tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34628678465804403252024-02-18T23:02:44.023-08:00LAST FRONTIER GARDENan Alaskan gardener's perspectiveChristine B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/08335289758548637661noreply@blogger.comBlogger161125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3462867846580440325.post-9307792524308421492018-05-27T22:22:00.001-07:002018-05-27T22:25:16.754-07:00A May update, Alaska style<a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-NywNPHZegkw/WwuSAt0yUsI/AAAAAAAADEs/nZzBZEXSfjwTFpbeLsfBU6SN1WQs15BqACHMYCw/s1600-h/IMG_6224%255B8%255D"><img alt="Projects awaiting my deck stain drying" border="0" height="251" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-j8aEJ_gmLxw/WwuSBhIVc3I/AAAAAAAADEw/KBfjn0XnpsYOa_KkpPY3HhYiX2Hn2rggQCHMYCw/IMG_6224_thumb%255B6%255D?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; display: inline; margin: 0px 0px 5px;" title="Just some plants I picked up" width="333" /></a><br />
The snow is gone, the moose are giving birth (and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PNaSCQPdo-U" target="_blank">charging people</a> who get too close to mom/baby), the pollen and dust are in the air: must be summer. A note to new visitors, we Alaskans call summer the season when the snow is gone, whether it’s technically summer or not. <br />
<a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-JZ1GFRvKOP4/WwuSCVKsfvI/AAAAAAAADE0/GV6W7PXA1agWyzRcFS1Clp77CR2daxqigCHMYCw/s1600-h/IMG_6223%255B7%255D"><img alt="Springtime in Alaska, or is it summer?" border="0" height="269" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-LF6DuRqTmTM/WwuSCw8vqdI/AAAAAAAADE4/lpKzuIN1Oi803UeE7ehSwItkExX9i5kBACHMYCw/IMG_6223_thumb%255B5%255D?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; display: inline; margin: 0px 0px 5px;" title="Rusty salmon meets Bergenia" width="357" /></a><br />
This year looks to be a doozy with dry, cold, windy weather. <strong>But I won’t complain because:</strong><br />
1. the species<strong> tulips are blooming</strong><br />
2. the planted <strong>trees are breaking wood</strong> (the native birches are ahead of the garden game and leafing out now)<br />
3. I have removed approximately 1/2 of the billion spruce cones littered around the yard. Yay for <strong>progress</strong>. I have a particular spruce tree I dump them all under as a sort of funky ground cover. My children have been recruited for many years now to fill a bucket with cones from the lawn every spring and dump it in their special place. Some years I pay.<br />
4. The <strong>deck has been re-stained</strong> and will be ready for pots of plants and the old teak furniture set as soon as it is dry. I keep having to go over it “one more time” with the espresso colored stain every year. It beats the awful orange color and cheap look it used to have. Now it looks terrific (from a distance) and we don’t have to contemplate a new deck quite as soon as we thought.<br />
5. I haven’t had to<strong> mow the lawn</strong> yet. <br />
<a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-Fz2eZzMKpos/WwuSDriipiI/AAAAAAAADE8/Fc4SBYN3Am85tG4_KSVdbvF8wN7zVw6LACHMYCw/s1600-h/IMG_6217%255B7%255D"><img alt="Just add pots" border="0" height="313" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-hUfHCEWj16Y/WwuSEZcq4oI/AAAAAAAADFA/Kij9qE8hj_gRRXO1GmOaiBXpYNL6--6vgCHMYCw/IMG_6217_thumb%255B5%255D?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; display: inline; margin: 0px 0px 5px;" title="It's not much, but it will work for me" width="236" /></a><br />
6. Being <strong>without a potting table for 8 years</strong> has been a trial. But no longer, court adjourned! My table is nothing grand, but it does the trick. It has the admirable characteristic of showing off just how many rusty garden hand tools I own. Too many. Where did they all come from? Now I can pot up those cute little things growing in the gravel walkway: a fern, a few <em>Elymus magellanicus</em>, and a <em>Penstemon pinifolius</em>.<br />
<a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-5996kL_e6vM/WwuSFBw5kKI/AAAAAAAADFE/hbBprn4l7rwmsUNY5GbxGT37YZ0GtWyfgCHMYCw/s1600-h/IMG_6221%255B9%255D"><img alt="What's this one doing growing in dry, full sun?" border="0" height="363" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-3iu3vm9g3AY/WwuSF_y5hwI/AAAAAAAADFI/pi53zWqnDGctjFkI1mbxrtoWnK5Wjoj6gCHMYCw/IMG_6221_thumb%255B7%255D?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; display: inline; margin: 0px 0px 5px;" title="Needs a new home" width="273" /></a><br />
<em><strong>What’s on your May to-do list?</strong></em><div class="blogger-post-footer">written by Christine B. for Last Frontier Garden blog</div>Christine B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/08335289758548637661noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3462867846580440325.post-53292383642506987362018-05-03T06:42:00.000-07:002018-05-03T06:42:15.361-07:00Hare-pocalypse and other calamities of spring<p><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-9Y22rBK1MT0/WuqSIj54b0I/AAAAAAAADC4/nKqVY7OcuV4dwH3ckum-KAtPcqoiZusjACHMYCw/s1600-h/IMG_4989%255B5%255D"><img title="I dread seeing this in the garden" style="margin: 0px 0px 5px; display: inline; background-image: none;" border="0" alt="Snowshoe hare prints" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-8jWaQiSxZXs/WuqSJ8wekSI/AAAAAAAADC8/hUMn56seQ_QFx3HdD79ww4DNkqS6u5GhwCHMYCw/IMG_4989_thumb%255B2%255D?imgmax=800" width="303" height="287" /></a></p> <p>Ah, springtime, when a gardener’s fancy turns to 10 ways to trap snowshoe hares, or Best Crockpot Ideas for Rabbit. For Alaskans it’s often the moose that cause carnage, busted trees, trampled shrubs, and a gaping hole where that $25 perennial  was planted. But 2018 seems to be the year of Peter Rabbit. I suppose that makes me Mr. MacGregor.</p> <p><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-SOSpX5B43JU/WuqSKfhL-0I/AAAAAAAADDA/0WpMLOpTWxcsiVUfhZJ9ka9k8o5ajPdbQCHMYCw/s1600-h/IMG_5759%255B9%255D"><img title="Mr. Moose is thwarted by fencing" style="margin: 0px 0px 5px; display: inline; background-image: none;" border="0" alt="Nothing but crummy grasses to eat, moving on!" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-9_wv1YwUuDM/WuqSLSl-eXI/AAAAAAAADDE/3r_sXxJCGrcdGzLgxGOEsSbd6NbD_1Q1wCHMYCw/IMG_5759_thumb%255B9%255D?imgmax=800" width="244" height="242" /></a></p> <p><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-IbqpH4kdFoM/WuqSMFKR1HI/AAAAAAAADDI/RdF2UCA-coQTaY-BRIUbbg29nrhgqp4lwCHMYCw/s1600-h/IMG_5750%255B3%255D"><img title="Sitting on the pot, eating Artemesia" style="display: inline; background-image: none;" border="0" alt="blatant fella" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/--cGO7_CeprM/WuqSM0YzVvI/AAAAAAAADDM/7vZnI9RvFgcDIpJQ9JxLDXQD4A_md6tkwCHMYCw/IMG_5750_thumb?imgmax=800" width="184" height="244" /></a><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-VpXqRJ6yrzA/WuqSNvjQFaI/AAAAAAAADDQ/KwtBoJlGL00HjgFGuqDQ2eARnJbhZoALQCHMYCw/s1600-h/IMG_5751%255B3%255D"><img title="Handsome hare" style="margin: 0px 0px 5px; display: inline; background-image: none;" border="0" alt="sad face, most of the perennials under snow" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-HhsBgiFvxOQ/WuqSOAIn5nI/AAAAAAAADDU/KoD7VWm-BPEgnwMV271goWlJ2I_Yv8lygCHMYCw/IMG_5751_thumb?imgmax=800" width="184" height="244" /></a></p> <p>But Christine, you’re wondering, how could you tell that this spring was the year to beat all for bunnies? Well, I’d say, it all started with the daily sightings of Mr. Bun. Then advanced to his two or three best chums hanging out on the snowy lawn. Now we’ve reached the point that the poor 6-foot tall blue spruce in the back yard has been grazed from the ground up to the height of, I’ve got it…a bunny’s reach! My rugosa roses (nothing is in leaf yet in my yard) have been nibbled back to their 5 stoutest stems. And I really lost my temper as I drove up my driveway recently and observed Mr. Bun calmly chewing the bark from the trunk of my ($27) crabapple ‘Prairiefire’ that I took great care to encase in moose-high fencing, but neglected to encase in rabbit-low fencing. Drat!</p> <p><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-Am4gZBr1q8A/WuqSO-pZlGI/AAAAAAAADDY/dPMCHuP674kF-py69JRCaZ2jlfED1wBsACHMYCw/s1600-h/IMG_5871%255B12%255D"><img title="Two friends makes twelve by summertime" style="margin: 0px 0px 5px; display: inline; background-image: none;" border="0" alt="go ahead, get comfortable" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-RzewXVB46tc/WuqSPlv7qOI/AAAAAAAADDc/Jjqcvyr2MKYDPXZMDAo7tAPOtBvJgHExACHMYCw/IMG_5871_thumb%255B9%255D?imgmax=800" width="308" height="227" /></a></p> <p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjo-yML033Ps3EIB1rQsByxvAORuyLPS1UrJ83NFIKrFCaOuMLIIWx2YeqK9tUd8yJ_i6wwOYIH2GYf-ksE_vhwE0hGCU5Rzf3iJcY0-FL4FQiGoCj0uIEGiQIGzU8849mucuZXR0HiP7o/s1600-h/IMG_5763%255B12%255D"><img title="Vicious hare slowly amputates spruce limbs" style="margin: 0px 0px 5px; display: inline; background-image: none;" border="0" alt="at the site of the mauling" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-qa4Wwy70rIw/WuqSRHqGf7I/AAAAAAAADDk/Oukv0pNqycEb5ZiB7ZlkmxaDVRDhSMYpACHMYCw/IMG_5763_thumb%255B13%255D?imgmax=800" width="247" height="260" /></a></p> <p>If the hares aren’t horrible enough, I’ve had the remnants of the long winter’s nap of a goodly portion of the <a href="http://www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=wildlifenews.view_article&articles_id=406" target="_blank">vole kingdom</a> to deal with. They must have sent out favorable word after the winter of 2016-2017 (wherein I saw evidence of a few nests) so that by the winter of 2017-2018, a veritable horde did a long term <a href="https://www.airbnb.com/a/?af=43720035&c=.pi0.pk25650614176_233093750306_c_12026460346&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI2-jDpdTo2gIVCNNkCh3ADwcqEAAYASAAEgLay_D_BwE" target="_blank">air bnb</a> in all (I repeat, all) of my <em>Deschampsia</em>. Which was no small feat, I have around 30 specimens of a few different types. They left the <em>Calamagrostis</em> and <em>Festuca</em> alone. I guess those grasses must have had bad reviews.</p> <p><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-TocYopJRZNQ/WuqSSKR32PI/AAAAAAAADDo/hUqKLH6BNKAAN05PHtTr_mBgJFuk9tdFgCHMYCw/s1600-h/IMG_5853%255B8%255D"><img title="Bad haircut on Deschampsia 'Pixie Fountain'" style="display: inline; background-image: none;" border="0" alt="custom cut by voles" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-5JwYt04mat0/WuqSS_w2ELI/AAAAAAAADDs/xR9BoDONTds0sInZvA7s1zymAraoXcywQCHMYCw/IMG_5853_thumb%255B5%255D?imgmax=800" width="244" height="184" /></a><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-VBmSGDNJ_wc/WuqSTvsIPxI/AAAAAAAADDw/3vWADIcfVK0pwu-EAnrMeVtsq5rirTDZQCHMYCw/s1600-h/IMG_5854%255B6%255D"><img title="Rusty salmon were unscathed by voles" style="display: inline; background-image: none;" border="0" alt="" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-SYqpKZARybk/WuqSUmYbCwI/AAAAAAAADD0/8OoVlncfyJAyOvkN-9tviXWTpsPsGJWZwCHMYCw/IMG_5854_thumb%255B3%255D?imgmax=800" width="184" height="244" /></a><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-OyAvPstNKNk/WuqSVTRCzJI/AAAAAAAADD4/1l_udWsVH6MKMh1EkVyysieoc1QFKK4ogCHMYCw/s1600-h/IMG_5876%255B8%255D"><img title="The spring melt reveals vole trails under the snow" style="margin: 0px 0px 5px; display: inline; background-image: none;" border="0" alt="vole road to my garden" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-bVSqn9fwwrk/WuqSWLyTmvI/AAAAAAAADD8/_o2PGXWCfUwkQJ4uRDu0T-wQ42j4NH9WwCHMYCw/IMG_5876_thumb%255B9%255D?imgmax=800" width="108" height="244" /></a></p> <p>Now I have no problem with the vole squatting situation, but for the unfortunate tendency to chomp back the grasses a wee too short over the winter. After exhausting this supply, they raid the next door pantry (via vole trails under the snow, see pic above) and on and on through the garden. The grasses seem to be bouncing back after this rough treatment, but the neighboring <em>Penstemon pinifolius</em> was grazed a little too low and has died.