Celebrate the start of spring with Shrub Madness®, the only bracket competition that pits shrub against shrub in a no-holds-barred battle for the title of World Champion, and your votes determine which plant advances through the rounds. Playing along is easy!
To read the official Shrub Madness contest rules, click here.
- The contest runs in prediction mode the last two weeks of February. You will have the opportunity to create an account and fill out a bracket with your own predictions of how the tournament will play out. The Shrub Madness program will then keep track of your bracket, comparing it and tracking it against how the matches actually turn out based on popular vote. You do not need to play along in prediction mode to vote in or win prizes in Shrub Madness, but we will award additional prizes to those whose prediction brackets come closer to the actual results. Note: the bracket is best filled out on a larger screen, like a laptop or desktop.
- Every day in March, visit ShrubMadness.com to vote your favorite plants through to the next round of the competition. Registration is not necessary just to vote in the competition, but you can only win plants if you register (that's just because it's the only way we can get your information to contact you if you win. We promise we won't be spamming you, selling your information, or storing your information). You can follow along with the voting results here.
- Prizes will be awarded by a random drawing of all participants who enter their e-mail address after voting. The actual prizes will be determined by which plants win that round of voting. In the event that one of the plants is not hardy in the winner's climate, we will work with the winner to select an appropriate substitution. Plants will ship at the proper planting time for the winner's area. All plants are provided and shipped by GreatGardenPlants.com
- Please note: if you previously created an account to play Shrub Madness, you will need to create a new account this year to play.
- Open to residents of the United States and Canada.
To read the official Shrub Madness contest rules, click here.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why can’t I log in?
Even if you have registered for Shrub Madness in the past, you will need to create a new registration this year. We don’t store your information from year to year. Signing up is simple:
Why can’t I log in?
Even if you have registered for Shrub Madness in the past, you will need to create a new registration this year. We don’t store your information from year to year. Signing up is simple:
- Go to www.shrubmadness.com/play-shrub-madness
- Click on the blue “log in” button in the upper right hand corner.
- In the pop up window, click on the white “sign up” tab to the left of the blue log in tab.
- You’ll be asked to enter a username, e-mail address, and password (it can be the same as last year).
- Click “sign up.”
- Start playing!
I receive your emails regularly, but when I tried to sign in, it says I’m not registered.
Our newsletter database and Shrub Madness player database are separate. Please register your email to play.
Why can’t I save my predictions?
If the “save my predictions” button is gray, a match up is missing, usually the final match up. When all matches are complete, the button will turn blue.
How do I vote?
Every day in March, visit the Play Shrub Madness. The current round's match ups will be displayed as two plants images, side by side. Click the blue check mark for the plant you like more. The check marks switch from blue to green when your vote is completed.
How is it decided who wins free plants?
We download the voting information as a spreadsheet at the end of each round and use Random.org to generate a random number for each winner. Those numbers are matched to the spreadsheet row and voila! Plant prize! We select a winner for each match up: 32 the first round, 16 the second, 8 the third, etc. At the end, we’ll randomly select four voters for Floral Finalists prize packs using the same method. One grand prize is awarded to whomever most accurately predicted the bracket outcome.
How is the Leader Board scored?
Can Canadians enter this contest?
Of course! We have had many Canadian winners over the years.
Our newsletter database and Shrub Madness player database are separate. Please register your email to play.
Why can’t I save my predictions?
If the “save my predictions” button is gray, a match up is missing, usually the final match up. When all matches are complete, the button will turn blue.
How do I vote?
Every day in March, visit the Play Shrub Madness. The current round's match ups will be displayed as two plants images, side by side. Click the blue check mark for the plant you like more. The check marks switch from blue to green when your vote is completed.
How is it decided who wins free plants?
We download the voting information as a spreadsheet at the end of each round and use Random.org to generate a random number for each winner. Those numbers are matched to the spreadsheet row and voila! Plant prize! We select a winner for each match up: 32 the first round, 16 the second, 8 the third, etc. At the end, we’ll randomly select four voters for Floral Finalists prize packs using the same method. One grand prize is awarded to whomever most accurately predicted the bracket outcome.
How is the Leader Board scored?
- Round 1 – 2 pts per correct answer (available 64 pts)
- Round 2 – 16 pts per correct answer (available 256 pts)
- Round 3 – 64 pts per correct answer (available 512 pts)
- Round 4 – 256 pts per correct answer (available 1024 pts)
- Round 5 – 1024 pts per correct answer (available 2048 pts)
- Round 6 – 4096 pts per correct answer (available 4096 pts)
Can Canadians enter this contest?
Of course! We have had many Canadian winners over the years.