Nominate your favorite garden for our Beautiful Gardens contest

Now that it's officially summer, is your garden looking gorgeous? Or maybe there's another garden you've admired at your friend's or in your neighborhood.

Why not share its beauty? Nominate the garden in our annual Beautiful Gardens contest.

Every year, Home+Garden seeks out the best private residential gardens, then publishes the winners throughout nongardening months. Each winning garden will be showcased in the Star Tribune and online at www.startribune.com.

The garden can be any type — big or small; urban, suburban or rural; edible, ornamental or both. It can be located anywhere in Minnesota or western Wisconsin.

It could be your parents' garden, your friend's garden or your own. Why keep a beautiful thing all to yourself?

It's easy to nominate a garden. Just send a few snapshots, along with a brief description, including: who tends the garden, where it's located and what makes it special.

Here's a tip to boost your favorite garden's chances of being chosen a winner: Photos don't have to be of professional quality, but be sure to include at least one that shows a back-off view of the garden. Close-ups of beautiful roses and irises are great, but the judges also need to see how elements in the garden work together to create a whole.