</p> <p>I’ve determined by the end of the summer, my yard is going to resemble a maximum security prison with multiple rows of fencing if I hope to save my favorites. That, or if my wild game hunting spouse has his way, we will be having a five star recipe I found for rabbit stew with mushrooms. Quick math question: three rabbits in the spring means how many rabbits by the summer? I dread the answer to this.</p> <p>I can only hope this pair of bald eagles will visit my yard again soon and take Peter and Company with them.</p> <p><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-HtDVKTlVxac/WuqSWz2ClwI/AAAAAAAADEA/7zb1ShMZcJsM3iw7Pb4WDZFhXvpI_xHKQCHMYCw/s1600-h/IMG_5865%255B10%255D"><img title="Feel like rabbit for dinner, Mr. and Mrs. Eagle?" style="margin: 0px 0px 5px; display: inline; background-image: none;" border="0" alt="just stay away from my chickens" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-GB_py673aoQ/WuqSXp-v7yI/AAAAAAAADEE/KSIKgMQIQOYgq8floHTqvABiHh80cVmcgCHMYCw/IMG_5865_thumb%255B8%255D?imgmax=800" width="252" height="282" /></a></p> <p><em><strong>What eats your garden?</strong></em></p><div class="blogger-post-footer">written by Christine B. for Last Frontier Garden blog</div>Christine B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/08335289758548637661noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3462867846580440325.post-25480719627618713222018-02-18T19:37:00.000-08:002018-02-18T19:37:19.293-08:00February is not my favorite month<p><font size="2"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-IolQ-jXAPWw/WokeMEv5IoI/AAAAAAAADA8/4Fblj5WtTE4GmY1y0OJSsJP_yvm6VxGfACHMYCw/s1600-h/2014-02-22%2B009%255B10%255D"><img title="February in Alaska" style="margin: 0px 0px 5px; display: inline; background-image: none;" border="0" alt="Cold and stunted hemlock near Flattop mountain" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-BEQmssq1aE8/WokeMg39cgI/AAAAAAAADBA/ZSbX6GdKzSoPcer_C9g01r7PzFTEeKxIgCHMYCw/2014-02-22%2B009_thumb%255B7%255D?imgmax=800" width="355" height="267" /></a></font></p> <p><font size="2">Not least because I am on a very restrictive diet per my doctor’s orders. (Something about a strict diet makes me grouchy.) No sweets on Valentine’s Day was a blow, and no chocolate on my anniversary in a few days will be tough. And every morning looking at the bread and bagels and muffins and turning away…let’s say I’m getting rather sick of grapes and nuts and water for breakfast. No, February is brutal because it is cold and dark.</font></p> <p><font size="2">This year seems especially cold. I wear a coat and sometimes a hat in my house. This is in addition to the sweater and slippers and wool socks. With that kind of indoor getup, I feel like I should be chopping wood, hollering at the kids to put the kettle on, and calling my husband “Pa.” </font></p> <p><font size="2">We have chickens, so going outside is mandatory, especially on those really cold mornings to check on their water to make sure it’s not frozen, heated waterer notwithstanding. In 6 degrees, it’s no joke to pull gloves off to collect eggs and chisel ice off the chicken water. I’m very happy to run back to the heated house after that, in fact, in my haste once or twice, I have fallen.</font></p> <p><font size="2">I really wanted to attend the <a href="https://www.gardenshow.com/" target="_blank">Northwest Flower and Garden Show</a> in Seattle this month for a dose of green sights and smells (and heat), but that didn’t happen. So I’ve had to settle for green fantasies on the internet. Googling “new American prairie” or my favorite nurseries has become a lifeline. Also, making a to-do list has helped distract me. Nothing like a long list of chores to dispel gloomy thoughts…hmm, maybe not. </font></p> <p><font size="2">So here we go. My list of <strong>things to do this spring</strong> (if spring ever does come to this forsaken wilderness that is Alaska):</font></p> <p><font size="2">1. Get a <strong>potting table built</strong> by the resident engineer. He has assured me this is possible, but demands dimensions. I say “about this big by this big” (gesturing with my hands) but that is not (I report from years of experience) the way an engineer’s brain works. Exact dimensions for computer-aided rendering are required. I suck on my teeth and muse whether a chalk outline on the driveway will be sufficient.</font></p> <p><font size="2"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-6ZkBqb_yst0/WokeNM3XexI/AAAAAAAADBE/snYd_WkPYiMmr0-Fd9Tzki1u9UhAzSIPwCHMYCw/s1600-h/2014-06-20%2B004%255B11%255D"><img title="Deschampsia in gravel garden" style="margin: 0px 0px 5px; display: inline; background-image: none;" border="0" alt="Deschampsia, a parent of thousands" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-AplcZW1TAbA/WokeNv3Kq-I/AAAAAAAADBI/6tdM0sxJiHMEr2z2YXBYNHVZfHkibm8nQCHMYCw/2014-06-20%2B004_thumb%255B8%255D?imgmax=800" width="276" height="367" /></a></font></p> <p><font size="2">2.<strong> Pot up</strong> all that rubbish growing in the gravel walkway through the garden. I’m looking at you <em>Deschampsia</em> seedlings. And you too, precious, wonderful <em>Elymus magellanicus</em> sprouts. I think I have some <em>Penstemon</em> that has seeded around I could pot up as well. Which justifies all those black plastic pots I have stacked up, I guess.</font></p> <p><font size="2"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0tVclvJO3pZK24jMVQPpU9cA-d54Rpmcdm5W22lReDnQ4iDZfhGgnjdtYPMbegUMLkDZSkCikBQtECVtKbslNp4DjkEzYdi1JV0OoUAoNYldUVqjN7Y-EPHbQRd_JDF3eZQ-XCXkqgJY/s1600-h/2013-09-06+008%255B7%255D"><img title="Sod ripping in action" style="margin: 0px 0px 5px; display: inline; background-image: none;" border="0" alt="Less to mow" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-nJLJ-LrTbIw/WokeO1A9w4I/AAAAAAAADBQ/Nynfm4WI_j4zFWlNWIQmY41bSA1WeqGbgCHMYCw/2013-09-06%2B008_thumb%255B4%255D?imgmax=800" width="332" height="250" /></a></font></p> <p><font size="2">3. <strong>Sod ripping</strong>. I regret to say this is on the list. I am tired of trying to mow the turf up a tricky steep patch in the front lawn. No more, it’s coming out. For a run down from the last sod ripping debacle, see <a href="http://lastfrontiergarden.blogspot.com/2014/01/a-rip-roaring-good-time-with-sod-ripper.html" target="_blank">here</a>. I wish I could say “been there, done that” with finality, but it seems we will be doing <em>that</em> again. Big sigh and mental note to remember to wear back belt for support this time. This is a task that helps a gardener remember their advancing age. Phooey.</font></p> <p><font size="2"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-tz9HujwKy9g/WokePe15s7I/AAAAAAAADBU/LK_J-yMcdyAsweFPLnfyXfzbcQVzfglCACHMYCw/s1600-h/Lamium%2Bon%2BOctober%2B11%255B9%255D"><img title="Hummingbirds delight, in my yard at least" style="margin: 0px 0px 5px; display: inline; background-image: none;" border="0" alt="Hummingbirds love Lamium" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-miv35VJWEs8/WokeP7feS6I/AAAAAAAADBY/WBCjVSbCB28KHydR_QvdbkC4-wos8HH2ACHMYCw/Lamium%2Bon%2BOctober%2B11_thumb%255B6%255D?imgmax=800" width="305" height="230" /></a></font></p> <p><font size="2">4. <strong>Attract as many hummingbirds as possible</strong>. I have become the crazy garden lady with a fetish. I think I’ve gotten the same hummer stopping by the last day or two of July and first few days of August for the last two years. I figure it’s filling up the tank before starting on the big migration back southward to Arizona or Mexico or wherever it hangs out most of the year. Step one, plant a bunch of things hummers like. Check. Step two, hang a sugar water feeder, check. Step three, for this summer, plant <em>even more</em> things hummingbirds like. Which aligns nicely with number 5.</font></p> <p><font size="2"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-2Wge6s2iqy4/WokeQQb-GOI/AAAAAAAADBc/bRBoOEdECtYDaGwSaHe2aip8f0J8R2ccgCHMYCw/s1600-h/Nepeta%2Bin%2Bthe%2Bshopping%2Bcart%255B12%255D"><img title="This is my cart in a grocery store, who needs food?" style="margin: 0px 0px 5px; display: inline; background-image: none;" border="0" alt="Shopping: gardener's edition" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5Jt3Xp9WS-H3upzTHZStWg0i_yPMy-t91vff2MMaSAjs-44mMAdpUKp1j6x-F1dvL4YGJnJaqvMGcIo15qf6L7QpkkIhsdjE4fMeHa-PcvQSiKiSdOG9mxNcPNhh6vgmi9vZPJ9zaBYY/?imgmax=800" width="241" height="320" /></a></font></p> <p><font size="2">5. <strong>Buy more plants</strong>. I know I don’t have to explain this to most gardeners. On the list, a rose (request from my daughter, who asked for a “real rose,” not the rugosa types I have planted now. Explaining the realities of moose a ’munching hasn’t convinced her that this request is unreasonable), more <em>Penstemon</em> (I can never have too many), another try at <em>Monarda</em> (while uttering a prayer to banish mildew), and maybe a blue poppy (<em>Meconopsis</em>). </font></p> <p><font size="2">I wonder how many of these items I will accomplish and how many will be banished/procrastinated to another year or season. I still have many weeks to think about it. Spring arrives late here: April in a good year. So here’s to internet garden dreams and doodling on a sketch pad until then.</font></p> <p><strong><em><font size="3">Got any black plastic nursery pots stacked up in a corner? What’s on your spring to-do list?</font></em></strong></p><div class="blogger-post-footer">written by Christine B. for Last Frontier Garden blog</div>Christine B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/08335289758548637661noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3462867846580440325.post-45190304845269224232016-12-31T05:09:00.000-08:002016-12-31T05:09:03.948-08:00Save some resolve for the garden, would you?<p> </p> <p><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-vUnSpldbpt8/WGbovAwi6TI/AAAAAAAADAQ/iMgfjFujbzo/s1600-h/decandjan2011-12%252520055%25255B9%25255D.jpg"><img title="goodbye December" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 5px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="Sunset in Alaska" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheV1-umifSK02GUErWGDZ0hA7u_2hzbMjoassaasROOTTnivV73DDrIwRPa_lze2sBJyMuzi1X2-Gz6F4P2ImYM4NgMWadC6DxtxY1Zwl0aPXm4VPMPf0zcs42tnr2UeBiwnlMlaetcNM/?imgmax=800" width="280" height="216" /></a></p> <p>Not all my New Year’s Resolutions are for the mind, body, and money pit that is my home. I have some for the garden, too. In no particular order, here they are.</p> <p>1. Put some <strong>edging </strong>in. I am getting tired of the “dance of the edging tool,” performed by yours truly, every year. Sometimes the dance is a long one, other times only a few egregiously encroaching feet of turf grass are whittled away and tossed into the compost pile or at a nearby brushy spot in the yard.</p> <p>This year, in a burst of energy, the dance took me out of the garden and down the sides of my driveway. I have regained quite a bit of drive space. It’s amazing how tough grass is, growing right over and into the asphalt.</p> <p>2. <strong>Prune</strong> those <strong>competing central-leader branches</strong> on the spruce trees the former homeowner planted. Of course they are over ten feet in the air and require a ladder. And have you ever leaned into a spruce tree? Those things are mean. They scratch me every time I mow the lawn around them.</p> <p>What I would really love to do is to cut down that very blue spruce that they planted. It is just there with no rhyme or reason amongst the green spruce. I don’t have a prejudice against the color blue on a spruce tree, and have grown several blue semi-dwarf varieties at my last garden. It’s just eye-catching when/where it shouldn’t be. </p> <p>3. <strong>Plant some trees</strong>. I’m thinking some tall ones in scale with my house. We need some more privacy from the street. When the neighbors’ dog takes a dump in my lawn, I want to be surprised by it. </p> <p>There is no fun at all in knowing which beast did the deed because you just witnessed the cheeky devil relieve himself from the living room window. I get to speculate based on size of droppings, distance from road, and whether it’s firm/crusty/mushy. Points awarded if I step in it while mowing the lawn.