Do you love to make mud pies, grow a houseplant, eat veggies, or stop to smell the bouquet on your co-workers desk? Everyone enjoys a bit of green growing around him or her and then there are those that are passionate and needy when it comes to dabbling in the dirt. With this blog, we'll try to satisfy those needs and tell you about what's going on with the Anchorage gardening scene. You know, as I finally learned, it's all about the dirt.
Photographer and gardener Fran Durner (fdurner@adn.com) writes the blog.
Take an interactive tour of the gardens showing in Anchorage's garden tour, with photos and audio commentary from each gardener.
Deadheading and seed collecting
Harvesting herbs from your garden
Municipal Greenhouse Gardeners
Alaska Society of Outdoor and Nature Photographers
Alaska Plant Materials Center:
Fairbanks Georgeson Botanical Garden
Palmer Hay Flats State Game Refuge
Pyrahs Pioneer Peak U-Pick Farm
South Anchorage Farmers Market
December Garden Calendar - 11/30/2008 4:39 pm
Thanks - 11/26/2008 9:50 am
Greenhouse, nursery and peony conferences coming in January - 11/24/2008 6:20 pm
About Garden Design - 11/23/2008 4:15 pm
50 Years of Statehood - 11/19/2008 3:26 pm
Try pinwheels for moose defense - 11/18/2008 3:38 pm
Harvest bark responsibly - 11/16/2008 2:52 pm
Have a healthy winter - 11/13/2008 3:09 pm
Bits of this and that - 11/10/2008 8:04 pm
Garden grant money available for 2009 - 11/10/2008 4:00 pm
How did your garden grow? - 11/9/2008 4:28 pm
Snow Makes Sprouts Sweeter - 11/4/2008 3:59 pm
Separated at birth? - 11/2/2008 11:21 am
November Garden Calendar - 10/30/2008 12:06 pm
Valley Apple Guy - 10/28/2008 11:47 am
One more weekend to prepare - 10/27/2008 11:06 am
Autumn elsewhere - 10/23/2008 11:02 am
Apples again on Thursday - 10/21/2008 8:46 am
Season of the Larch - 10/19/2008 6:34 pm
The winter of late flowers - 10/15/2008 3:55 pm
We missed you! - 10/12/2008 5:25 pm
A summer of luck - 10/9/2008 2:40 pm
NOVEMBER 30, 2008 - 4:39 PM
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View Christmas Tree lighting on Town Square
Ornaments on the Town Square Christmas Tree. Photo by Fran Durner
If you do not see your favorite garden club listed this month it is because many garden clubs do not hold program meetings in December.
NOVEMBER 26, 2008 - 9:50 AM
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Click here to watch cooking video
Brussels sprouts from Ben Vanderweele's Palmer farm prepared at the Haute Quarter Grill in Eagle River. Stephen Nowers/ADN
NOVEMBER 24, 2008 - 6:20 PM
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ALASKA GREENHOUSE & NURSERY CONFERENCE DATES
The 2009 Alaska Greenhouse & Nursery Conference will be held January 27 & 28 at the Anchorage Marriott Hotel, downtown.
POLAR GROWER TRADE SHOW
Registration for the Polar Grower Trade Show, held in conjunction with the conference, will be sent out shortly along with the conference code for registering with the hotel. Businesses and organizations who have registered for the trade show by December 11 will have their name printed in the conference brochure.
NOVEMBER 23, 2008 - 4:15 PM
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The following is reprinted with permission from Brenda Adams of the Homer Garden Club.
Painted daisies, yarrow and Maltese Cross offer bright spots in this garden designed by Brenda Adams. Photo by Fran DurnerDesigning with Color
NOVEMBER 19, 2008 - 3:26 PM
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Design by Sally Mallory. Photo by Fran DurnerAs the snow arrives each winter, so the Anchorage Garden Club presented its 48th Annual Holiday Flower Show, "50 Years of Statehood," Tuesday and Wednesday in the lobby of Wells Fargo Bank on Northern Lights. Here are a few photos of the displays.
NOVEMBER 18, 2008 - 3:38 PM
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Pinwheels may be a good moose deterrent. Photo by Fran DurnerI wonder if I was the only person who rushed out during lunch hour today to buy some pinwheels for the garden. I can just hear you muttering, "What? Is she crazy?" under your breath.
NOVEMBER 16, 2008 - 2:52 PM
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Bark stripped from mature birch trees in a forest near Goose Lake in July 2008. Anne Raup/ADN
One of my colleagues showed me this photo taken last summer of birch trees with large pieces of bark stripped from them. The trees were near Goose Lake. Most of the area around Goose Lake is either a municipal park or owned by UAA or APU. Which means that whoever harvested the bark probably did so illegally.
NOVEMBER 13, 2008 - 3:09 PM
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Got your shots? I'm not just talking about flu and pnuemonia. Get a tetanus shot too, while you're at it. It's good for 10 years, and it's something every gardener should be current on. Bacteria lives in the soils we so like to get our hands into, and all it takes is one little scrape, one little hangnail or one little blister on your digging hand and some mean, ugly bacteria can enter your system and take you down. Sometimes permanently.
