how about pictures of the top ten?

Congrats to the winners! A lot of nice looking jades.

LOL I just came on here to read the rules because I was going to enter--I'm sure I would have won :-) Just kidding--none of mine can compare to these.

John, they are all on the competition thread, I'll go and 'bump' it up for you.

Lots of great plants to enjoy!

I do believe I was left out of the results. Me and my 2 votes were storming to the top!

:-] ez

Surprised with the results! Thought Paul had it in the bag since day 1. I guess the null votes kinda made it more exciting as you didn't know exactly who was winning.

Haha 0 votes for me! Lots of 0s actually.

What's the next competition going to be? I don't have many succulents and don't have any cacti but it sure is fun to watch everything unfold.

Ez, I am terribly sorry. Part of my problem was that as I was writing names, some were disappearing over the sides or turning up further down the page. Also I couldn't get the word 'votes' to stay still or even to print sometimes. I'm using a little old netbook and it doesn't even have a good writing pad. Lesson 1 for me, get it all sorted and then copy and paste. I really thank you for being so nice about it. Is there anyone else that disappeared? I hope not.

Another lesson I learned and would pass on to whomever is running a competition: talking about what MrBlubs said about Paul, people were voting for Paul, Laurent and others while pictures were still to be posted, when the choice was not yet visible. So I think photos should be posted up to a certain date, then close that part of the competition and have a set number of voting days before the end.

Another suggestion given to me which makes sense is that no-one should be allowed take part who has not posted or commented on a GW forum within the month preceding the opening of the competition - or failing that, their profile should visibly show their join date to GW. Many of the voters were apparently posters on Houzz household forums, not GW, which made them difficult to verify, and actually is somewhat outside the spirit of a gardening competition to my mind. Many of these would have been disallowed as voters if it were not for the diligence of our forum sleuth who tracked them down after much work.

Thank you Margaret for initiating the competition, also to Richard and anyone else who helped and to those who kindly and generously donated prizes. I hope everything was taken in good spirit both by the entrants and the voters....in the end! It took some sorting out what with one issue and another so hopefully if we get to stage another similar event, it will be easier for those concerned. It was great to see yet more pics of our jades which seem to be rather popular within this forum! The fact that there were several days in which to post your pics I would have thought would immediately flag up the fact that one needed to wait till the end to cast your vote? Anyway, I agree Margaret with the points made in your post above as I too was wondering who some of the names we're as I had not seen them on the c/s forum before....and I don't know why some ppls joining info does not appear on their profile. Anyone know?

So thanks again Margaret, it was an interesting addition to what is a relatively quite time of year :)Almost forgot, congrats to the winners too! Well done.

Gill UK

Thank you for putting this together. I'll admit when I first heard of this I was worried it would end in anger and a lot of hurt people. Thankfully that wasn't the case and it seems everyone was able to handle that votes, or changing of votes, were never personal.

Was great fun and the best part was seeing everyone's plants. Did we have anything in mind for the next show? Will it be Jade again or something else?

This has been quite a bit of fun, and it was nice to see that it drew in some new folks who hopefully stay and share their plants.

ez

In fact, Nicholas, the top rankings would have been exactly the same if no votes were subtracted; further down ewwmayo and Guimeixen would have tied for fifth place, Ben would have been sixth, and Richard, Gill, Crenda and igteacher joint 7th. Not much difference. I certainly never expected anger or a lot of hurt being experienced by folk - if I had I might not have been so sanguine about the success of the contest.

Congrats, winners! Please send me your snail mail addresses in an email to jharrisv2e1l3atgeemaildotcom and I'll mail your prize(d) pots to you next month when I'm in the States. Marguerite, you've pleased a lot of people - way to go!

Mike,

My name's Jeff, not Chris - just for the record.

Yeah, I know..I should of known...A bit tired but not forgetful just yet..Sorry Jeff)

Jeff, thank you for that kind comment, not to mention for what you are doing for the winners. I got at least as much out of it as anyone else, believe me.

Mike, that would be wonderful, but I don't think you have Messaging enabled. I found out when I was trying to tell you about the contest, of which you are a very worthy winner. That's why I posted the link on the House Plant thread, because I had seen you there a good few times.

Aw..You are so sweet...Many have been messaging me hrough Huoz..Strange..But here is my e-mail for you......

mikerno_1@yahoo.com

Congratulations to you Mikerno and everyone who participated. Thank you margaret for such an interesting competition and thanks to Mr. CactusMcHarris for donating a prize.

Wonderful photos, and thank you Marguerite for the time you spent coordinating and compiling! Maybe this can be an annual event and each year a different member can take on the role as the coordinator. Sorry I did not get a chance to post, I did get to throw in a couple votes at least!

-Erica

I saw that, Erica. Hope things are going well for you.

Thank you, Marguerite, for all the work you did in running this competition. *hugs*

Also, kudos to those who offered to supply prizes to the "winners" (though I must say that I don't recall where the "cut-off" line for winners' circle lies).