</p> <p>4. <strong>Grow some herbs</strong> and other goodies for the ladies. We have three amusing, disgusting, lovable, productive, fluffy chickens. They love watermelon and will take one down to the very rind but those don’t grow so well here. Carrots and potatoes do well here, but our chickens don’t love them. Hmm, what do grow? </p> <p>To stave off chicken obesity and just because she wants to, my kid takes them on walks in a harness and leash for small dogs. Some chickens enjoy this more than others, or at least, some can run faster and escape from the prospect of being a spectacle. Cars have stopped in the street to watch. Our “pet dogs with feathers” deserve a home-grown treat or two. We’ll see what I come up with.</p> <p>I did start this list with two items and seem to be adding and adding so I’d better wrap it up. I don’t want to get overloaded with projects outside. Nothing kills resolutions faster than apathy, right? Or is it injury? For me, the real fun is still just <em>being</em> in my garden, whether with a shovel or a lemonade, it’s all good. Happy New Year!</p> <p><em><strong>What needs doing in your garden? And will you do it in 2017?</strong></em></p><div class="blogger-post-footer">written by Christine B. for Last Frontier Garden blog</div>Christine B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/08335289758548637661noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3462867846580440325.post-38529520615941881972016-10-31T07:52:00.000-07:002016-10-31T07:52:02.826-07:00Apocalypse now…or at least by November 9<p> </p> <p><img style="float: none; margin: 0px auto 5px; display: block" alt="Image result for The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies" src="https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQS2kni31d_lyfvjY06SW5b9yyGXN6HQneQpHLER9Ta9gBj9_nfIg" width="170" height="222" /> </p> <p>Last Frontier Gardener checking in here. The kids are all telling me that the country won’t last beyond <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_presidential_election,_2016" target="_blank">the next election</a>. Mayhem, violence, government overthrow, you name it. I’m also reading about my fellow Americans’ opinions on our descent into doom, deviancy, and destruction. People across the land shaking their heads, clicking their tongues, and stocking up the pantry and/or gun cabinet.</p> <p>Poor America, having to choose between Candidate Baggage and Candidate More Baggage. Or is it Candidate No Way and Candidate No How? But, I reassure myself, every country has its troubles, right? <em>Right</em>?? I don’t remember feeling quite this despondent about voting before, my thought processes running thus, “that one I’d just have to wince and hold my nose and check the box, the other one I’d gag and maybe throw up a little in my mouth.”</p> <p>Perhaps a write-in campaign is in order. I’ve heard/read that, too. But whom to pencil in? I say it doesn’t matter, it couldn’t be worse than what we already have (<em>cough</em>, Congress, <em>cough</em>). You all know I love lists, so here is my top ten list to give comfort to those who fear this election may result in The End of America.</p> <p><strong>(Ten Reasons Why) America Will (Probably) Still Be Standing After Elections on November 8…</strong></p> <p>1. …because <strong>they both can’t win</strong>. We only have to have one of them as president.</p> <p>2. …because we don’t have to feel bad for the loser. <strong>Speaking fees and book offers</strong> will no doubt cushion the blow, and righteous indignation will be theirs forever.</p> <p>3. …because <strong>Alaska</strong>, at least, is<strong> probably safe</strong> from any looting/armed takeovers, despite high population of impulsive/reckless persons (according to my made-up statistics, 63.4% of Alaska’s population is made up of hotheads). It’s too cold out for that nonsense. It was icy and about 25F today. Stay home and watch World War Z in your flannel pajamas instead, ok?</p> <p>4. …so we can all enjoy the sound of silence; <strong>the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robocall" target="_blank">robocalls</a> will stop</strong>. Praise the Lord.</p> <p>5. …because we are a forgetful people when it comes to politics. Or maybe it’s pragmatic, or apathetic. Whatever! <strong>We will all be able to enjoy Thanksgiving</strong> on November 24, without Grandma creaming Uncle Joe with the gravy boat or Cousin Right Wing spearing Cousin Left Wing with the turkey fork. At least for reasons related to which bubble on the ballot to shade. Long-standing family vendettas and grudges, rage on!</p> <p>6. …because I’m told The End will be ushered in by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_Horsemen_of_the_Apocalypse" target="_blank">4 Horseman</a>. If we can but <strong>keep Newt Gingrich off a horse</strong>, I think we’re safe.</p> <p>7. …because I predict <strong>amazon.com</strong>, in cooperation with Homeland Security, will have a big online promo November 9 to keep <strong>everyone distracted.</strong></p> <p>8. …because I still haven’t seen <strong>the last <a href="http://www.thehobbit.com/" target="_blank">Hobbit movie</a></strong>. I refuse to participate in an Apocalypse until I know what happens to Bilbo.</p> <p>9. …because <strong><a href="https://www.thebalance.com/u-s-debt-to-china-how-much-does-it-own-3306355" target="_blank">we owe too much money to China</a></strong>. They are never gonna let us get away with some phony-baloney bankruptcy due to civil war.</p> <p>10. …because it’ll be a Wednesday. <strong>Everyone knows The End will come on a Monday</strong>, it’s the worst day of the week.</p> <p>Don’t worry, my fellow Americans. It’ll all be over soon (or is that, it’ll all be over in four years when we have to do this again?). As for the rest of you lucky readers in other countries, enjoy a Trump-less, Clinton-less November.</p> <p> </p> <p><em><strong>What are you looking forward to after Election Day? </strong></em></p><div class="blogger-post-footer">written by Christine B. for Last Frontier Garden blog</div>Christine B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/08335289758548637661noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3462867846580440325.post-61124210006224652882016-09-28T10:30:00.000-07:002016-09-28T10:30:01.115-07:00That day I never look forward to….<p><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-c1U6NJVciSQ/V-v77RLFhbI/AAAAAAAAC_Q/0h0BZ-QZulY/s1600-h/IMG_3593%25255B5%25255D.jpg"><img title="gravel meets grass meets driveway" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 5px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="Look ma, frost!" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-CR46YaRhJtI/V-v779KBwKI/AAAAAAAAC_U/ANrX8kUHDD0/IMG_3593_thumb%25255B6%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="191" height="244" /></a></p> <p>Yep, we had a frost last night. A very official one, too. My lawn is silver with frost, even at 8:30am, as I write this. Fortunately, the hop vine is still perky, and my orange dahlias on the front porch are only <em>half </em>brown and dead. Those are my bellwether plants. </p> <p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMLTClToewv182Fqb1atm6plhyphenhyphen90Z3EyvQDiuzaJakRRWn3uSezNDrAuNc_Uf0QBzZJSqQGwRHf8vyPYrDFxhbHa5JRDaz898uADdwssIHnM8Y9CoYdHNuPzJj-1cKBRjRC6G0Az3P5t0/s1600-h/IMG_3590%25255B8%25255D.jpg"><img title="orange dahlia on front porch" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 5px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="Mostly dead is a little bit alive, too" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihfif92xlcLKLRvgMNVhGUJQ8xuagzJhMWQqtylOOMEBcyZ8LKPDC-jgg8Iz_9LcL0li71vc-OYzUZQ-cFOjIHVR9fgHyhQvTUzOrbyDTDV1fgCZDQYwXid6-g95Zzp6PyZGFhraZhM6g/?imgmax=800" width="234" height="316" /></a></p> <p>I used to plant <em>Coleus</em>, and that is a very sensitive plant at my place to any cold at all. And <em>Ipomoea</em>, the potato vine I used to buy in all sorts of obnoxious colors, was also touchy about the low temperatures. Thus those two, though very useful and beautiful, are not a part of the scheme anymore, I can’t afford the losses.</p> <p><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-Ax4GGDTtzWI/V-v79cF02nI/AAAAAAAAC_g/ma5S1d5u2vI/s1600-h/IMG_3589%25255B8%25255D.jpg"><img title="Who knew Carex was this good in the house?" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 5px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="Porch plant becomes houseplant, for the third year!" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-xFUuBHquzl8/V-v79nHtSGI/AAAAAAAAC_k/qInTlcurJQA/IMG_3589_thumb%25255B9%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="233" height="244" /></a></p> <p>I already brought inside my <em>Carex</em>, my beloved variegated sedge that doubles as a houseplant all winter long. The lavender plant I tried on a whim this summer got pulled into the house as well, if only to see if it would do something over the winter, which I am having my doubts about. I got <em>one</em>, count it, <em>one</em> bloom out of the thing, over the course of a record high temperature summer (so for us, lots of days in the 70’s Fahrenheit). </p> <p><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-KXyNpvKeH18/V-v7-aHTaTI/AAAAAAAAC_o/xqyprKF3U60/s1600-h/IMG_3591%25255B6%25255D.jpg"><img title="Calamagrostis brachytricha looks great in bloom" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 5px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="Dry river bed section of garden" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-uDE-UEMaLWI/V-v7-8DmxTI/AAAAAAAAC_s/AWKjvBnZYbM/IMG_3591_thumb%25255B4%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="226" height="305" /></a></p> <p>Not much is still blooming or pretending to bloom out there. That <em>Gaillardia</em> blossom looks a bit too perfect for me to believe it’s not frozen to perfection, waiting for the wind, snow, and truly cold temperatures to turn it brown. Or maybe a moose will walk by and eat it. My snow-colored <em>Alyssum</em>, which seeds around with something quite a bit less than enthusiasm (two seedlings, sheesh!), is still a mound of stark white. A few purple <em>Penstemon</em> blooms ignore the cold, <em>Achillea</em>, <em>Papaver</em>, <em>Viola </em>as well.</p> <p><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-8tgQACIcXwo/V-v7_U8eASI/AAAAAAAAC_w/Kv-tvjnzVrg/s1600-h/IMG_3594%25255B6%25255D.jpg"><img title="Diascia, Pelargonium, Dahlia in a blue pot in autumn" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 5px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="Diascia lives...for now" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-UpKPwDmL-i8/V-v7_w9zPJI/AAAAAAAAC_0/fIJWvMSmpuQ/IMG_3594_thumb%25255B4%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="204" height="275" /></a></p> <p>Waiting for death, or the long winter’s nap, any day now in my garden.</p> <p> </p> <p><strong><em>Frost/no frost? When does your garden rest for a season?</em></strong></p><div class="blogger-post-footer">written by Christine B. for Last Frontier Garden blog</div>Christine B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/08335289758548637661noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3462867846580440325.post-58657343486864779792016-09-09T05:24:00.000-07:002016-09-09T05:24:09.980-07:00They’re alive for now<p><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-5jcY8sdJYEQ/V9GgPJqvwWI/AAAAAAAAC9c/Wcntb1mtw5Q/s1600-h/IMG_3500%25255B10%25255D.jpg"><img title="Rudbeckia 'Herbstsonne' and Calamagrostis x acutiflora 'Karl Foerster'" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 5px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-bQAdqEy-Y-k/V9GgP07XskI/AAAAAAAAC9g/UGaTr5Kvyzw/IMG_3500_thumb%25255B7%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="209" height="287" /></a></p> <p>The end of summer and it’s wonderful warmth seems to come a little later each year here in Alaska. I have no complaints. As a child, I remember thinking that when school starts, summer ends, no matter the date on the calendar. With climate change (and our increasingly hot summers and mild winters), autumn is a season we seem to get a little more of each year, and for that, I am truly thankful. It is my favorite season.