-

-
Although this could very well be a picture of me finding a new treasure at a favorite nursery, it's actually an illustration by David Catrow for a children's book called Plantzilla.

Tuesday, December 4, 2012

Nursery Visits

When gardeners travel, we love to visit nurseries, right?  In Alaska, the nurseries close by the end of July and don't re open until May or so, ot a particularly long sales season.  My niece drove past several places and said, "There's a nursery where I shop."  They were all just huge empty greenhouses.  There are a couple of big box stores in Wasilla that have nursery areas and are open year round.  Let's see what they might have shall we? 

 
Doesn't every parking lot have views like these?
 
 
And what plants are available to buy at this nursery in November?  Here's a full view of the outside nursery area.  Can you identify any of the plants?  I don't recognize any myself.  They are so subtle and understated that you hardly notice them.


And here we are inside the fence of the nursery area.  You know, I should visit here more often - I wasn't tempted to buy a single plant. 

24 comments:

  1. Hahahahahahaha...no temptation, indeed!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. This must be the answer to the "and lead us not into temptation" part is all about.

      Delete
  2. The views are amazing. Not even a few Christmas trees, I guess they don't buy them in Alaska.

    Brrr, our HD doesn't carry snow throwers and we gave away the snow shovel when we left Virginia.

    Where are the engine warmers or do they not use those anymore?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. There were quite a few Christmas trees still bundled up and in the covered part of the place. I'm thinking that a couple of feet of snow on the trees for sale might have looked interesting but would most likely have cut down on sales.

      Most cars have warmers in them and they get plugged in when the weather gets really cold (below -30 or so.)

      Delete
  3. I find this oddly terrifying... Nurseries only for three months a year? Scary!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Don't be frightened, it's hard to plant things when the ground is frozen solid.

      Delete
  4. Finally a cure for my plant-lust: move to Alaska! Why didn't I think of that? Because I don't want to be cured, that's why. LOL

    And look at that "snow thrower" sitting askew on its pallet. Spoken like a true Alaskan Gardener. :)

    Seriously, great post. I love the perspective and those mountains are awesome.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It's reparative therapy boot camp. There is help for you but if you want to be cured, you must want to change so it seems that you've got a hopeless case of plant lust:-) Hooray!

      Delete
  5. How can these people live this way!?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I know right? I mean this is downright barbaric! Mail order is quite popular with local gardeners. The flip side is that summer is pretty amazing. Those long days make things grow very rapidly and because the weather doesn't get scorchingly hot, there is little of that tired look that gardens can get down here. Everything is in its prime, looking great and then the frost cuts it down rapidly. None of that long, drawn-out autumn business.

      Delete
  6. Almost makes me pine for Massachusetts..not. I'm with danger garden. How can they live like this?

    Love the majesty of your new header photo.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Well, there's a different mindset in Alaska. Folks are genuinely nice or at least polite and relatively cheerful. Traffic is a dream as people do actually keep right except to pass and so forth. The other Alison says, "An armed society is a polite society." Since most folks there carry, it seems to be true.

      The new header photo came from a drive we took that I'll post about soon.

      Delete
  7. I would be so so soo soooo depressed if I couldn't plant shop year round!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It sort of equals out though. What would you do with plants if you have ground that is frozen? Local winter alternatives to gardening include ice fishing, riding snow machines, snow shoeing, skiing, hockey, trying to stay alive in temperatures colder than a freezer, consuming large doses of antidepressants, overeating, drinking, and drugging. Just like here but with winter sports and snow instead of rain.

      Delete
  8. I could see any plant too, but I would but a pack of soil for my greenhouse (from inside) :))
    I love this view from parking to mountains!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, the soil did look tempting but I didn't want to carry it on the airplane to get it home:) The mountain views are beautiful there.

      Delete
  9. Thanks for the dose of perspective. Compared to this CT is a garden mecca!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I remember visiting relatives in CT as a kid. We'd usually start in Vermont and I remember thinking how green and alive CT seemed in the winter compared to VT. Glad the post made you feel better about your beautiful neck of the woods!

      Delete
  10. I dunno, those concrete blocks could make some nice planters.

    ReplyDelete
  11. What do the nursery workers do...hibernate, or do stints as store Santas?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh silly, this is what Santa's elves do in the off season. The elves like Alaska's proximity to the North Pole as it really cuts down on travel expenses.

      Delete

Thanks so much for taking the time to comment! I love to hear your thoughts.