Bloglander

Are you gonna let Portland's International Rose Test Garden make Spokane look stupid? No! Are you just gonna stand there and watch Sacramento's McKinley Park waltz away with the floral glory? No! Do you mean to tell me that you would rather watch Seattle's Woodland Park rub it flowers in our faces than lift a finger to click your mouse?

I didn't think so. 

The City of Spokane is breathing hot and heavy over an online poll by All-America Rose Selections to name one lucky flower patch "America's Best Rose Garden." They want you to help bestow that honor on Manito Park's Rose Hill. The top five gardens in this floral popularity contest will be visited by a panel of experts, who will judge the gardens on the basis of "beauty, creativity and the garden’s overall contribution to its community" (though I haven't exactly seen Manito out picking up trash on the highway lately).

The winning garden gets $2,500, a feature in a national ad campaign, and did we mention civic pride?

Voting opened on April 1, but voting ends on July 1. Go now. Make your voice heard. Do your duty. Let it be known the world over that nobody obsesses over online rose contests like the great and mighty Spokane.