We had over 540 stunning entries in this year’s contest! By entering their photos in our contest, these photographers are helping Wild Ones further its mission. Wild Ones uses contest images in Wild Ones publications, promotional materials, presentations and on the Wild Ones websites so that others may be inspired to learn about native plants and natural landscaping.
First place category winners were awarded a $50 prize. Second and third place category winners received bragging rights.
We were proud to have the 2022 Photo Contest judged by the following volunteers:
- Ginny Levy – Head of Garden Club of America Horticulture Committee
- Lori Purk – Missouri Master Naturalist
- Robert Smith – Photographer and Wild Ones Member
- Josh Taylor Jr. – Professional Photographer and Canon Explorer of Light
All images are the property of Wild Ones and should not be downloaded or used without permission.
Best In Show Winner
(voted by the judges)
Title: Misty Morning
Chapter: Mountain Laurel (CT)
Location: North Wayne, Maine
Flora: Red Maple (Acer rubrum)
Photo Story: Canoeing on the pond early in the morning, the fall colors glowed through the mist.
Peoples Choice Winner
(voted by current Wild Ones members)
Title: Sublime Sunrise on my Prairie
Chapter: Arrowhead (MN)
Location: Bemidji, MN (my side yard)
Flora: Little bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium), bee balm (Monarda fistulosa), narrow leaved coneflower (Echinacea angustifolia), pale purple coneflower (Echinacea pallida), wild quinine (Parthenium integrifolium), lance leaf coreopsis (Coreopsis lanceolata), white prairie clover (Dalea candida), hairy golden aster (Chrysopsis villosa), yellow coneflower (Ratibida pinnata) showy goldenrod (Solidago speciosa), big bluestem (Andropogon gerardii), rattlesnake master (Eryngium yuccifolium) and wild blue indigo (Baptisia australis).
Photo Story: Every morning I pop out of bed well before sunrise, eager to see what the new dawn will bring on my home prairie landscape. For a fleeting moment this morning, the clouds, fog, and red light of dawn synergized with prairie to create an otherworldly magical glow. Words can’t describe the beauty of such moments.
Fauna with Flora Category Winners
(non-pollinator wildlife with native plants)
Photographer: David Silsbee
Title: They’re All Mine
Chapter: Mountain Laurel (CT)
Location: Mansfield, CT
Fauna & Flora: Cedar Waxwing (Bombycilla cedrorum) on Eastern Redcedar (Juniperus virginiana)
Photographer: Ed Buchs
Title: Common Whitetail Dragonfly on Leadplant at Home
Chapter: Kettle Moraine (WI)
Location: My home in Genoa City, Wisconsin
Fauna & Flora: Lead Plant (Amorpha canescens)
Photographer: Courtney Denning
Title: Bloodshot on Bloodroot
Chapter: Dayton Area (OH)
Location: Troy, Ohio
Fauna & Flora: 17 Year Cicada (Magicicada cassinii) on Bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis)
Photographer: Renee Benage
Title: Halloween Pennant
Chapter: St. Louis (MO)
Location: August A. Busch Memorial Conservation Area, Defiance, Missouri
Fauna & Flora:
Flora Category Winners
(must be native to where photo was taken)
Photographer: Morgan Meador
Title: Ozark Trillium in Full Bloom
Chapter: Ozark (AR)
Location: Ponca, AR
Flora: Ozark Trillium (Trillium pusillum ozarkanum).
Photographer: Betty Jenewin
Title: Coneflower
Chapter: South Shore MA
Location: Holden Street, Worcester, MA
Flora: Coneflower
Photographer: Laura Stellmacher
Title: Frozen in Time
Chapter: Menomonee River Area (WI)
Location: Hartland, WI
Flora: Willow
Photographer: Betty Jenewin
Title: Black Eyed Susan
Chapter: South Shore MA
Location: Holden Street, Worcester, MA
Flora: Black-Eyed Susan (Rudbeckia hart)
Home Landscaping Category Winners
(native plants around buildings or facilities)
Photographer: Diana Kuklinski
Title: Foggy Dawn on the Prairie
Chapter: Arrowhead (MN)
Location: The south side of my house (Bemidji, MN) — native landscaping along the split rail fence that separates the field from the home landscape.
Flora: Little bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium); big bluestem (Andropogon gerardii); yellow coneflower (ratibida pinnata); Echinacea angustifolia; E. pallida; lance leaf coreopsis (Coreopsis lanceolata); wild blue indigo (Baptisia australis); bee balm (Monarda fistulosum); white prairie clover (Dalea lacta); heath aster (Symphyotrichum ericoides); showy goldenrod (Solidago speciosa); wild quinine (Parthenium integrifolium); rattlesnake master (Eryngium yuccifolium) – and, lichens on the fence!
Photographer: Barbara DeGraves
Title: Redbud Blossoms & Tree Swallows
Chapter: SoKY
Location: My backyard, Bowling Green, KY
Flora: Eastern Redbud (Cercis canadensis), Willow Oak (Quercus phellos), Tree Swallows (Tachycineta bicolor)
Photographer: Laurie Martin
Title: Enter My World
Chapter: West Cook (IL)
Location: Palos Park, IL
Flora: Left: Echinacea purpurea (purple coneflower), Silene regia (royal catchfly), Monarda fistulosa (bee balm), Ratibida pinnata (grayhead coneflower), Geranium maculatum (wild geranium, foliage only). Right: Pycnanthemum virginianum (mountain mint), Cercis canadensis (redbud tree).