Hope everyone enjoyed the contest. And thanks to all who voted for my jade. I was pleased with how well it did though wasn't surprised it didn't take 1st or 2nd place -- still a very small plant. There were some plants for which I was amazed did not receive more votes.

Thank you, Paul, that is very nice of you. Despite the size of your plant, it was the colours that made it a near winner. I blame myself that some lovely plants got no vote. Many were posted late, after voters had allocated their votes, and most would have been shy of 'unliking' photos they had 'liked' because they might have felt feelings would be hurt. For any future competitions, I hope people will profit by this experience and arrange for some set days of posting, a date when posting ends, and then set voting days until the end of the competition. Much neater.

So have you all decided on the next competition subject yet?

On the Jade Competition thread, Paul, you will find out about Richard's, Pagan's and Jeff's very kind offers. I'll take a look soon myself to see what's what.

I must have missed seeing offer from Pagan (read all the posts in just couple of hours)...so I am sorry I didn't mentioned it in previous post. It is very generous of all of you, Richard, Pagan and Jeff.

Margaret, no blame at all, after all it was 'first comp'. I am sure we all learned something. I think you are right about having cut-off times for everything: posting photo deadline, voting deadline and then counting the votes & posting results. I think it was great, inspiring and hope to be at least a voter in the next one.

Rina

Brad, Paul, Laurent, eww, Guimeixen, and Ben,

I need your snail mail addresses.

Thanks,

Jeff

Congrats! It's a truly fantastic specimen of Maruba Nishiki, Mike!

Loved viewing all these Jades, and I wish I could have voted for more of them.

Josh

I was really hoping to see one of yours, Josh.

Huh. There doesn't seem to be a way to privately contact another member. Was going to contact Jeff but can't find a way to do it.

Paul, my email addy is above.

Oops! Sorry Jeff. Don't know how I missed that. But a Q regarding it ... is the "v2e1l3" literally 'as is' .... vee two ee one el three (as opposed to a shorthand)? Would like to get it right the first time around. ;)

Yes, it's my postal code, and it's just as you note. That alone might get you an extra pot!

Funny how used to one's own country's method for doing postal codes one gets -- so much so that it is easy to forget that it can vary markedly between countries .... even neighboring ones. :)

Yes, worthies have won. Congratulations!

The pots to Mike, Paul and Ben were boxed and posted today. The pot to Kevin will be mailed next week (I hope) after I've returned home. I hope you enjoy them.

It would be fantastic if the winners would be good enough to post pics of their trophies! Pretty please?

Gill UK

Gill, my apologies - I was supposed to do that before I mailed them but some tree trimming, planting of plants and general laziness got in the way.

Thank you Jeff. I am just coming off of being sick but I wanted to thank you for your kindness. Can't wait to use it.

Gill, I think I will post a pic of the trophie

Mike

You easily got the prettiest one, Mike, but a 1st-place winner deserves pride of place.

I bought a Crassula today - four healthy plants, planted in a 1-gallon pot - $6.50!

Nice score Jeff, looks like Red Horn Tree!

Daniel

Aw-sum find at a super price ( will have to but) cant wait to see it when it has been shaped up a bit. Can you show a preview of it in it's new pot ?

Daniel,

It was under the Home Dodo label of plants, listed as '#1 Jade, Sunset Gollum, Crassula argentea'.

nn,

It's going home with me to Canada, so it will be rehomed there.

It could even be another variegated Hobbit. The leaves look small for the Red Horn Tree, but time will tell.

Great score, Jeff! Definitely looks to be 'Red Horn Tree,' aka Sunset 'Hobbit.'

Josh

You never know Christopher, we may even score a selfie or two of the lucky winners with their trophies aloft, that would be even better. How about it guys?....were there any gals, not checked the list?

Your latest purchase looks a good one, please show when planted up :)

Gill UK

" Home Dodo" ---LIKE. You have infected my vocabulary. I need to go today to buy some BarLube for my chainsaw..

Jeff, thank you..I will take a pic of it as soon as I get it, now that I feel better. Nice plant by the way)

Thanks for the pot, Jeff! :-)

was planning on posting a pic of it, but my computer's mother board is dying making any PC related activity extremely unreliable.

Thanks for letting me know, Paul, that you got it. I'll guess that Mike gets his today and I'm hopeful Ben gets his next week.

Jeff, thank you for the pot and the nice note))). I actually got your package late last night and could not get to saying so until just now. I wish I had my camera so I could take a pic, but by the time I do, I will have put a very good looking plant in it then take one...Love it)

Mike, that's great. Must get off of my bum and mail Kevin's pot, but first I have to dig it out of the snow.

jeff. your pot arrived today. Thanks a lot for this beautyfull piece. When i have a plant inside i will make a photo and post it here. Thanks again and all the best, Ben

My pleasure, Ben. It was the smallest I had to send the farthest, and for my money the one I would have chosen.