Super natural

The etheral beauty of our natural world, as captured by the entrants from the 19th annual International Garden Photographer of the Year competition

LIKE A DR SEUSS GARDEN

The Beauty of Plants, 3rd place

GAME, SET AND MATCH

The Beauty of Plants, 1st place

Marianne Weingroff, Denver Botanical Gardens, Colorado, United States

(Opposite) In this garden, the shapes and colours, particularly of the purple Allium, reminded me of what a Dr Seuss garden might look like. This shot is comprised of three images, focus stacked together.

Alison Tinson, Béziers, France

Here in the South of France, ordinarily we see dahlias uniquely in late spring, so I was extremely surprised to see these beautiful specimens for sale at the flower market in October – so, of course, they came home with me! I captured this dahlia with my Lensbaby Velvet 85mm lens, using manual focus and a narrow aperture. Having placed the flower in my bespoke black box, I then guided the light with a handheld reflector and directed it to strike the jewelled centre, which glistened so magically. The colours reminded me of a famous tennis tournament, hence the title.