</p> <p><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-CaNhOV3ChbE/V9GgQVzpzNI/AAAAAAAAC9k/C0zi22STsGg/s1600-h/IMG_3508%25255B9%25255D.jpg"><img title="Deschampsia and Calamagrostis surround the gravel walkway" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 5px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="Sunshine, for now" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-XZOhmRwrVK0/V9GgQzYdZ6I/AAAAAAAAC9o/dNHPN15JHsY/IMG_3508_thumb%25255B6%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="215" height="290" /></a></p> <p><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-fUTsADjYYNY/V9GgR6HLx6I/AAAAAAAAC9s/i6Z8IMNF1VU/s1600-h/IMG_3523%25255B7%25255D.jpg"><img title="Yes, I keep the flowers on the Lamb's Ears...bees love them!" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 5px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-5WYj7azAvjY/V9GgSoJKvnI/AAAAAAAAC9w/LqpFpvHLf8E/IMG_3523_thumb%25255B4%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="217" height="293" /></a></p> <p><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-ZAaFi-TmcAQ/V9GgTEHH8SI/AAAAAAAAC90/4ptw4aSzGdo/s1600-h/IMG_3491%25255B8%25255D.jpg"><img title="Golden hops transform an exposed deck into a private retreat" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 5px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="Humulus lupulus 'Bianca'" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-0t91o-9SW4w/V9GgTxCYrxI/AAAAAAAAC94/83hBxeId10Y/IMG_3491_thumb%25255B8%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="215" height="345" /></a></p> <p><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-MG6W2JWPVv4/V9GgUxLPnpI/AAAAAAAAC98/caQdufhdAXE/s1600-h/IMG_3490%25255B8%25255D.jpg"><img title="Look at those hips!" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 5px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="Rosa glauca and Calamagrostis x acutiflora 'Eldorado'" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-sLAXJKrLBdA/V9GgVbcjb3I/AAAAAAAAC-A/vEhxtt7b0Cg/IMG_3490_thumb%25255B9%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="227" height="260" /></a></p> <p>The birch and cottonwood leaves are beginning to turn their various shades of brown, yellow, and gold. The strappy fireweed leaves have gone red and purple. Everything is wet, because it rains nearly every day, and our high temperature has plunged down in the 50’s (that’s in the teens for you Celsius people). I will not write of the low temperature, the potential kiss of death. So far, I’ve been spared.</p> <p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZxcGydlW4G8nHuVyTQfj8SevwsnYtG9TjC7sA183nJOaCPnt3rAaGN-_PkSZW5XRwH1Kq86nrvLo3Mjr_XyDshARSruH0hLzVhjTJqrgIi51odPRDjD-jn0ubMqkgYnz7eNnHYljhrIg/s1600-h/IMG_3524%25255B9%25255D.jpg"><img title="Covered front porch" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 5px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="The Carex in the background doubles as a houseplant in the winter" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-PpwiDF4uSuM/V9GgWhd5jXI/AAAAAAAAC-I/V71wgKCGOvA/IMG_3524_thumb%25255B6%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="244" height="329" /></a></p> <p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhS8X5hYBG_kgERcF2WrZdatCkYL8-XfczG1D138bbuxV1uABtyJEdyTjSmHC0iqjg2dHhpBxARVKWCq_kKt5B07wZPPdHbrBn4o0xYF3nF9Jm6q2qcK-501ALNRghS9lRy-pZh5U0dEwA/s1600-h/IMG_3514%25255B12%25255D.jpg"><img title="Penguin in the Alopecurus" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 5px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="Penguin says we are not amused with autumn" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-8Bm-VNbzDG8/V9GgYUGSwFI/AAAAAAAAC-Q/EspGA3klq6g/IMG_3514_thumb%25255B12%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="246" height="277" /></a></p> <p><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-R3C9RjGDR4o/V9GgZIuByWI/AAAAAAAAC-U/mGrvZnx5MNs/s1600-h/IMG_3493%25255B7%25255D.jpg"><img title="Achillea 'Strawberry Seduction'" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 5px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-a1UnVb6pGYM/V9GgZkQIjPI/AAAAAAAAC-Y/Jjgh76HZNF8/IMG_3493_thumb%25255B4%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="247" height="333" /></a></p> <p> I have a pile of various pruned organic bits moldering in the garden cart, and an edging tool with a pair of purple garden gloves on each side of the handle like antlers, both left for a moment that turned into days, sopped on the gravel. Everything waits. For the gardener, or for the frost.</p> <p><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-v2Nng6AJOow/V9Ggar249OI/AAAAAAAAC-c/nGN6f2M02kU/s1600-h/IMG_3525%25255B7%25255D.jpg"><img title="I adore my little fountain" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 5px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="P.S. Must be topped off every other day" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-3J6Y8LpLf-k/V9GgbAmlZYI/AAAAAAAAC-g/hKMlfWcTDTA/IMG_3525_thumb%25255B4%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="235" height="317" /></a></p> <p><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-up604J-qkb0/V9GgcE8UtiI/AAAAAAAAC-k/lQDceZJr7vc/s1600-h/IMG_3510%25255B10%25255D.jpg"><img title="The only kind of snake we have in Alaska...copperhead!" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 5px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="Physocarpus 'Center Glow' with Penstemon" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-yRygRva6IPk/V9Ggc27a4PI/AAAAAAAAC-o/RfUnuQIS3GQ/IMG_3510_thumb%25255B7%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="233" height="314" /></a></p> <p><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-Ub78PP2HjvM/V9GgdYLOq8I/AAAAAAAAC-s/WTgsNr0hj20/s1600-h/IMG_3487%25255B9%25255D.jpg"><img title="Seedling viola" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 5px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="Love it when seedlings match the color scheme!" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-7whloOtUDVk/V9GgfH9sZXI/AAAAAAAAC-w/NkamIDkBJxk/IMG_3487_thumb%25255B6%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="230" height="310" /></a></p> <p>How long will those dahlias bloom? Will I get another week out of the golden hop vine? Will that spirea ever get a decent shade of red? Are my garden chores going to be completed before the snow flies? The mysteries of autumn abound.</p> <p><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-Hm1QRL-reHI/V9Ggf-Los0I/AAAAAAAAC-0/_mcqAlV9AjA/s1600-h/IMG_3484%25255B7%25255D.jpg"><img title="Dry riverbed with salmon" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 5px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="Calamagrostis brachytricha, Calamagrostis x acutiflora 'Karl Foerster'" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-I3mj14He6yo/V9GggiP3ALI/AAAAAAAAC-4/q8ecauzZOgk/IMG_3484_thumb%25255B4%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="235" height="317" /></a></p> <p><strong><em>Have you said goodbye to summer? Any plant casualties of temperature to report?</em></strong></p><div class="blogger-post-footer">written by Christine B. for Last Frontier Garden blog</div>Christine B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/08335289758548637661noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3462867846580440325.post-45730315175187433672016-08-29T17:35:00.000-07:002016-08-29T17:35:03.278-07:00Draining my bank account: Alaska State Fair edition<p><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-gSR94u5r33k/V8S4e_3iUKI/AAAAAAAAC48/P1e4cw3GSz8/s1600-h/IMG_34244.jpg"><img title="Shoulda got here earlier" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 5px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="Me and my 1000 bestest Alaskan buddies" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-G_T9uIUyWQ0/V8S4ffqY_HI/AAAAAAAAC5A/RGQyRz7A0gc/IMG_3424_thumb1.jpg?imgmax=800" width="204" height="275" /></a></p> <p>Well, it’s that time of year again. The <a href="http://www.alaskastatefair.org/site/" target="_blank">Alaska State Fair</a> is in full swing, and being the die-hard fair goer that I am (see <a href="http://lastfrontiergarden.blogspot.com/2010/09/flowers-food-and-freaks.html">here</a> for prior coverage), it wasn’t a question of if, but when. Saturday, August 27 was the day, and along with 50,000 or so of my fellow Alaskans (oh all right, I did see a car with a license plate from Canada in fair traffic) packed it up and drove the miles to stand in lines, spend too much (honestly, a corn dog for $8!?), and eat too much (see aforementioned corn dog plus other things I would rather forget).</p> <p><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-SxLVH58t5dE/V8S4gw5BFnI/AAAAAAAAC5E/Qz34gzYlZy0/s1600-h/IMG_3410%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img title="Flower show and craft exhibit" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="Motivated kids win ribbons" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-WBXK6ePXUc4/V8S4sbV5cOI/AAAAAAAAC5M/1rEB3nYD5MA/IMG_3410_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" width="244" height="184" /></a><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-6UIO6vss89I/V8S4s3KFFLI/AAAAAAAAC5Q/p-_rElM8JLw/s1600-h/IMG_3411%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img title="Art show for kids" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="An octopus with a monocle, a cousin of the Planter's peanut guy" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-8n3FNjFPQjg/V8S4tdLoNRI/AAAAAAAAC5U/mFx-n5KzoYo/IMG_3411_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" width="184" height="244" /></a><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-7u1Cxx0KG40/V8S4uIX_UqI/AAAAAAAAC5Y/mb3cn1NtX0Y/s1600-h/IMG_3413%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img title="" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 5px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="Dancers putting on a show where pigs used to race" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-o1mqLm0kx3o/V8S4ujyf-EI/AAAAAAAAC5c/b3Y-fSE02wk/IMG_3413_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" width="244" height="184" /></a></p> <p>So maybe I’m exaggerating about the number of attendees last Saturday, but it felt very packed. I noticed an unusual amount of people using carts, crutches, and canes to get around, and finally realized, with my usual quick wit, that it must be Family Day at the fair. No, that’s really a Day there, and kids get in free. Maybe Seniors, too, cuz old folks were everywhere! I would have invited my grandma, but she is about 2,000 miles away and spent her Saturday watching a tractor parade. Oh la la.</p> <p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjndy8MbawnfyZevKAVS8qr_tGSKBfMhUAhnEGrHNCmVVvgyA0jR23g0tZ-jj5GBmjLj-Oh5-edE42jCYuIA1SExjaTWQck6j8P_lyqyfcY7bI5yfjFe6st0pXlk_aHZrUzmfKuxlbpwF0/s1600-h/IMG_33823.jpg"><img title="This barn is next to a lot of cool flowers on trial, oh yeah, and rhubarb, too." style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 5px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="Wineck barn, I think" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-3BeYMm4mkpQ/V8S4wNCH1FI/AAAAAAAAC5k/SvFfEd8XJg0/IMG_3382_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" width="244" height="184" /></a></p> <p>I tell you what, when I’m my grandparents age, there won’t be a single soul on Earth that can convince me to march, mingle, and get mashed on the hard pavement amongst the green-haired kiddies, strollers running over my feet, and smell of grease. I will sit on a bench and eat a turkey leg (that booth always has a long line when I walk by hungry) and holler at my grandkids instead. I can’t wait.