The Greenest Block in Brooklyn Contest. This from the New York Daily News:

Ripped up roses. Uprooted pear trees. Drive-by snoopings. Who said it was easy being green in Brooklyn?

Previous winners of the Greenest Block in Brooklyn Contest said the plot has certainly thickened as more Brooklynites compete for borough-wide, green thumb bragging rights.

"The first year we entered, somebody stole a flowering Callery pear tree," said Mary Schuck of from Bridge Plaza, just north of DUMBO. "I don’t know how they did it."

After a Spring Creek group won first prize last year, Cheryl Daniel said there were lots of visiting admirers.

"Some felt that since the contest was over, they could pluck whatever they wanted," Daniel said. "We had to put up signs."

Over in Boerum Hill, Tim Walther said his neighbors noticed passersby stopping on the way to work to do more than just smell the roses.

"We’ve seen people just bend down and yank something out," said Walther, whose block was named greenest in 1998 and 1999.

More than 250 groups – the highest number ever – entered this year’s Greenest Block in Brooklyn competition, which is sponsored by the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, the Borough President’s office and the Independence Community Foundation.

The rivalry among competing block associations is described as both fierce and friendly. But gardeners say they do have to protect against spoilers.

So far this season, there’s been only one reported incident of theft, said Brooklyn Botanic Garden contest supervisor Ellen Kirby. "There are problems, but they are very, very minor," Kirby said.

Judging began June 14 and will continue until the winning residential and commercial blocks are announced, sometime in early August.

To keep all things bright and beautiful until the judges call for the final time, some folks skip summer vacations.

"This contest takes a lot of hard work," said Wilma Atwell, who sometimes spends entire days making her Bedford-Stuyvesant garden grow – and snapped up first place in 2003.

Real estate values also can grow on prize-winning blocks, gardeners say. But the best reason for entering the Greenest Block in Brooklyn contest is to get to know neighbors better.

"We view this contest as something relaxing and uplifting," said Walther of his Boerum Hill compatriots.

"We try to get every house and apartment building on our block to participate. We have a great time," Walther said. "It’s all good-natured fun."