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Best in Bloom is a new program sponsored by the Arden Garden Club to celebrate the gardens that make our community special. The goal is to highlight neighbors who pour their time, creativity, and heart into their yards — and to inspire others to dig in, too.
This year marks the very first Best in Bloom contest. Winners will receive a garden stone engraved with “Best in Bloom 2025.” The hope is that this becomes a new Arden tradition, with more opportunities each year to showcase the beauty around us.
Looking ahead, Best in Bloom 2026 will begin earlier in the season so we can capture gardens in full bloom. Nominations will open in May, and the winner will be announced in June.
2025 Winners of the Best in Bloom Contest
Carol & Steve Ward
When Carol and Steve moved to Arden in 2002, the house at 823 Hollywood Blvd wasn’t what drew them in — it was the land overlooking the Severn River. “We gave up a beautiful old historic house for this,” Carol said, “but we loved the lot. We wanted to be on the water.” More than twenty years later, they call it their “permanent vacation home.”
Back then, the yard was nothing but weeds and scrub brush. Today, it’s bursting with color and charm, and people can’t help but stop and look.
As neighbors pass the back of the property, backing onto Valentine View, their eyes are drawn to the colorful birdhouses overlooking the lush flower garden and speckling the Ward’s property. There’s something charming about the birdhouses that makes people smile as they go by.
But the birdhouses are more than decoration — they are heirlooms, reminders of good memories, and of cattthe people that built them. About a third were handmade by Carol’s father-in-law and uncle; the rest she and Steve collected over the years. Each one is painted in bright, playful colors, standing like little cottages tucked among daisies and Black-Eyed Susans. One even carries a fleur-de-lis, a small tribute to both Carol and Steve’s New Orleans roots.
Even the birds couldn’t resist their charm - bluebirds, sparrows, and finches quickly moved in. The neighbors across the street, longtime friends, are also part of the action, providing bird feeders that keep them coming. “They feed them, and we house them,” Carol laughed.
The Birdhouses: A Family Legacy
An All-American Throw-Together
Carol calls her gardening style “All-American throw-together.” There’s no rigid plan; she follows her instincts and lets the garden take the shape it wants to. Two daisies she planted years ago are now scattered across the property. Pots of coleus brighten the front entry. Black-Eyed Susans line the walk, golden against the green.
Along the shady path to the front of the house are some hidden delights — glass flamingos, bright blue herons, and even a monk carrying water. It’s the kind of place that makes you slow down, wander, and take it all in.
Gardening here is a labor of love. Carol and Steve spend about two hours every day outside, side by side, weeding, trimming, and edging. “That’s why we’re still together,” Carol laughs, “because we can sit outside and weed together.”
For Carol, weeding is therapy — a way to unwind and let her mind rest. Her favorite time in the garden is in the evening, after the day’s work is done, when she can sit back and enjoy the view. created.
A Daily Ritual
A Landmark on Valentine View
The Ward garden has become a neighborhood landmark. As neighbors drive down Valentine View or walk their dogs, they slow down to admire it, the Severn River in the background. Carol jokes that she knows the dogs’ names better than their owners — though everyone knows her dog Lily, who runs along the fence welcoming visitors.
Neighbors often pause to admire the view, and one even told Carol, “Your garden makes people feel happy.” That, perhaps, is its greatest achievement.
Lessons in Perseverance
Not every season has been easy — the soil is sandy, the deer go after her begonias, and some years the hydrangeas just don’t bloom at all. But the garden has taught Carol to be patient and to keep going. Her advice to new gardeners: “Do what you want. Go with what makes you happy,” but also “if a tag says six feet apart, six feet apart it should be.”
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