Photographer: Diana Kuklinski
Title: Sublime Sunrise on my Prairie
Chapter: Arrowhead (MN)
Location: Bemidji, MN (my side yard)
Flora: Little bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium), bee balm (Monarda fistulosa), narrow leaved coneflower (Echinacea angustifolia), pale purple coneflower (Echinacea pallida), wild quinine (Parthenium integrifolium), lance leaf coreopsis (Coreopsis lanceolata), white prairie clover (Dalea candida), hairy golden aster (Chrysopsis villosa), yellow coneflower (Ratibida pinnata) showy goldenrod (Solidago speciosa), big bluestem (Andropogon gerardii), rattlesnake master (Eryngium yuccifolium) and wild blue indigo (Baptisia australis).
It’s Alive Category Winners
(organisms that do not fall under other categories that live on or with native plants)
Photographer: Bette Kauffman
Title: Boudoir for a Beast
Chapter: Western Gulf Plain (LA)
Location: Lake Martin near Breaux Bridge, Louisiana
Flora: Spanish Moss (Tillandsia usneoides), Bald Cypress (Taxodium distichum), and water tupelo (Nyssa aquatica), plus native graminoids that cannot be identified in the photo, with an American alligator (Alligator mississippiensis) resting on a log.
Photographer: Kristin Bailey Wilson
Title: Frog Camo
Chapter: Middle Tennessee
Location: Westmoreland, TN
Flora: Common Duckweed – Lemna minor, Green Frog – Lithobates clamitans
Photographer: Nan Pokerwinski
Title: Mushroom and Moss
Chapter: River City-Grand Rapids Area (MI)
Location: Croton Township, Michigan
Flora: Unidentified mushroom growing on fallen log with moss
Photographer: Judith Bechtum
Title: Peekaboo
Chapter: Prairie Edge (MN)
Location: Webster, MN
Flora: Tree frog in Paintbrush cactus
Pollinators Category Winners
Photographer: Karen Louis
Title: Hummer on Lobelia Close-up
Chapter: St. Louis (MO)
Location: My yard in Shiloh, IL
Flora: Blue Lobelia I grow in pots on my patio. I have many plants the Ruby-throated hummingbirds love, but they always love the Lobelia.
Photographer: Diana Kuklinski
Title: “Saucy” the Painted Lady
Chapter: Arrowhead (MN)
Location: My back yard prairie landscape (Bemidji, MN)
Flora: Painted lady butterfly (Vanessa cardui); purple coneflower (Echinacea purpurea)
Photographer: Catherine McKenzie
Title: Bumblebee Dusted with Pollen on Cup Plant
Chapter: Fox Valley Area (WI)
Location: Appleton, WI
Flora: Bumblebee, Bombus species; Cup Plant, Silphium perfoliatum
Photographer: Dawn Marie Staccia
Title: Monarch Frenzy
Chapter: Kettle Moraine (WI)
Location: On my property.
Flora: Monarchs on my property on butterfly weed.
Public Landscaping Category Winners
(native plants around buildings or facilities)
Photographer: Abigail Rexer
Title: Beauty in a Foggy City
Chapter: Middle Tennessee
Location: Lurie Garden, Millennium Park, Chicago, IL
Flora: Purple Coneflower (Echinacea purpurea), Joe Pye Weed (Eutrochium sp.)
Photographer: Courtney Denning
Title: Blue Skies at Lurie Garden
Chapter: Dayton Area (OH)
Location: Chicago, Illinois
Flora: Giant Hyssop ‘Blue Fortune’ (Agastache ‘Blue Fortune’), Rough Goldenrod ‘Fireworks’ (Solidago rugosa), Bowman’s Root (Porteranthus trifoliatus), Switch Grass ‘Dallas Blues’ (Panicum virgatum ‘Dallas Blues’), Joe Pye Weed ‘Gateway’ (Eutrochium maculatum ‘Gateway’), Moor Grass ‘Transparent’ (Molinia litoralis ‘Transparent’)
Photographer: Patty Berry
Title: Weldon Spring Interpretive Site 2
Chapter: St. Charles Area (MO)
Location: In the native plant display next to the building in St Charles County, MO.
Flora: Various natives in the sunflower family
Photographer: Linda Karl
Title: Summer Concert
Chapter: Greater Kane County (IL)
Location: Geneva, Illinois
Flora: Echinacea pallida
Scenery Category Winners
(native woodland, savanna, prairie, wetlands, etc.)
Photographer: David Silsbee
Title: Misty Morning
Chapter: Mountain Laurel (CT)
Location: North Wayne, Maine
Flora: Red Maple (Acer rubrum)
Photographer: Neal Bringe
Title: Colorado Aspens at the Peak of Fall Colors
Chapter: Front Range (CO)
Location: Abyss Lake Trail, Mount Evans Wilderness Area, Colorado
Flora: Quaking Aspen (Populus tremuloides)
Photographer: Brad Sabre
Title: June Morning on Powell Marsh
Chapter: Milwaukee-Southwest-Wehr (WI)
Location: Powell Marsh Wildlife Area, Manitowish Waters, Wisconsin
Flora: The area is a showcase of native flora and fauna.
Photographer: Brad Sabre
Title: November Morning
Chapter: Milwaukee-Southwest-Wehr (WI)
Location: Bobidosh Lake, Vilas County, Wisconsin
Flora: The distant shore is populated by white pine, red pine and paper birch.