NOVEMBER 10, 2008 - 8:04 PM
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Farmer Alex Davis will be bringing his A.D. Farm certified organic produce to the Northway Mall every Wednesday from 11 am til 6pm through the winter. Photo by Fran Durner/ADN Alex Davis is still bringing in produce from his farm to the Northway Mall on Wednesdays from 11-6pm. He says, "This week I will have regular carrots, purple carrots, yellow carrots along with red potatoes, peanut potatoes, French fingerling potatoes, and red beets, golden beets, Chioggia beets, cylendra beets, red cabbage, storage cabbage, parsnips, apples from an Anchorage orchard, honey comb, jams and fresh eggs, which I have yet to sell out of."
NOVEMBER 10, 2008 - 4:00 PM
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Press Release For Immediate Release:
Fiskars® Encourages Community Gardening
Over the past six years Project Orange Thumb grants have provided community gardening groups with the tools to help create gardens that provide food to their local shelves, horticultural education to young gardeners, a place of peace, a place of beauty and most importantly it provides to the gardeners and their communities a sense of achievement and pride.
NOVEMBER 9, 2008 - 4:28 PM
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Outdoor chores are done and the garden is put to bed. Now is a good time to look back over the summer (what summer?) and take stock. Was there anything in particular that did really well for you this year?
NOVEMBER 4, 2008 - 3:59 PM
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Caralee Hendrickson, left, Autumn Coleman and Julia Nelson harvest brussels sprouts from a Vanderweele Farms field recently. Stephen Nowers/ADNGlad to see that we can keep extending the growing season with those cool weather cole crops such as the brussels sprouts.
NOVEMBER 2, 2008 - 11:21 AM
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Troy Zaumseil, co-founder of CANWIN took top prize in the Todd Palin look-alike contest this week! Erik Hill/ADN
A round of applause for Weed Warrior Troy Zaumseil, co-founder of CANWIN (Citizens Against Noxious Weeds Invading the North) who stood out over several strong contestants in the final round of the Todd Palin look-alike contest held over five weeks at Blues Central in Anchorage.
OCTOBER 30, 2008 - 12:06 PM
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Sing holiday songs and watch Town Square light up on the day after Thanksgiving. Bob Hallinen/ADNMake sure you buy LED lights to wrap on your trees and shrubs. LED lights emit less heat than the old bulbs and cost less to light as well.
November 2, Sunday, 2pm. BACKYARD BIODIESEL BASICS. Biodiesel Educator Will Taygan provides an overview on how to make any diesel petroleum-free. Participants will explore the science behind biodiesel and SVO (Straight Vegetable Oil) systems, compare emissions, learn how to collect oil responsibly, and make a test batch of biodiesel. At the Eagle River Nature Center. Free; $5 parking fee for non-members.
OCTOBER 28, 2008 - 11:47 AM
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Dan Elliott harvests apples from his orchard on Thursday, October 9, 2008. Elliott grows over 100 varieties at his home off Fairview Loop. Photo by Stephen Nowers/ADNBy Zaz Hollander
ADN Valley reporter
OCTOBER 27, 2008 - 11:06 AM
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After mounding leaves on the garden bed under the lilac, the rest of the lilac and cherry tree leaves got mowed into the lawn. Photo by Fran DurnerAt a meeting of TREErific last Wednesday night, the gathering opened with a question having to do with the upcoming holiday: "What are you thankful for?" As people around the room had their turn, we heard things like, I'm thankful for the mountains, the trees, seeing the sun, etc. When it was my turn I said I was thankful the snow hadn't fallen yet. The two snowfalls we have had so far haven't really stuck in the Anchorage lowlands and it has given me a second and third chance to try and finish the yard work I'd fallen so far behind with. And I really do like being out in the yard - it just feels good and I hate feeling guilty about not having finished the job.
OCTOBER 23, 2008 - 11:02 AM
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An excursion boat cruises by trees in autumn colors on the Lake Chuzenji at Nikko, in north-central Japan, on Friday October 17, 2008. The trees around the scenic lake, located within the Nikko National Park, began to turn bright red and yellow earlier than usual according to the local tourist association. AP Photo/Kyodo News, Kenichi Murakami
OCTOBER 21, 2008 - 8:46 AM
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Apples collected from Bob Boyer's orchard await the arrival of apple fans on Tuesday. Fran Durner/ADNFrom Kathy Liska: "Bob Boyer is opening his greenhouse again on Thursday, 10/23, from 1-4 PM to sell his Alaska grown apples. These are greenhouse grown and many varieties will be offered. The price is $2 per lb. The greenhouse is located on 81st Ave, west off the Old Seward Highway, on the right, almost at the end. I believe that this is the first time he has done this and I can tell you the apples are wonderful! We picked a bit over 600 lb last week. What an opportunity this is for all who want to come by."
OCTOBER 19, 2008 - 6:34 PM
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A larch on the Alaska State Fairgrounds in Palmer fairly glows in the light. Photo by Fran Durner Lately I've been noticing the larches. As the leaves on the birch and the cherry and the other deciduous trees flutter to the ground, the golden larches stand their ground gloriously.
OCTOBER 15, 2008 - 3:55 PM
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Strawflowers still stand upright and retain their color even with a chapeau of snow. Fran Durner/ADNSome flowers don't take to cold kindly. Dahlias go to mush, cosmos resemble dusty spider webs and most flowers just bend over in defeat as soon as the snow flies.
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