</p> <p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiarTUDXvCnQbAuqfgGFhIh9cgK5qcJ54fJAXBji8aBFUYUTIgBkpDJczkAhmjypR-6pwA7ZLUe3FE8Uo3kk7_Wo5mzgYkOKOKW-vPRs_uHTp6GsLUCmHEavxvjux_dKpbSOO-62sXXkqY/s1600-h/IMG_3368%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img title="A six dollar, er, 6 ticket ride" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="Scary ride" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhAgSmGJ9mjqKKu0ta-2oK6xN7VaRnnkM1ztInR-I-bfAbDPvxnrxcH16hRDybDNDqeTXD6MPm3csx12rBZ6fFTtV_5W7Sku5P3bQSpiiMFqBxGt9Fyf6Na5qsiyFU5gxUeFafcsD-UKs/?imgmax=800" width="244" height="184" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNNjuCnGwMtnoPh-L-tti_kT2VijD2SuCDyv4D7VrZbdBc8qMF2zOe27qkVJBaI2lYNak0O4eXLeyU8hQV7KxuFt5b4FWjqjN5XnvL5B9ywfVcL23Rf3XwMp09GMZk6a_1VjpXcU_J7XY/s1600-h/IMG_3377%25255B5%25255D.jpg"><img title="Kids in tutus perform" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="I watch because I am too tired to walk anymore" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-Rmwk3qrY8FA/V8S40g2SSZI/AAAAAAAAC50/LFbXYLxejP0/IMG_3377_thumb%25255B2%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="184" height="244" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRpS6yT1wIs9sUimHRE-bHmDVVgLbV-PN42pRYFU_iTmiKa78qdSOYamV8nM6WqHvYD7myMPVZtQTGwRDr3U1fHTQkFFxeNRRMptLOWgMjGX6SHh_rAEQgXxQWOSl5hyphenhyphenokkA3JH7aRIXk/s1600-h/IMG_3396%25255B5%25255D.jpg"><img title="The "I" in Fair" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 5px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="Cool photo op" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-9RK-lYpfxsI/V8S42iglriI/AAAAAAAAC58/7-ex-jkCjm8/IMG_3396_thumb%25255B2%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="244" height="184" /></a></p> <p>We got up early on Saturday, and after a few well deserved hints to the kids to get moving, pack up their raincoats, and use the toilet, we departed only an hour behind schedule. But about 300 <em>cars</em> behind schedule, too. The traffic past the Wasilla/Palmer freeway turnoff was not quite horrendous but well past dreadful. </p> <p>We groaned and griped all the way through the back end of Palmer (look kids, potatoes!) until we parked the car and turned off the engine. After a reminder that I wasn’t going to carry the “backpack of necessities” the whole time like last year, like some sad Sherpa for my lazy kids, we entered the gates…after standing in line for a very long time to get to those gates. No really, it gets fun now.</p> <p><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-TBdCPeZg6Ww/V8S43Tm-5mI/AAAAAAAAC6A/k046FrLwJsg/s1600-h/IMG_34436.jpg"><img title="Giant zucchini for $5" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 5px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="I hate zucchini" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgblT0yvwxkeobA62K2O2dGbF9YVmrfdMzt4zEhWAEnu-xjH7Q2nQRKl1sMdwAAhN6Z9ui8-Pka-a4O04ngvfCHdXQj8mTfh2-86_-Usd1GwAe7e8HV8l0xeaYsoSXK5DtB-OvtwX2ic5U/?imgmax=800" width="184" height="244" /></a></p> <p>So where was I? Oh yeah. All my fellow Alaskans (and Canadians) at the fair. It was sunny, so my pictures are nothing special, but the flowers at the fair always put other public displays around Alaska to shame. Honestly, why doesn’t Anchorage hire the gal that designs all this? Everything from matchy, matchy to humorous to sublime. </p> <p><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-fJDHU9nrbis/V8S44kMQXlI/AAAAAAAAC6I/xNjWrXVSO7k/s1600-h/IMG_33615.jpg"><img title="Corn as high as a moose's eye" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 5px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="The veggie garden" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-vN72OokFB24/V8S44yyjeTI/AAAAAAAAC6M/_uM7aw6yYME/IMG_3361_thumb2.jpg?imgmax=800" width="244" height="184" /></a><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-tKRpg5lQ4ts/V8S46HCBm_I/AAAAAAAAC6Q/fa2m-LE_1F0/s1600-h/IMG_33625.jpg"><img title="One of the bigger entry garden features" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 5px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="Grasses galore" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-9dFbsHbxoPk/V8S46lryf2I/AAAAAAAAC6U/qazU1Ry13mk/IMG_3362_thumb2.jpg?imgmax=800" width="244" height="184" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQrLJ-0klwD6fQJxZ7uOhkSKhgYLVX96NBoOUz7XRstTakEFCJc_k4UqW3Ht-QKgvw8Tz2-WcAgHbGkViT7PNZANbHULr83lUr_ADBJODKVuSt_WTESkzyoxUZO0QTBaKe-l9BSXS0N1Q/s1600-h/IMG_33866.jpg"><img title="Can you tell I just love grasses?" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 5px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="The testing garden near an entrance" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-fBtPm8HsXPc/V8S48xp84dI/AAAAAAAAC6c/V8_oKsNjQRo/IMG_3386_thumb3.jpg?imgmax=800" width="244" height="184" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJ6oedoPGhP7Yy0Fy7TJl5sgg_ZmKJrSedgdFzeqDH6SyULnjf3baYN9kUdHUqx2balNBNZIcWDhRWy1bZFUlorEhvGB7S5p10tUgKNdV-xPqmxRwmH9w8L5NN2_dFjMt4Qcs_cN2Bzzk/s1600-h/IMG_33896.jpg"><img title="This is what Sorbus (Mt. Ash) looks like with no moose" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 5px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="love the berry colors, so do the waxwings in winter" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-wg6bQ3jBwLQ/V8S5AeCqzrI/AAAAAAAAC6k/9LtRh4xW4lY/IMG_3389_thumb3.jpg?imgmax=800" width="244" height="184" /></a></p> <p><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-nHbtp8dZr6Y/V8S5A9AGMgI/AAAAAAAAC6o/KhO6O-j9Pnk/s1600-h/IMG_34016.jpg"><img title="Love me some Echinacea!" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 5px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="Veggie garden next to the Fair main office" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-GjYln0bjR8w/V8S5CPa6xJI/AAAAAAAAC6s/YH4ZcQpeI1A/IMG_3401_thumb3.jpg?imgmax=800" width="184" height="244" /></a></p> <p>I note the walled perennial garden is still aptly called “Perennial Garden” and am shocked it hasn’t been named after some politician or corporate sponsor. Our Alaskan legislators aren’t fixing our dreadful budget mess, so I’m sure they’ll have plenty of time to debate names for it this next session. I suggest christening it the “Beat it kids, I’m trying to take a siesta” Garden. Must be over 30 to enter.</p> <p><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-NLADbbWhurk/V8S5C3pfwdI/AAAAAAAAC6w/XgfSwX6yz5I/s1600-h/IMG_3408%25255B1%25255D.jpg"><img title="The Perennial Garden, between 2 buildings" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 5px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="Behind these trellises is a good spot to sit, don't tell!" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-fNA_94gtr24/V8S5EfnyBSI/AAAAAAAAC60/rUdBoSvDgxI/IMG_3408_thumb%25255B2%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="184" height="244" /></a></p> <p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAYWWuaNTEuzifX4ggBD4jRabVvT9l3QEGzd1JyNyox29U_XZjA1VPh0yyaXlVKqKuVJ4rVT40TsMLakEi30t7k8UnCPa-pB-KZexx59ogkVqMNH8opiSqSHuLDkz1Tcx1f1uJXT8DQAE/s1600-h/IMG_3409%25255B2%25255D.jpg"><img title="Just some of the unusual plants in the Perennial Garden" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 5px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="The white flowering section" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-apnQa8ipPUo/V8S5Faxq6vI/AAAAAAAAC68/C0vHKBuVd9s/IMG_3409_thumb%25255B3%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="184" height="244" /></a><strong></strong></p> <p><strong>Some highlights:</strong></p> <p>1. <strong><a href="http://www.powerhousedance.net/">PowerHouse</a></strong> percussive<strong> dance routine</strong>. Holy smokes, that kid, “Pee Wee,” can dance! Don’t miss all the clogging, tapping, and stomping. It’s free, which is nice because you already have to choose between a semester of college and that cheeseburger.</p> <p><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-4Tzfzj8hMiE/V8S5F_dALDI/AAAAAAAAC7A/xbvNFhO2oFw/s1600-h/IMG_34203.jpg"><img title="The quilt made of plants" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 5px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="This was planted outside the quilt exhibit building" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-bKTihxes9RE/V8S5Gk3MnSI/AAAAAAAAC7E/r_t1ARUoxBY/IMG_3420_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" width="184" height="244" /></a></p> <p><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-C4jLaG30poo/V8S5HAB_0QI/AAAAAAAAC7I/BD5MOWiIgr4/s1600-h/IMG_3421%25255B2%25255D.jpg"><img title="The quilt exhibit building was filled with quilters...and me." style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 5px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="Quilt exhibit" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-vDU9d8VINmM/V8S5IZhBy5I/AAAAAAAAC7M/pqJyyvOfR7k/IMG_3421_thumb%25255B3%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="184" height="244" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-3ZycMOVmGWFmryZayCzq5a8vsQA4WzR_CQNlo5Nd719_cU_xf6FfOaW1nXIFslIgfKcpOLbaUjPv9YEHUNdPawK7haio6n9cwjDip2BUHIS9ZH4-dYyilgjbO0Cwg79YVemIX14Ryqs/s1600-h/IMG_3425%25255B1%25255D.jpg"><img title="Bees" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 5px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="Plantings of bees in the middle of the fair" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-5zvkTAxe2Ho/V8S5KFyxEMI/AAAAAAAAC7U/uEVc-shTHNc/IMG_3425_thumb%25255B2%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="244" height="184" /></a><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-YiK_nbCyVso/V8S5LdteVWI/AAAAAAAAC7Y/nsU1wufU2WY/s1600-h/IMG_34273.jpg"><img title="Queen bee" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="Another view of bees" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-DHkJxQFOupM/V8S5M8FMg4I/AAAAAAAAC7c/7mv4d9Ea9xE/IMG_3427_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" width="244" height="184" /></a><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-aitWtaxe1FQ/V8S5QAESB8I/AAAAAAAAC7g/8S3WccRTjVg/s1600-h/IMG_34283.jpg"><img title="Closeup of bee and hive" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="How'd you like to maintain this planting" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-d_NZb8akRGo/V8S5Qn6F0DI/AAAAAAAAC7k/Fct2ads-4fQ/IMG_3428_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" width="244" height="184" /></a><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-an3RwnEOIpM/V8S5Ri96kLI/AAAAAAAAC7o/lYADQW-J9Rk/s1600-h/IMG_34303.jpg"><img title="Snapdragons and plantains" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 5px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="Some plant magic in a fair border" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-8vsDEeGzeC0/V8S5TD_L9iI/AAAAAAAAC7s/UYd4Tb1SR1E/IMG_3430_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" width="244" height="184" /></a></p> <p>2. The <strong>gardens</strong>. The beehive and the quilt (<em>pics above</em>) were some of my faves. For some reason, the giant vegetables didn’t really thrill me this year. Meh.</p> <p>3. The <strong>chick incubator tub</strong>. Don’t pick up the chicks! And I included my kids in that admonition. We already have 3 chickens at home, which is probably 3 too many.</p> <p>4. The <strong>food</strong>. Ok, some of the food. A long line doesn’t necessarily mean the food is worth it. It just may mean your kid is screaming and you want to plug that hole with the nearest (<em>fill in the blank food</em>).</p> <p><strong>Some lowlights:</strong></p> <p>1. <strong>Traffic</strong>. Every year I say I’m going to pony up the cash and take the train. Future self: take the train!!</p> <p>2. Not enough <strong>places to sit</strong>. They have been making improvements, but after 5 hours of pounding the blacktop, we need more places to park our sorry, tired selves.</p> <p>3. The <strong>prices</strong>. I spent $100 on tickets: not to the opera, internationally known band, or all day waterpark venue, but for four rides for 4 kids, plus some games and food tickets we didn’t really want that came with the package. What a racket!</p> <p>It’s 6 tickets for most of the big kid/adult rides, which is way, way up from the 2 or 3 tickets from my Pleistocene childhood, but still, I ask you, 6 tickets? The $8 corn dog is indefensible, but I did buy and eat it, so what does that say about me?