob Sauer's garden

Jan. 2009: Park place in Edina
Publish January 28, 2009 2:00 AM / Update February 24, 2009 4:31 PM
A do-it-yourself Edina gardener transformed an overgrown yard into a parklike setting with a string of intimate, inventive gardens.

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Marian and Larry Fischer

Dec. 2008: Marian Fischer is a garden category unto herself
Article By: KIM PALMER , Star Tribune Publish December 31, 2008 2:00 AM / Update March 18, 2009 10:55 AM
To Marian, the land near Waseca is her canvas, and flowers and foliage are her medium. Husband Larry is co-groundskeeper and crewman.

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Lucy Pacieznik in her garden

Nov. 2008: Apple Valley garden has its roots in WWII labor camp
Article By: Kim Ode , Star Tribune Publish November 12, 2008 2:00 AM / Update March 18, 2009 10:56 AM
The fragrant phlox spilling down the slope of Lucy Pacieznik's back yard in Apple Valley have their roots in a forced labor camp in Germany, where her Ukrainian mother first held her as a newborn in 1943.

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