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 Sunday's city garden tour, with photos and audio commentary from each gardener.
Municipal Greenhouse Gardeners
Alaska Society of Outdoor and Nature Photographers
Alaska Plant Materials Center:
Fairbanks Georgeson Botanical Garden
Lazy Mountain Woolwood Gardens
So many gardens, too little time - 7/24/2008 12:55 pm
State Fairgrounds in flower - 7/23/2008 9:38 am
Palmer Garden Festival - 7/21/2008 12:41 pm
Don't miss this weekend fun! - 7/17/2008 5:41 pm
Flowering indoor plants for low-light situations? - 7/16/2008 10:33 am
A succulent garden - 7/15/2008 5:08 pm
Lawns needed - 7/14/2008 10:02 am
Farming of the future? - 7/10/2008 11:35 am
Ants on the loose - again - 7/9/2008 4:43 pm
A view from the garden - 7/8/2008 10:44 am
Beetles swarm Fairbanks - 7/7/2008 11:02 am
Girdwood outing - 7/6/2008 1:18 pm
An homage to the lilac - 7/2/2008 1:05 pm
July Garden Calendar - 6/30/2008 6:06 pm
Poppy Perfection - 6/29/2008 5:42 pm
Orchid Potting Party - 6/26/2008 11:06 am
The Bugs of Summer - 6/24/2008 10:52 am
The Fruit Hunters - 6/23/2008 8:41 am
Tree tour, with hops on the side (but no beer) - 6/21/2008 11:40 am
Anchorage gardener hits the Silk Road - 6/20/2008 8:49 am
A Topiary Twosome - 6/18/2008 12:03 pm
Weeds Fair and Governor signs bill in Anchorage - 6/17/2008 9:31 am
Posted: April 29, 2008 - 4:16 pm
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When in Homer, it wouldn't feel right if I didn't make a visit to Fritz Creek Gardens at mile 8.5 East End Rd. Rita Jo and crew opened for the season on April 15th but they were still waiting for the ice to melt enough to dig out the over-wintered perennials last weekend.
Primula auricula 'Brownie'. Photo by Fran Durner
Inside two greenhouses though, the air was warm and humid and my glasses and camera lens both fogged up immediately. When I could finally focus again, I was drawn to a table of primulas, especially a double ruffled auricula of an indeterminate reddish brown color, Primula auricula 'Brownie.'
The "Bodacious Basket Babes" are ready to be planted. Photo by Fran Durner.Hanging from racks and poles suspended in rows from the roof were the "Bodacious Basket Babes," neat six-packs of roughly 3 1/2" pots of mixed annuals, ready to plant in a basket of your choice. Ask Rita Jo to look at photos of the combinations to help narrow down your selection. They are a fundraiser for two schools, one in Homer and one in Soldotna, and at $20, not a bad deal.
Fritz Creek Gardens will be open Tuesday-Sunday, 10-6.
Closer to town, only two miles out the road, I stopped into Cookie's Country Greenhouse for the first time. Run by Charlotte aka "Cookie" Broste, this is the greenhouse's 10th anniversary and Cookie just retired from a job at the hospital to run it full time.
Cookie in her greenhouse. Photo by Fran Durner"This is my love," she said. "I want to do some teaching. I want to encourage youth to grow things and teach people from the Lower 48 how to grow in Alaska. I love to teach. I love to share my love of gardening."
Inside her cozy greenhouses, shrubs and trees shared space with annuals, perennials, unusual ferns and gardening supplies. Cookie also grows tomatoes and cucumbers, tomatillos, peppers and green beans that she sells at the Homer Farmers Market during the summer. Sometimes she even lets people pick the veggies themselves at her place.
Cookie's Country Greenhouse will be open from Mon-Sat, 10-6. She'll take a mid-summer break and then open again with fall bulbs.
Unfortunately the last snow squall cut short my plans to visit nurseries and greenhouses in Soldotna and Sterling on the way home. Hopefully, I'll have another chance soon.
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1 April 30, 2008 - 6:38am | jbaldwin
Snow be gone!
Loved the double Primula auricula ‘Brownie’ picture. Want one. I am annoyed at having to watch the snow melt for the THIRD time. With a bit of gentle leaf rake use I’ve been pulling snow off garden beds onto my snow-covered lawn. I know, I know, energy expended to accomplish something that will eventually happen naturally. Key word here is eventually. The snow needs to be gone now! Yesterday spotted growing buds on several Primula denticulata (Drumstick primroses) that should show color within a week or so if temperatures can hover around that 50 degree mark! “One of the most delightful things about a garden is the anticipation it provides”. -- author unknown.
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