</p> <p>4. Not enough <strong>cute baby animals</strong> in the livestock area. Fooey. All right, all right, the little goats were cute.</p> <p>So get up early, pack the hand sanitizer and sunscreen/raincoat (look out the window first to pick which), and head out to Palmer. The Fair runs until September 5. Don’t forget to cash out that <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/401(k)" target="_blank">401(k)</a> first if you want to eat.</p> <p> </p> <p><em><strong>Outrageous prices? Fairs you won’t do without? What’s your report on the fair in your neck of the woods?</strong></em></p><div class="blogger-post-footer">written by Christine B. for Last Frontier Garden blog</div>Christine B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/08335289758548637661noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3462867846580440325.post-62858351966677474042016-08-24T07:44:00.000-07:002016-08-24T07:44:06.597-07:00That movie where the birds attack<p>Yes, I’m still alive and kicking. It’s been so long since my last post, that I’ve had a dickens of a time figuring out my password. I had to uninstall and reinstall programs, for goodness sake. The formatting looks strange to me, too. Anyhoo, we’re still gardening here in the Greatland. I’m not bragging about where I live, that’s really a nickname for Alaska.</p> <p>Last year we were given, with no prior notice, some live animals. Yes, this paragraph can only get more horrifying, so buckle up. A car drove up the to the house. A car trunk was opened. Most unfortunately, in an unguarded moment, my garage door was open. Into this garage (and from the car in the driveway) were placed 4 chicks, a handful of feed, and a water dish. They were in a small cardboard box. Since people have been killed on slighter provocation than a drive by insta-pet dump, you’d think this person (a relative) would know better, but you have relatives like that too, don’t you?</p> <p>So we have three chickens now in our garden. Those are the first, and most important birds of note in my garden, according to time and money spent, worry accorded, and noisy racket generated. We do get eggs, so I suppose that’s a consolation of sorts. Our brown chicken, Duck, eats slugs as well, so that’s nice. P.S. A child decided on the name for our chicken named Duck, so don’t judge me.</p> <p><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-eDBgYygk7sg/V71B3coEpnI/AAAAAAAAC3Y/FWWIpnbX4uw/s1600-h/IMG_2256_thumb%25255B6%25255D%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img title="IMG_2256_thumb[6]" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; margin: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="IMG_2256_thumb[6]" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/--H2-lI78eM4/V71B4FbtlVI/AAAAAAAAC3c/njOtizCGWDA/IMG_2256_thumb%25255B6%25255D_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" width="244" height="219" /></a></p> <p>The second birds of note this summer are the “Charlies,” a slightly less technical but more affectionate term for the Stellar’s jays, <em>Cyanocitta stelleri</em>, that case our joint about once a day. My grandmother, Ruth, called every Blue jay in her Portland, Oregon backyard “Charlie,” so it has become a tradition for me with the Blue jay’s Alaska dwelling cousin. When I was a child, she told me jays always came in threes, Charlie and his two girlfriends. I have found that to be very often true. Sometimes just one jay, sometimes four, but most often three. </p> <p>Jays are noisy and capable of making sounds that defy imitation, so instead of trying to talk to them in faux bird-talk, like I do the chickadees, I just holler, “Here Charlie!” That seems to work, as Charlie will take an unshelled peanut from my hand. The other three Charlies (fledglings, I suspect, or maybe they don’t like the look of me) are too shy to do more than land on my deck railing and look wistfully at the peanut in my hand, and make popping or scratching noises to the brave Charlie.  </p> <p>A note to those interested in taming a Charlie: they have trained <em>me</em> and my two children to run to the bag of peanuts any time we hear their squawk or see them sitting on the rail. Sometimes they will fly up to the window if they see me inside and brush the window with their wings to get my attention. They’re pushy like that.</p> <p>The third bird of note is the giant buzzard that has been hanging around the swing set, a good perching place for checking out the chickens. “Giant Buzzard” is the lazy person’s Latin for <em>Bubo virginianus</em>, or the Great Horned Owl. He showed up with much fanfare in the form of shouted alerts from my kids about chicken safety, or lack thereof. He also showed up with much poo. On my roof namely, but also my wooden decking. Never fear, the chicken pen was hastily (much in the manner of grave robbers working through the rainy night) covered in netting, and the owl was foiled. The poo was removed by scrubbing. Fooey.</p> <p><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-ZgVc__wnjpw/V71B4j1X0TI/AAAAAAAAC3g/jeEE2n_437k/s1600-h/IMG_3118_thumb%25255B14%25255D%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img title="IMG_3118_thumb[14]" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; margin: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="IMG_3118_thumb[14]" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinQVD4CCvLbhse91WiaevSHzFzU4o4fPsANum7MTqPm8s_kb-Rw-93cGnf35JPTJR1gkmxTBYKDSTCZvGfRztwcYZZXQkoIeicOCEwKOaNIAc4WXLvcmA9Qh0dCxkya13wZggCUmUYSVg/?imgmax=800" width="160" height="155" /></a></p> <p>I know you’re thinking, that’s a lot of bird adventures for one garden, but wait, there’s more. Other than the hawks scoping out the chickens in the form of dive bombing, which we will not mention, because they are never still long enough for a photo, we had one other cool sighting this summer (yeah, I say that like summer is over because, Anchorage, it <em>is</em>) of a hummingbird. Which is no biggie for you California or Oregon gardeners, but a cool and unusual sight for most Alaskans. It is so unusual for me (as a lifelong southcentral Alaskan, I’ve only seen two other sightings) to see one, that I didn’t know what I was looking at, at first glance. I thought the wind was moving some <em>Lamium</em> stems unusually fast. Nope, it was the first sighting of the little tyke, which hung around for about a week in late June, justifying all that red, pink, and purple <em>Penstemon</em> I planted everywhere. See if you can spot it perched on my tree cage (stupid moose, grumble, grumble).</p> <p><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-21qCClKPySI/V71B5pvYtsI/AAAAAAAAC3o/WhTn73O2_iY/s1600-h/IMG_3127_thumb%25255B7%25255D%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img title="IMG_3127_thumb[7]" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 5px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="IMG_3127_thumb[7]" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-oRTPuqTxk1A/V71B6FaKhRI/AAAAAAAAC3s/xNrpK6OIvQM/IMG_3127_thumb%25255B7%25255D_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" width="207" height="244" /></a></p> <p>So the bird season here is winding down, at least in this garden. Chicks fledged, robins mostly gone, feeder birds gearing up for the big vamoose back to warmer climes. It will be interesting to see what birds show up next year if we have another warm summer (please, oh please, yes).</p> <p><strong><em>What birds were hanging around your garden? Any unusual avian visitors?</em></strong></p><div class="blogger-post-footer">written by Christine B. for Last Frontier Garden blog</div>Christine B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/08335289758548637661noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3462867846580440325.post-21716028857884501192015-05-24T06:41:00.000-07:002015-05-24T06:41:00.620-07:00R.I.P. Pinwheels: wherein I slightly destroy garden art<p><a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-PSCn3nCXxI0/VWERttXQf7I/AAAAAAAAC2Y/hqXECF6zGf0/s1600-h/photo%252520%2525281%252529%25255B11%25255D.jpg"><img title="Stachys byzantina" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="Made it through the winter, woohoo!" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-3pF2_cPT5fE/VWERuYOoKpI/AAAAAAAAC2g/CqE_fIcY86g/photo%252520%2525281%252529_thumb%25255B15%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="260" height="298" /></a></p> <p>Some years ago, in my zeal to defend my <em><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prunus_maackii" target="_blank">Prunus maackii</a></em><em></em> against those dastardly, ever-hungry moose, I concocted a trio of giant pinwheels. Yes, you read that correctly. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pinwheel_%28toy%29" target="_blank">Pinwheels</a>. (I am pausing a moment to savor these feelings of humility, shame, and perhaps a touch of defiance. There. I am done.)</p> <p>I designed and welded those things to last through a hurricane. (See <a href="http://lastfrontiergarden.blogspot.com/2009/10/welding-101.html" target="_blank">here</a>, <a href="http://lastfrontiergarden.blogspot.com/2009/10/power-tools-and-pinwheels.html" target="_blank">here</a>, and <a href="http://lastfrontiergarden.blogspot.com/2009/10/pinwheel-update-posts-are-in-for-good.html" target="_blank">here</a>, for the story.) They came with us when we moved over four years ago, but never quite looked right at the spot in the backyard lawn where I placed them. Fate intervened with the occasional windstorm in winter. Now the moving parts were bent and broken, what to do?</p> <p>Meanwhile, I had found the equivalent of a hen’s tooth at the home improvement store. I have been on the hunt for <em>Malus</em> ‘Prairiefire’ without hope for many years, because, let’s face it, Alaska is pathetic (and I’m only slightly exaggerating here) when it comes to variety of plant offerings. I am still looking for <em>Viburnum</em> ‘Wentworth.’ It’s been 5 years. Pathetic.</p> <p>So my $27 <em>Malus</em> ‘Prairiefire’ crabapple is sitting in it’s pot, waiting. And waiting. I don’t dare plant it because I have no scheme to protect it from the moose. Schemes to protect trees from the moose fall in this order, from least effective to most: 1. <strong>folk remedies</strong>, like soap-on-a-rope or wolf urine (tied for number 1 with) <strong>prayer</strong>, 2. <strong>dogs</strong> (too unreliable), 3. <strong><a href="http://www.plantskydd.com/" target="_blank">Plantskydd</a></strong> (a blood based product), 4. <strong>fencing</strong>, 5. <strong>electrified</strong> <strong>fencing</strong>, and 6. <strong>paid</strong> <strong>assassins</strong>.</p> <p>Since the Alaska Department of Fish and Game frowns on number 6, and number 5 seems a bit much for the front yard, I settle for numbers 1, 3, and 4. I plant the tree. I spray the tree with Plantskydd. I pray. I sleep. I wake up. Remove pinwheels from the back yard, rip off and snip off tin wheels, march to front yard, and pound the rebar into the ground, no doubt loosing a permanent bit of my hearing in the process. (Note to self: A hammer pounding rebar is loud. Get earmuffs from the garage, idiot.)</p> <p>Now I can hang some discreet fencing from the rebar surrounding my tree and have the surety of a number 4 level of protection. And what happened to the spinning portion of my old pinwheels, you ask? I managed to salvage one as a décor item for the soon-to-be-built playhouse for the kids. </p> <p>It’s <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memorial_Day" target="_blank">Memorial Day</a> weekend, the traditional “planting out” date for <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southcentral_Alaska" target="_blank">south central Alaska</a>. I planted out a month ago, so I can relax this long weekend. Viva la zone cheaters!!</p> <p> </p> <p><em><strong>Any repurposing or recycling of garden art? Are your annuals and veggies planted? And do you have to protect your trees?