Last chance to nominate a garden

Last chance to nominate a gardenSeen a great garden lately? Maybe it's your mom's ... maybe it's your neighbor's ... maybe it's in your own back yard. It's time to share its beauty with others by nominating it in our annual Beautiful Gardens contest. Every year, Home+Garden seeks out the best private residential gardens, then features the winners on the cover of the Home+Garden section and online at www.startribune.com.

It's easy to help your favorite gardener get the glory he or she deserves. Just send a few snapshots of the garden, along with a brief description, including who tends the garden, where it's located and what makes it special.

We'll be accepting nominations through Monday. Please send entries to: Beautiful Gardens, Star Tribune, 425 Portland Av. S., Mpls. 55488. Or e-mail them to beautifulgardens@startribune.com.

Hardscaping 101If creating an outdoor retreat is on your to-do list this summer, help is at hand at Gertens, which is offering two free workshops on landscape installation this week.

At 7 p.m. Tuesday, visitors can learn about landscaping with natural stone, including how to plan a project, prepare the base material and get started with a flagstone patio, walkways and natural stone walls.

At 10 a.m. Saturday, the workshop topic will be installation of preformed concrete pavers and wall block.

Gertens is at 5500 Blaine Av. S. in Inver Grove Heights.

The cost is $40, which includes all supplies for your patriotic floral creation. You can register at www.bachmans.com or 612-861-7311. The class will be offered simultaneously at several Bachman's stores, including Plymouth, Eden Prairie, Apple Valley, Maplewood and Fridley.

'Mod mixer'If you watch "Mad Men" for the costumes and sets, here's a chance to get in touch with your inner Don or Betty. Docomomo, a group committed to preserving modern architecture and design, is holding its fourth annual "Mod Mixer" at Forage Modern Workshop's new showroom.

Wear your favorite vintage outfit, and come for a free evening of hors d'oeuvres and cocktails, live music, a photo booth and a drawing. The Mod Mixer will be held 6-8 p.m. Thursday. Forage Modern Workshop is located at 4023 E. Lake St., Mpls. For more information, visit www.docomomo -us-mn.org.