Spring Has Sprung Photo Contest: Rules, Terms and Conditions 

These Are the Official Rules of the PlantersPlace.com® Spring Has Sprung Photo Contest 

NO PURCHASE NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN. A PURCHASE OR PAYMENT OF ANY KIND WILL NOT IMPROVE YOUR CHANCES OF WINNING. 

PlantersPlace.com® invites gardeners to enter the 2023 Spring Has Sprung Photo Contest. Please read the following rules, terms and legal conditions before submitting photos.

  1. Sponsor. The sponsor of this Promotion is PlantersPlace.com (“Sponsor”), a gardening website owned and operated by Bloomington Brands, LLC. The website’s contact address is Bloomington Brands LLC PO Box 8819 Bloomington, IN 47407.
  2. Submission Period. This Promotion will be offered beginning at 8:00 AM EST on Tuesday, May 9, 2023, and will end at 11:59 PM EST on Sunday, June 4, 2023. The Sponsor will keep the official time clock for the Promotion and will determine, at its sole discretion, whether entries for the Promotion are timely.
  3. Promotion Territory. This Promotion may be entered only in and from the 50 United States and the District of Columbia (the “Promotion Territory”). You cannot participate in the Promotion if you are not located in the Promotion Territory, and entries from outside the Promotion Territory are ineligible. This Promotion is governed exclusively by the laws of the United States.
  4. Eligibility. Only photos taken by persons posting the material are eligible to win – entrants must be the sole owner of the image being submitted. No copyrighted material is eligible for posting or winning. This Promotion is open only to legal residents who reside in the Promotion Territory, who are 18 or older as of the date of entry, who have a valid email address, and who have Internet access. Void outside of the Promotion Territory and wherever prohibited, taxed, or restricted by law. Employees, officers, and directors of Sponsor and its representative; its parent companies, subsidiaries, affiliates, partners, advertising and promotion agencies; manufacturers or distributors of Promotion materials; and the immediate family members (parents, children, siblings, spouses) and members of the same household (whether related or not) of such employees, officers, and directors are not eligible. You cannot participate in the Promotion if you are not located in the Promotion Territory. All federal, state and local laws and regulations apply.
  5. What to Enter. Preference will be given to photos in ‘Landscape’ as opposed to ‘Portrait’ format (learn more). Digital images that celebrate the natural beauty of your garden, deck, patio, or yard. Suggested subjects for photos include blossoms, leaves, fresh produce, small animals, butterflies, insects, and birds. Other photo ideas such as forests, streams and grasslands are also welcome. If you choose to submit images for plants, animals and landscape spaces you do not own, you are responsible for obtaining the necessary releases from their owners, and must be able to provide copies of those releases to Bloomington Brands, LLC, upon request. Entrants must not submit images that depict the willful harassment of wildlife, damage to the environment by the photographer, or that put any animal, bird, or insect in danger, or infringe on the rights of any other photographer or person. Avoid including people in your photos.
    1. All photographs should accurately reflect the subject matter and the scene as it appears. Photos that have been digitally altered beyond standard optimization (removal of dust, cropping, reasonable adjustments to exposure, color, and contrast, etc.) will be disqualified. Images that do not meet these requirements may or may not be judged at the judging panel’s sole discretion.
    2. Photo submissions should be accompanied by Titles that provide the name of the plant. Avoid using Titles such as “Pretty and Pink” that have no educational value for the viewer. Submissions without Titles will receive less consideration from the judging panel.
    3. Entrants may submit a maximum of ten photos. For this purpose, a single entrant is defined as being one email address. Images (photos) cannot exceed 5 MB.
  6. How to Enter. All photos must be submitted through the PlantersPlace.com website, https://plantersplace.com/spring-has-sprung-photo-contest- 2023/. Entrants must be registered members of the PlantersPlace.com website to upload a photo. When prompted, complete all required fields, including Title, before photos are uploaded. Images sent via mail or email will not be accepted.
  7. Judging. Photos will be judged on originality, technical excellence, composition, overall impact, and artistic merit. The judges are Bloomington Brands, LLC, staff members. Bloomington Brands, LLC, shall determine winner eligibility at its sole and absolute discretion. All decisions made by the judges are final.
  8. License. Photos submitted remain the property of the entrants. However, by uploading the images, all entrants grant an irrevocable, perpetual, worldwide non-exclusive license to PlantersPlace.com and Bloomington Brands, LLC to reproduce, distribute, display the original, and / or create derivative works of the entries in connection with the advertising and promotion of the website in any media now or hereafter known, including, but not limited to: print advertising in magazines such as Fine Gardening; digital advertising on websites such as Facebook or Instagram; publication in a book featuring select submissions; and printed sales materials such as brochures and fact sheets. PlantersPlace.com / Bloomington Brands, LLC will not be required to pay any additional consideration or seek any additional approval in connection with such use.