</strong></em></p> <div class="blogger-post-footer">written by Christine B. for Last Frontier Garden blog</div>Christine B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/08335289758548637661noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3462867846580440325.post-41525759417771572312015-03-26T08:18:00.000-07:002015-03-26T08:18:00.528-07:00Oops, I did it again<p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-SYMqppUejpU/VRNujGbKRMI/AAAAAAAAC1o/6k7BUY1EOQE/s1600-h/1017%25255B6%25255D.jpg"><img title="Clippings" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="garden cart full of grasses and Achillea " src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-ez6grY7xxT0/VRNuj7p1poI/AAAAAAAAC1w/9en8KMZRFSQ/1017_thumb%25255B3%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="363" height="273" /></a></p> <p><a href="http://www.britneyspears.com/" target="_blank">Britney Spears</a> notwithstanding, if you do the same thing over and over, it doesn’t matter if it’s wrong. Clearly there is something about it that pays off for you. Exhibit A: my river garden in the front yard. On a whim, I wacked down the perennials (with a couple of exceptions) on March 21st, last Saturday for those that keep track of such things. A kind neighbor passing by hollered out, “You know it’s too early to do that?!” To which I (being the classy dame that  I am) shouted back, “I don’t care. I need to be outside!”</p> <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-m4E1iIMUV_E/VRNumCgwvfI/AAAAAAAAC14/eOGMxrttC7c/s1600-h/1018%25255B9%25255D.jpg"><img title="I cut back the grass, for good or ill" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="I can see the salmon now" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-DXvdi0fvrk8/VRNum--RIGI/AAAAAAAAC2A/MJ0SEej25So/1018_thumb%25255B6%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="369" height="278" /></a></p> <p>Which put me in mind of another year when I planted my annuals in containers rather early in April and a canvassing politician at my door made no mention of her ideas for our city, other than to note that I had planted out too early. I guess I’m edgy like that. Or perhaps early gardening activities are so provocative that no one, not even a stranger or a person that doesn’t know a petunia from a peony, can resist giving their two cents. Everyone’s a critic. Britney knows about that.</p> <p>Meanwhile, we shall see who has the last laugh. The low temperatures are mostly above freezing in the forecast, and no snow in sight. I have no doubts the naysayers will continue to pester me though, I’m not that innocent.</p> <p> </p> <p><strong><em>Are you rushing things in the garden? </em></strong></p> <div class="blogger-post-footer">written by Christine B. for Last Frontier Garden blog</div>Christine B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/08335289758548637661noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3462867846580440325.post-27948390579293899402015-03-09T08:56:00.000-07:002015-03-09T08:56:00.251-07:0010 More Signs of Spring in Alaska<p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-LTSb7d3ggHE/VPt4E8fqEGI/AAAAAAAAC1I/jg8lTbWPLZ0/s1600-h/photo%25255B8%25255D.jpg"><img title="Not-Quite-Spring garden" style="float: none; margin-left: auto; display: block; margin-right: auto" alt="Salmon with a side of Festuca and a dormant Calamagrostis brachytricha" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-wraAi_TXw0Y/VPt4FYUSRRI/AAAAAAAAC1Q/kHSqc7ICdXU/photo_thumb%25255B5%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="365" height="274" /></a></p> <p>Never content to hash something out <a href="http://lastfrontiergarden.blogspot.com/2010/03/five-ways-to-know-its-spring-in-alaska.html" target="_blank">one time</a>, or even <a href="http://lastfrontiergarden.blogspot.com/2013/04/springtime-in-alaskaor-not.html" target="_blank">two</a>, this Alaskan brings you the definitive list. Again. It may not be true spring here yet, but keep your eyes peeled for the signs. It won’t be long now, I have spotted numbers 6 and 10 already.</p> <p>1. You just stepped in dog poop, and it made a squish sound. This is to differentiate between stepping in dog doo in winter, when it crunches.</p> <p>2. You begin to consider getting your bike off the garage ceiling, where it has been dangling in suspension (heh) since November. All except those crazy kids that bike all winter. Yeah, I’m looking at you, <a href="http://gearjunkie.com/fat-bike-trend" target="_blank">fat tire bikers</a>! You just switch to your summer bike.</p> <p>3. You hear an unfamiliar sound: not the wind, the plow truck, a car in desperate need of a new muffler, nor even a snowmachine. The birds are singing!  Can it be true? (This charming sound will fade to annoying, when that robin is warbling at 2 am in June.)</p> <p>4. Trailers begin to sport more jet skis and boats and fewer snowmachines.</p> <p>5. It just snowed again. Instead of being resigned to it or excited about it  (like in winter-time) you are annoyed, and shake your fist at the sky.</p> <p>6. You saw your first jogger of the season wearing shorts. Not to mistake this with teenaged boys in Alaska, who seem to wear shorts 10 months of the year. I asked one teen why shorts were chosen on a day of snow and low temperatures. The answer, “Well, I looked out my window and it was sunny.”</p> <p>7. Instead of throwing down sand on the road or driveway, it is being swept up. (In my neighborhood, not until July. Grrr.)</p> <p>8. Snow boots get stacked on the shelf. Out come the puddle boots. Lots of Alaskans favor <a href="http://www.xtratufboots.com/" target="_blank">Xtra-Tuffs</a>, but I like my <a href="http://www.muckbootcompany.com/" target="_blank">Muck boots</a>, for rainy days, gardening days, river rafting days…well, you get the idea. For a discussion on the merits of each, go <a href="http://forums.outdoorsdirectory.com/showthread.php/82418-Muck-vs-xtratuff" target="_blank">here</a>.</p> <p>9. The critters are out, or back. Cue the bears, the Canada geese, squirrels, etc. Put the dog food/birdseed out of reach. We read about <a href="http://www.adn.com/article/20121031/biologists-kill-grizzly-bear-suspected-stuckagain-heights-break-ins" target="_blank">what hungry bears</a> do to get people/dog/bird food almost every year in our local newspapers.</p> <p>10. You just saw a motorcycle or Corvette on the road. Viva la spring!</p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p>Is it spring where you live? What are the signs?</p> <div class="blogger-post-footer">written by Christine B. for Last Frontier Garden blog</div>Christine B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/08335289758548637661noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3462867846580440325.post-88103974412530702502014-11-20T07:33:00.000-08:002014-11-20T07:33:00.396-08:00Well, Al Gore was right, sort of<p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-lsO3US_QlJc/VGz-qsU_TcI/AAAAAAAACz8/VdBBjBx_fxg/s1600-h/poles%25255B11%25255D.jpg"><img title="a snow blower fits between those things" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="reflective orange poles" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-4C2hjKhFsZg/VGz-rfsObdI/AAAAAAAAC0E/k7XFw5hl1-Y/poles_thumb%25255B13%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="246" height="409" /></a></p> <p>We are having a remarkable winter here in Alaska. My swamp-dwelling sister in the southern USA is enjoying colder weather. You read that correctly. Alaska is warmer that most of the nation. Cue the music from the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Twilight_Zone" target="_blank">Twilight Zone</a> now.</p> <p> Yep, it’s a heat wave, or climate change, or whatever. I have never seen green grass at the end of November in Anchorage before, and I’ve been here forever. Our lawns are typically covered with a foot or more of snow, not up for mowing consideration! (If you were wondering, the answer was no. The mower was put to bed for the year.) I even inserted those tall, orange, reflective pole guides through the garden for the snow blower (don’t ask)!</p> <p>Yet here we are. What to do? The alpine skiers are getting desperate. The cross country ski types had a least a thin base to ski on the trails, for a while. It’s pretty spotty to non existent in my part of town. There’s always ice skating. Two years ago at this time I was skating on glass ice at Finger Lake in Palmer, Alaska. I could literally see fish frozen in the ice it was so crystal clear. <em>Aside</em>: When skating on lakes here, one can’t be the nervous type and truly enjoy it. There will be cracking noises. Sometimes very disturbing ones. Like the cracks and booms are having a conversation together. “Look at that fool! Let’s make her wish she had never laced her skates! Ha ha! Crack! Boom! Creak!” Last week a friend told me her son had fallen in to his thighs at Potter’s Marsh while ice skating. I guess it’s true. We are getting warmer.</p> <p>My studded tires, which were installed the moment I suspected the snow wouldn’t melt away, are now just loud and useless as I roar down the freeway. I don’t dare take them off though. That would be tempting fate.</p> <p>I would be more excited if the killing frost date was pushed back in proportion to the warm weather now. As it is, everything died at the typical time, and now it’s just dead stuff with no snow. Which is how it is in other, more southerly locales, I guess. At least the Halloween jack-o-lanterns used to freeze so I could easily heave them into the yard for the moose to graze. Not so much now. Eew. </p> <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-tKsW6G9Iykk/VGz-sH41FnI/AAAAAAAAC0M/vYUQMN7TP98/s1600-h/smushed%252520pumpkins%25255B9%25255D.jpg"><img title="maybe a shovel to get these off the porch?" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="smushed pumpkins" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-_KVAx-kHMHQ/VGz-stb7gtI/AAAAAAAAC0U/oYVkqBtbnQQ/smushed%252520pumpkins_thumb%25255B10%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="376" height="204" /></a></p> <p> </p> <p><em><strong>How’s the weather? Is your area experiencing some strange temperatures?</strong></em></p> <div class="blogger-post-footer">written by Christine B. for Last Frontier Garden blog</div>Christine B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/08335289758548637661noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3462867846580440325.post-45889817947759475512014-10-19T06:22:00.000-07:002014-10-19T06:22:00.791-07:00The curtain falls, but not today<p> </p> <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-ET4ISnxZfF8/VENNTaQEGYI/AAAAAAAACyk/V9YcaPsRZOQ/s1600-h/IMG_1862%25255B14%25255D.jpg"><img title="Fall scene with bird bath" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="Deschampsia, Physocarpus, Achillea, Festuca, Calamagrostis" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-bcE9UB0sSLY/VENNUAyoOdI/AAAAAAAACys/ka-KEEvLaRM/IMG_1862_thumb%25255B15%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="479" height="380" /></a></p> <p>There is a persistent garden legend around here that has begun to annoy me. I heard it again the last week of July from a new-to-gardening friend. I told her that her container plants looked really thirsty (my thoughts were more like, “All that money you spent on those annuals is going to go down the drain if you don’t water them today!” Yeah, they were really that close to death. Her response? “It doesn’t matter, right? They are just going to die in a week anyway.”</p> <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-m_KDCYlD8_Q/VENNVYzzv_I/AAAAAAAACy0/R8jDmPybAao/s1600-h/IMG_1870%25255B6%25255D.jpg"><img title="Big Alyssum" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="smells great too" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-X4224AxaOKQ/VENNWBgQj0I/AAAAAAAACy8/gn7e6Xrbl9I/IMG_1870_thumb%25255B3%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="467" height="351" /></a></p> <p>Au contraire, my friend. I have plants blooming into October (stop laughing everyone)! I told her she had a good month or 6 weeks left of her container and to keep watering it. </p> <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-e8TXT9OHtDc/VENNXex588I/AAAAAAAACzE/mu4DEn6_x4o/s1600-h/IMG_1961%25255B8%25255D.jpg"><img title="Fall in the gravel" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="Salvia, Sedum, Carex (collected locally), Dianthus, Alyssum, Stachys" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihVzKS2txNjMNe0SnDfDFpUQKfMB-RL4ZAQuFQH2IBKvMZ17B6VPXk5kpmNm1QJKDPxX-9kQNNHvOJm_iwYPc7wzG6pBhRtoywZdJb0NuroHK9AWPtSfShWROpMYoXk6qOCJOVXuaukyQ/?imgmax=800" width="520" height="391" /></a></p> <p>What was blooming, September 23rd, in my garden*:</p> <p>1. Salvia</p> <p>2. Achillea</p> <p>3. Alyssum</p> <p>4. Dahlia</p> <p>5. Petunia</p> <p>6. Papaver</p> <p>7. Verbascum</p> <p>8. Penstemon</p> <p>9. Periscaria nummalaria aurea</p> <p>10. Viola sp.