We just want to take a moment out of another busy day in the lab judging applications to say “thank you” to everyone who applied. In the past when we’ve gotten a smaller number of applications, it has usually meant an easier decision process, because usually one or two have stood way out above the rest. This year, despite the number of submissions being down, we’ve been really impressed by the thoughtfulness, depth, and beauty of several of them. This is one area where we really appreciate having a more difficult choice, and we thank you for what you’ve shared with us. The winner will be announced at the RHS Awards night.

We really wanted to use this photo, but we were afraid that the colors in the test tubes might give away whose application we were analyzing.