  9. Prizes. Twenty (20) photos will be selected by Bloomington Brands staff from submissions received during the Promotion Period. A Grand Prize photo will be chosen from among the twenty photos selected and will receive an email with a $100 Amazon e-gift card. Of the remaining selected photos, nineteen (19) will be awarded a $25 Amazon e-gift card, and sent via email from Amazon. The ARV of all prizes combined (if 20 Prizes are awarded) is $575.00. Winners will be notified by email from promo@bloomingtonbrands.com within fifteen (15) days of the date the Contest Period ends. Prizes (gift cards) will be emailed from Amazon after the notification emails are sent. Limit one (1) Prize per email address. Odds of winning depend upon the number of photos submitted and upon the quality of all the photos submitted. Prizes are non- transferable. There are no substitutions or cash redemptions. In the event of the unavailability of a Prize, Sponsor reserves the right to substitute a Prize of approximately equal or greater value. All costs, fees, taxes, or expenses associated with the Prizes, or their use, are the responsibility of the Prize Winners.
  10. Conditions of Participation. Participation in this Promotion constitutes entrant’s permission for Sponsor to use his/her first name, address (city and state), as contained in the Submission and any of his/her statements regarding the Promotion or Sponsor for any purpose, including advertising and promotional purposes, without notice or compensation, unless prohibited by law. By participating, entrants and winners agree to release and hold harmless Sponsor, and its respective advertising and promotion agencies, and its respective parent companies, subsidiaries, affiliates, partners, representatives, agents, successors, assigns, employees, officers and directors, from any and all liability for any loss, harm, damage, injury, cost or expense whatsoever, including, without limitation, property damage, personal injury, or death which may occur in connection with preparation for or participation in the Promotion, or possession, acceptance, use, or misuse of any Prize, or participation in any Promotion-related activity, including but not limited to any claims based on publicity rights, defamation or invasion of privacy and merchandise delivery. Entrants who do not comply with these Official Rules, or attempt to tamper with or interfere with this Promotion in any way will be disqualified.
  11. Additional Terms. Any attempted form of entry into the Promotion other than as set forth above is prohibited. No automatic, programmed, robotic or similar means of entry are permitted. Sponsor, its affiliates, partners and promotion and advertising agencies are not responsible for technical, hardware, software, telephone or other communications malfunctions, errors or failures of any kind, lost or unavailable network connections, website, Internet, or ISP availability, unauthorized human intervention, traffic congestion, incomplete or inaccurate capture of entry information (regardless of cause) or failed, incomplete, garbled, jumbled or delayed computer transmissions which may limit a potential entrant’s ability to enter the Promotion, including any injury or damage to an entrant’s or any other person’s computer relating to or resulting from participating in this Promotion or downloading any materials related to this Promotion. Sponsor reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to cancel, terminate, modify, extend, or suspend this Promotion should (in its sole judgment) viruses, bugs, non-authorized human intervention, fraud or other causes beyond its control corrupt or affect the administration, security, fairness or proper conduct of the Promotion. In such case, Sponsor may select Prize winners from all eligible entries received prior to and/or after (if appropriate) the action taken by Sponsor. Sponsor reserves the right, at its sole discretion, to disqualify any entrant or potential entrant it finds, in its sole judgment, to be tampering with the entry process or the operation of the Promotion or any website. Sponsor may prohibit an entrant or potential entrant from participating in the Promotion or winning a Prize if Sponsor determines, in its sole discretion, that the entrant or potential entrant is attempting to undermine the legitimate operation of the Promotion by cheating, hacking, deception, or other unfair playing practices (including the use of automated quick entry programs) or intending to annoy, abuse, threaten or harass Sponsor, any entrants, or any other people or entities.CAUTION: ANY ATTEMPT TO DELIBERATELY DAMAGE ANY WEBSITE OR UNDERMINE THE LEGITIMATE OPERATION OF THE PROMOTION MAY BE A VIOLATION OF CRIMINAL AND CIVIL LAWS. SHOULD SUCH AN ATTEMPT BE MADE, SPONSOR RESERVES THE RIGHT TO SEEK DAMAGES AND OTHER REMEDIES FROM ANY SUCH PERSON TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW.
  12. List of Winners. To obtain a list of Prize winners, send a self-addressed, stamped envelope postmarked no later than 06/30/2023 to: Attn: PlantersPlace.com, Bloomington Brands, LLC, PO Box 8819 Bloomington, IN 47407