densityB by Barbara Reiner

It’s the second month of our photo contest, and a hearty congratulations to Barbara Reiner for winning our second monthly NYBG-IGPOTY photography contest. The NYBG photo judges had a tough time picking the winner this month, but in the end felt that Barbara’s rose triptych just edged out cindy {k}’s scene among the tulips for this month’s theme “American Beauty.” Barbara will receive a NYBG gift pack, which includes two All-Garden Passes, a $25 credit towards the Adult Education class of her choice, a catalog for the Library exhibition Historical Views: Tourists at the Alhambra, and the catalog from Hirschfeld’s Broadway Scrapbook. We’re also still working on getting copies of the photography book, Better Plant and Garden Photography, written by IGPOTY founder Philip Smith, over from the U.K. as well. Congratulations Barabara! Please send us an email with your contact information through this form (select website from the pull-down menu).

Head below the jump to see the rest of this month’s winners.

It’s a beautiful day to buy seasonal, farm-fresh produce from our fantastic vendors at the Botanical Garden Greenmarket. The Greenmarket is open today until 3 p.m. Come by to pick up eggplants, cantaloupe, peaches, cherries, and blackberries and visit Spanish Paradise: Gardens of the Alhambra before it closes on August 21!

Gajeski Produce has bunches of sunflowers to decorate your dinner table, corn, zucchini, cucumbers, squash, and field grown tomatoes in all colors. Greens also abound– lettuce, broccoli, and scallions along with fresh herbs basil and cilantro. Don’t forget to pick up some eggs they brought fresh from Feather Ridge Farm.

Migliorelli Farm has carrots, beets, radishes, fennel, and turnips–good kitchen standards to stock up on. More interesting greens like dandelion, collards, escarole, fennel, kale, chard, mustard, and bok choy are available, too. Apples and corn are beginning to become a regular presence.

Local honey can be purchased from The Little Bake Shop. Pies of all sorts-cherry, blueberry, apple, and raspberry in the Linzer tart and other sweets are perfect for sharing.

Bread Alone has sourdough, multigrain, and foccacia breads ready for sandwich fillings. Raisin nut, ciabatta, and peasant rolls are a compliment to any meal. Muffins, tarts, danishes, cookies, and scones make for nice treats.

Red Jacket Orchard has delicious sweet red cherries, small apricots, sugar plums, apples, jams, and ice cold refreshing juices.

You can learn more about Greenmarket, part of the Council on the Environment of New York City–one of the largest open-air farmers market programs in the United States–at their booth. Taste what’s fresh at the weekly cooking demonstrations–this week features blackberry-basil syrup.

This mama duck decided that one of the beds in the Ruth Rea Howell Family Garden would be a perfect place to start a new family, so she built a nest right in the middle of one!

Mama Duck says “Quack!” (photo by Ivo M. Vermeulen)