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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.

Monday, July 28, 2014

Alison's Wasilla Garden

Summer gardens in Alaska  seem greener than those in my neck of the woods.  Perhaps because of the cool nights, perhaps because they actually have rain in the summer.  The foliage by the side of the road is still green there while our grasses have long since set seed and turned golden.  (That's a euphemism for brown.)   Here is the first of several gardens that I visited during the first week and a half of July, the garden of my eldest niece, Alison.  Let's see what's growing in this zone three garden.
 
 Tanacetum coccineum with a Polemonium bloom leaning over to get into the picture.

Polemonium in white and blue.  Shall we call this the blue border?


Wanting to inspire this oak she planted to make acorns, Alison added some to show it what they look like.

And more at the base of the tree.  With such great expectations, I'm thinking the oak might get a little nervous about it's ability to measure up!
 
Even in zone three, bishop's weed, Aegopodium podagraria, grows well!  Hope this doesn't give you nightmares, Loree!  To read about the virtues of Bishop's weed, click here. To read a post calling it a most hated plant, click here.
 
 
This is obviously some sort of UFO communication.  


It was probably placed here by the ancient aliens!  Cool though, isn't it?

Stonehenge deux is made of really cool petrified  wood.  The black parts on them are where they'd started turning into coal. 

Bergenia is an amazing plant!  Here it is in July
 
 
Here's the same clump in November at 15 degrees (a crisp autumn day, winter gets much colder!)
 

 

Chives with one incredibly large bloom!

Iris setosa


Who needs tree ferns when these grow so tall in a single season?


Meanwhile, out in the vegetable garden.  Birches are in abundant supply and many needed to be cleared from the back of the property so...

The magic of the long days (22 hours of visible light while I was there) is that these seedlings will grow very quickly into edible sized veggies.

Here's a view of part of the front garden taken at a little after midnight, no flash and no long exposure time, it's still light so one can garden 24 hours a day in the summer.

Campanula glomerata


Don't have a clue. Do you?  It's a perennial, hardy in zone 3 and has a velvety appearance that this picture doesn't adequately convey.


Centaurea dealbata or Zweifarbige Flockenblume  in German (more interesting than two toned knapweed.)

Lychnis x arkwrightii is the plant with the cool purple foliage and bright orange flowers, a great color combination!

The rose walk.
More of that gorgeous Lychnis, it's orange color echoed by the lilies on the left and accentuated by by the purbles in the background.  I was sure not to crop out a rare sighting of Alaska's only snake, hosus waterum.

Angelica gaining height.  Won't it be spectacular when their blooms tower over this bed?

Beneath an ornamental crab apple tree is this statue contemplating the plastic apples on the ground. I asked who it was.  The answer was, "think about it."  
(It's Sir Isaac Newton) 
 
We do like to have fun in our gardens!  


24 comments:

  1. I envy them their summer rain...and when we have hot summers like this one has been, I seriously consider moving up there!

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    1. You'd love it since you already know what winter is like!

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  2. Hah! Nice to know your funky sense of humor is genetic, given your niece shares it. What a fabulous garden, I love that Lychnis, I'll have to watch for it. I wonder if I can grow it from seed.

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    1. My niece and I grew up together and our funky senses of humor developed together. Alison (Wasilla) scattered seed from them in other beds and got more so I think seed would be an easy way!

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  3. Petrified wood - how unique! Love the birch vegetable garden!
    Just came back from Alaska. Love their wild flowers, lush perennial beds and huge hanging baskets.

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  4. I remember how astounded I was by the size of the blooms I saw in Alaska when we traveled there - nature, with the rain and extended daylight hours, certainly does its best in summer to make up for the frozen north's short growing season.

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    1. It's pretty incredible and you're right, summer is very sweet there and makes up for the long frozen time.

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  5. Gardening 24 hours a day? 6 about does it for me...but I guess I could just choose my 6. Alaska sounds quite wonderful.

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  6. The long days sound fabulous, but I can't help but think of the reverse. I do not think I could handle that much darkness in the winter, it would be a bad bad thing.

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    1. But it seems brighter because there's snow on the ground that reflects light. Prozac is a wonderful thing.

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  7. Oh i forgot about the long days! Here in Houston we are closer to the equator and the days are pretty even. I love the mixture of art and flowers. I loved the giant acorns, want!

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    1. Even here in Washington our days are longer in the summer & we look forward to it all year!

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  8. Interesting to see a summer garden in Alaska, just as colourful as anywhere else. Yay for UFO communication!

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    1. Someone has to communicate with the UFO's right?

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  9. Your niece has a really wonderful garden--the oak, the ferns, the petrified wood, Sir Issac.

    I hear Wasilla's most famous resident has a new internet TV scheme--what's it called? "I Love Lucre"?

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    1. I believe the proper response to a great pun is "groan!"

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  10. I have to agree with Loree, the long days sound wonderful but I couldn't stand the winters. Great garden. everything is soooo green and lush

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    1. The winters wouldn't be that much different from where you live - maybe a little colder.

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  11. What a great garden! I've been to alaska just once but it was so unbelievably gorgeous I want to return again soon.

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    1. It's a short but intense garden season and northern gardeners make the most of it! You should go back again soon!

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  12. Another fabulous garden, and it has some of my favourite plants in it too. Polemoniums have done fantastically in my garden this year!

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  13. Her garden looks great! I love the birch log borders in the vegetable garden. That Lychnis is a garden-worthy plant for any zone! I love it! Rain sounds good right about now. We had over half an inch from a thunderstorm this week, but it just wet the surface. I could certainly do without the heat we're having.

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