Talk Dirt To Me

Gardening in Alaska presents big challenges, whether it's the extra effort in finding plants tough enough to survive our Zone 2-4 climate, communicating with like-minded Alaska gardeners, or keeping up with the latest trends, issues and solutions. We'll try to help with that. We'll also tour gardens from Homer to Anchorage to Wasilla to Willow whenever we get the chance, and post the best garden photos around. Presenting a forum about cold-weather gardening and for cold-weather gardeners is what we are all about. We hope you'll join us on the Talk Dirt garden blog.

Photographer and gardener Fran Durner (fdurner@adn.com) writes the blog.


2009 Garden galleries

Images from a full year of gardening in Alaska.

Jeff Lowenfels

A member of the Garden Writers Hall of Fame, Jeff writes a weekly column on gardening in Alaska.

Reflections of the past summer - 11/18/2009 4:46 pm

Holiday flower show warms the day with blooms - 11/17/2009 4:04 pm

Stock up for Thanksgiving - 11/17/2009 10:05 am

Colorado based grocer operates own farm - 11/15/2009 3:48 pm

Review: Hardy Succulents - 11/12/2009 3:58 pm

Timelapse of a garden season - 11/11/2009 5:29 pm

Two forums of interest to gardeners this week - 11/10/2009 5:14 pm

First snow was a surprise - 11/9/2009 3:42 pm

Lesson learned - 11/8/2009 12:13 pm

Moose-free garden? - 11/5/2009 8:23 am

Book review: Black Plants - 10/29/2009 3:46 pm

November Garden Calendar - 10/28/2009 2:49 pm

Fall means apples and winter veggies - 10/26/2009 6:12 pm

Botany of Desire airs on Wednesday - 10/25/2009 5:39 pm

Some changes proposed for muni Horticulture Section - 10/22/2009 11:47 am

Verna and Frank Pratt recognized - 10/20/2009 10:35 am

Birds are gardeners' companions - 10/18/2009 6:58 pm

Anchorage is one of the best cities for community gardens - 10/14/2009 3:18 pm

Fall colors Outside - 10/14/2009 11:26 am

Take advantage of the sun to mow your leaves. - 10/12/2009 4:09 pm

A gardener's conundrum - 10/11/2009 5:00 pm

Out of the office and in the garden - 10/1/2009 5:07 pm

Book review: Black Plants

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Take a trip into the dark side of gardening with Black Plants: 75 Striking Choices for the Garden. (Paperback, Timber Press, $14.95) by Paul Bonine. This new book of hort noir is out just in time to haunt your dreams for Halloween.

With hues running from the deepest burgundy, through chocolate to nearly night black, some plants carry scary sounding names like "Voodoo lily," "Vampire's Dracula orchid," and "Mourning widow." But instead of inspiring fear, these plants could add a depth of color missing from your borders or containers.

Vampire’s Dracula Orchid. Photo by Ron ParsonsVampire’s Dracula Orchid. Photo by Ron ParsonsBewitching color photos fill full pages of the squarish compact book. Each specimen has it's own photo with a facing page that contains a description and information such as zone, sun and water requirements. There are also helpful suggestions regarding planting combinations.

Dianthus barbatus nigrescens 'Sooty'. Sooty Sweet William. A short-lived Zone 4 perennial. Photo by Lynne HarrisonDianthus barbatus nigrescens 'Sooty'. Sooty Sweet William. A short-lived Zone 4 perennial. Photo by Lynne HarrisonPaging through the book, I counted 29 perennials in Zones 3-5, several annuals, shrubs, bulbs and plenty that could be used in containers and wintered inside. At the back of the book is a USDA winter hardiness chart, which is always helpful. (Every gardening book should include one.)

Black is a difficult color to find for the garden. If green has become the new black in the fashion world, then black has become, well, the new black in the gardening world. Every once in a while a book is published that fills an empty niche. With Black Plants, finding dark leaved and dark flowering examples doesn't need to be a mystery anymore.


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