An online contest to recognize the most worthy gardening projects from community groups and local organizations across the United States brought three such projects $2,500 in plants as winnings.

Three community gardens are about to flourish even more once they receive their prizes for being chosen the best in the U.S.

Nature Hills Nursery will present plants to the recently announced winners of their 2014 Green America Awards, as determined by votes on the nursery's Facebook page.

The first prize winner, El Paso Academy in El Paso, Texas will receive $1,500 in plants. The charter high school is creating a 1.5-acre garden that will offer hands-on learning while providing food for the needy. The reward will be used in the construction of a 13,000-square-foot community garden designed in the shape of a labyrinth. It will feature passive rainwater harvesting techniques to cultivate fresh produce that will be made available to the community at large.

The second place award of $750 in plants went to Bergen County Audubon Society in Paramus, N. J., which has transformed a tangled mess of invasive plants into a butterfly habitat garden. With the help of the contest's prize, and many volunteers, the garden area will be expanded to restore more habitat area for pollinators and other wildlife. A walking trail parallels the garden so that passersby and visitors can enjoy it.

Honored with the Judges' Award, and $250 in plants, was Opportunities Unlimited of Niagara in Niagara Falls, N.Y. The organization will receive their winnings as fruit trees and berry bushes, which will be used to create a new garden located near a public nature trail.

The nursery, which bills itself as America's online garden center, created the contest as a way to give back to the communities and people who have contributed to the success of the company.