BURLINGTON -- Vermont students are invited to submit essays on "The Road Not Taken," the theme of the 2013 Vermont Flower Show, for a contest co-sponsored by Green Works -- the Vermont Nursery and Landscape Association and University of Vermont (UVM) Extension.

The top three essays in each age group (6 to 9, 10 to13 and 14 to18 years old) will be awarded prizes of $50, $30 and $20. The winning essays and other selected entries will be on display at the Vermont Flower Show, March 1-3 at the Champlain Valley Exposition in Essex Junction.

The contest deadline is Feb. 8 (postmarked or e-mail date).

Submissions may be mailed to Essay Contest, attn. Dr. Perry, UVM Department of Plant and Soil Science, Jeffords Hall, 63 Carrigan Dr., Burlington VT 05405 or sent as an e-mail attachment to leonard.perry@uvm.edu with the subject line: essay contest. Include name, address, phone, e-mail address, school and age as of Feb. 8, 2013.

Complete rules and a registration form may be found at pss.uvm.edu/ppp/vfs13essayform.pdf. All essays must be original and relate to the theme, "The Road Not Taken," a popular poem by Robert Frost, an American poet who lived in Vermont for nearly 40 years and served as its official poet laureate.

Entries should relate to a real or imaginary situation and tell an interesting or compelling story about that personal road not chosen and where it might lead or end. Essays should be 250 words or less and may be hand-written or typed.

Any entries that exceed the word count or are not written legibly will not be judged.

The judges will score entries on uniqueness and creativity; use of descriptive language; passion for the topic and spelling and grammar, among other criteria. The judging team will include representatives from the sponsoring organizations and the UVM Extension Master Gardener program.