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
Lazy Mountain Woolwood Gardens
Plan ahead: 2009 Farmers Almanac is out now - 8/27/2008 1:52 pm
What Does Alaska Grown Mean to You? - 8/25/2008 3:16 pm
State Fair opens - 8/20/2008 5:07 pm
Happy Birthday Nickel! - 8/19/2008 9:30 am
Lunchtime light - 8/18/2008 3:00 pm
Farmer's Markets - 8/17/2008 7:26 pm
Floral carpet in Belgium - 8/14/2008 2:38 pm
An Herb Harvest - 8/13/2008 5:31 pm
An English garden - 8/11/2008 4:55 pm
Free Cooperative Extension Publications - While they last! - 8/7/2008 4:32 pm
The Tomatoes of Summer - 8/5/2008 4:39 pm
Creating Floral Displays - 8/4/2008 12:14 pm
August Calendar - 7/31/2008 3:50 pm
See Big Lake and Willow gardens this weekend - 7/30/2008 3:56 pm
Homer Garden Tour - 7/27/2008 8:49 pm
Dr. Armitage is a self-described plant nerd - 7/26/2008 6:34 pm
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
Posted: June 26, 2008 - 11:06 am
View June Calendar
Submit Garden Photos
View Garden Gallery
Participants at an Alaska Orchid Society potting party at Sally K's (in center back) get down to business. Photo by Fran DurnerRepotting an orchid shouldn't be the nightmare inducing thought that it is to me. I have two orchids at home, both phalenopsis' that I know need to be repotted. They have beautiful spikes of flowers so I've been reluctant to disturb them.
A healthy looking set of roots. Photo by Fran DurnerBut I learned at a recent Alaska Orchid Society re-potting party that the delicate looking plants are tough, tough, tough.
An orchid with most of the roots cut off may still live and grow a healthy root system. Photo by Fran DurnerMembers gathered over tables in Sally K's yard to cut away old, rotten and desicated roots until they found the "green," - the live roots on the plant. For some, that was cutting off most every root!
Sprinkling cinnamon on trimmed orchid roots helps prevent rot when repotting. Photo by Fran Durner.Freshly trimmed roots were then sprinkled with cinnamon, which has been found to be a natural anti-bacterial fungicide to prevent rot. Humans that I know eat cinnamon to boost their immune system, so I guess it can do the same for orchids. Or maybe cinnamon prevents rot in humans?
One of Sally K's beautiful orchids. Photo by Fran DurnerI also learned about the different mixes of bark/moss/perlite/styrofoam to use depending on the species of orchid and it's moisture requirements. This weekend I may give repotting a try. If I can work up my courage.
Important warning about e-mails purporting to be from the adn.com staff.
© Copyright 2008, The Anchorage Daily News, a subsidiary of The McClatchy Company 
Contact Us | Newsroom Contacts | Communication Forms | Subscriptions | Advertising | Terms of Use
Daily News Jobs | RSS Feeds | ADN Store | Newspapers in Education | Privacy Agreement
1 June 28, 2008 - 3:17am | harison
potting
thats not going to be a bad thing or its not going to be a night mare its going to show you some pleasance to your house
========================
harison
Addiction Recovery Alaska
login or register to post comments | flag this »