</p> <p>11. Sedum</p> <p>12. Moss</p> <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-_bBeChYpMKQ/VENNZlDWfbI/AAAAAAAACzU/ffJHDJTj2Ys/s1600-h/IMG_1960%25255B9%25255D.jpg"><img title="Moss" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="Sagina subulata 'Aurea'" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-Ic-QvLVPjuw/VENNaalOsGI/AAAAAAAACzc/oj36javu4ak/IMG_1960_thumb%25255B6%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="451" height="340" /></a></p> <p>What was blooming, October 17, in my garden:</p> <p>1. Salvia</p> <p>2. Achillea</p> <p>3. Alyssum</p> <p>4. Penstemon</p> <p>5. Moss</p> <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-EKdE61F3ihI/VENNbyd5kwI/AAAAAAAACzk/XxQUrKT1QpE/s1600-h/IMG_1962%25255B10%25255D.jpg"><img title="Sedum" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-I9X-iF8rQWA/VENNciyVQ8I/AAAAAAAACzs/bxpQXmJfezs/IMG_1962_thumb%25255B7%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="453" height="340" /></a></p> <p>*You’ll notice this list is not very specific as far as variety, but my computer (to put it in the evocative language of someone that lives at my house but shall remain unnamed) “took a dump” and my plant list is looking something like $%^&&*>"*!@# </p> <p>There was quite a drop off in types of plants in bloom over the course of about a month, but still, it’s something! It should give heart to those who assume Alaska has a three month window of bloom that ends like a guillotine on midnight, August 31st.  And for the record, it hasn’t snowed yet at my house. Woohoo!!</p> <p> </p> <p><strong><em>What is the die-off date in your area? </em></strong></p> <div class="blogger-post-footer">written by Christine B. for Last Frontier Garden blog</div>Christine B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/08335289758548637661noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3462867846580440325.post-85305537370595040042014-09-16T06:27:00.000-07:002014-09-16T06:27:00.054-07:00I don’t need the reminder, thanks<p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-U7aui4cHdXo/VBeoAta6npI/AAAAAAAACyI/29yJn4pd9pU/s1600-h/decandjan2011-12%252520054%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img title="Alaskan sunset in winter" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="This is not my dream, Mr. Crosby" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-PMkWD9TP7g0/VBeoBDpGFTI/AAAAAAAACyQ/dhBXqjwKwg8/decandjan2011-12%252520054_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" width="244" height="184" /></a></p> <p>Today, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bing_Crosby">Bing Crosby</a> told me his favorite dream. We are not on speaking terms, Bing and I, but he got up in my grill, as the kids say. How can I ever forget the moment?</p> <p>There I was, pushing my cart along, searching for bulk commodities at an enormous food warehouse, and then out of nowhere, I’m walking past the sound of a voice crooning “I’m dreaming of a whiiiiite Christmas… just like the ones I used to knowwww.” I was momentarily stunned and distracted from my important quest for sliced apples with the thought “#$%^” and then the thought “but it was only Halloween and Thanksgiving at (<em>that other store</em>) today! I guess it really <em>is</em> colder on this side of town.” Alaskans don’t need or like to be reminded that snow is coming, so take your dream, Bing, and stuff it.</p> <p>What’s the rush, I say. Either pace yourself with dignity, retailers, or just leave everything up all year. Need an Easter wreath in September? No problem, (<em>store</em>) has it on aisle 175, just shy of the St. Patrick’s Day edible glitter for your cupcakes and after you hit the Valentine’s Day throw pillows.</p> <p>I want the dignity of enjoying autumn without thinking any of these three things: 1. how many hours it’s going to take to set up the Christmas tree, 2. what, oh what to buy for the in-laws, and 3. whether we should do a ham or turkey this year. It<em> is</em> getting colder, I admit. But that could be said for 9 months of the year here. I am trying in vain to live in the moment and merchants aren’t helping.</p> <p>I don’t wear a coat yet (a vest doesn’t count). I haven’t put my bicycle away. The lawn still needs to be mowed (blech) and the dandelions are in bloom. So that means it is <em>not </em>Christmas, nor even Halloween.</p> <p>My plants, for the most part, are still alive in their containers (albeit the favored ones are in the house because the piano movers came on Friday and everything in their path to the front door would have been demolished). My variegated <em>Carex</em> is still going strong after two summers outside and a winter in the house, so back in it came. My most expensive plant (<em>grumble, mutter</em>), the <em>Phormium</em>, also came inside. “Is this the final resting place for this octopus plant?” someone asked me yesterday. It is both a maroon curtain to the kitchen and a jump rope for the dining room. I haven’t decided if I will bring the dark-leaved <em>Begonia</em> into the house or it will die a sudden, cold death like the petunias and the orange <em>Dahlia</em>. But you get the point, right? It is barely autumn, let me have a minute more with my season!</p> <p> </p> <p><strong><em>Do you live in the moment? What holiday décor is up around your area?</em></strong></p> <div class="blogger-post-footer">written by Christine B. for Last Frontier Garden blog</div>Christine B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/08335289758548637661noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3462867846580440325.post-81462320265199594252014-06-23T06:44:00.000-07:002014-06-23T06:44:00.164-07:00Help! New to Alaska garden scene, what to plant?<p>Periodically I get an email from a new-to-Alaska gardener. It usually runs something like, “wow, I didn’t know people gardened in this forsaken hole. What are some plants that come back every year?” </p> <p><strong>Firstly</strong>, quite a few long-time Alaskans don’t seem to be aware they can garden here, either (93.56%, according to a number I just made up). <strong>Secondly</strong>, besides dandelions and a handsome crop of chickweed, I have cultivated quite a few easy care plants that an Alaska newbie should know about. “Easy care” meaning you aren’t doing the horticultural equivalent of burning money. I do that too, but don’t recommend it for beginners. Bad for morale.</p> <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-nSqzJmu9BDM/U6T9tEYv1yI/AAAAAAAACw4/IaU6S7STv1E/s1600-h/IMG_1318%25255B10%25255D.jpg"><img style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px" title="wild Geranium" border="0" alt="wild Geranium" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-K24Qs35lfKc/U6T9t55DFoI/AAAAAAAACxA/kIvLoqlz85A/IMG_1318_thumb%25255B12%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="354" height="359" /></a> </p> <p>1. <strong>Geraniums</strong>. Found a geranium at a home improvement store? Most likely a <em>Pelargonium</em> (an annual). Perennial geranium leaves aren’t as thick as <em>Pelargonium</em> leaves. Also, <strong>you won’t find true geraniums planted at the grocery store or gas station</strong>. You may, however find <em>Pelargoniums</em> there in abundance. I don’t judge.</p> <p>If you place geraniums in full sun and do not water them, then no guarantees. Otherwise, I’ve found them to be cheerful in spring and early summer. Sometimes my <em>Geranium</em> ‘Johnson’s Blue’ foliage actually gets a decent gold or even orange in the autumn.</p> <p>2. <strong>Peonies</strong>. There is an explosion of interest in peony farming in Alaska. Apparently we have peonies in bloom at a time of year that no place else in the world does, hence a demand from the cut flower market. Point is, <strong>they do really well here with a minimum of care</strong>. Don’t bury too deep or plant too shady. You <strong>will</strong> stake and manure in spring, sorry.</p> <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-2KyWaXS4eVE/U6T9u13AVoI/AAAAAAAACxI/o-r5JvOweQ0/s1600-h/IMG_1313%25255B12%25255D.jpg"><img style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; margin-left: 0px; border-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; border-right: 0px" title="unloved, water, abandoned Iris: still ticking!" border="0" alt="unloved, water, abandoned Iris: still ticking!" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-pigROk8my-U/U6T9vXFnTRI/AAAAAAAACxQ/sH8-gArIwHY/IMG_1313_thumb%25255B13%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="215" height="231" /></a> </p> <p>3. <strong>Irises</strong>. They grow well here, almost too well. Trying to lift and divide a mature clump is quite a chore, but hey, I say that about everything. You’ll often see our own blue-purple native <em>Iris setosa</em> in gardens around here, but there are other colors and kinds.</p> <p>4. <strong><em>Primula</em></strong>. I haven’t grown many primroses, but there are special interest garden groups devoted to them across the state. Lovely in spring. Some have interesting leaves throughout the summer, some not so much.</p> <p>5. <strong><em>Monarda</em></strong>. Bee balm can get a touch of mildew on occasion for me, but very easy. </p> <p>6. <strong>Hostas</strong>. Many sizes, colors, textures. <strong>They can do full sun here</strong>, but appreciate a good watering until established. And maybe after that, too.</p> <p>7. <strong>Delphiniums</strong>. I hesitate to include these because to the <strong>absolute necessity to stake</strong> and hover for pests, but oh well. They can be magnificent in the English cottage-style garden and they are plenty hardy. </p> <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-Nmx3fCQVcPg/U6T9wJS56LI/AAAAAAAACxY/HgulnxiTC50/s1600-h/IMG_1315%25255B9%25255D.jpg"><img style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; margin-left: 0px; border-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; border-right: 0px" title="Papaver nudicaule 'Champagne Bubbles Pink'" border="0" alt="Papaver nudicaule 'Champagne Bubbles Pink'" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-ALSU9Vm4dv0/U6T9wk3ZEKI/AAAAAAAACxg/gD-9iEQn2Vc/IMG_1315_thumb%25255B7%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="325" height="247" /></a> </p> <p>8. <strong>Poppies</strong>. Oriental, Icelandic, Himalayan, we love them all and they love us back. Also, the annual types won’t return for another show but have always reseeded well for me.</p> <p>9. <strong>Sedums</strong>. Many different types and kinds. Raised beds are good because drainage is essential for longevity. Bonus points for a gravel top dressing.</p> <p>10. <strong><em>Trollius</em></strong>. All kinds of yellow and gold colored flowers available. Pretty hard to kill and takes shade.</p> <p>11. <strong><em>Aquilegia</em></strong>. Lovely for spring, beware leaf miners and sawfly larvae.</p> <p>12. <strong>Lilies</strong>. Asian types are some of the easiest, drainage and soil prep important. Staking is usually a must.</p> <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-cYUc1VTxzlg/U6T9xexBLUI/AAAAAAAACxo/BKZ8VdRQAsI/s1600-h/IMG_1316%25255B8%25255D.jpg"><img style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px" title="Deschampsia 'Pixie Fountain'" border="0" alt="Deschampsia 'Pixie Fountain'" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-rgfl8WwHd50/U6T9yCbK52I/AAAAAAAACxw/th6moLZx1C8/IMG_1316_thumb%25255B6%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="275" height="362" /></a> </p> <p>13. <strong>Ornamental grasses*</strong>. Many different kinds are hardy here, the key being the words “cool season.” Grasses (like <em>Miscanthus</em>, <em>Cortaderia</em>, etc.) that are “warm season” growers do dreadfully or not at all in this cold place. Some easy-to-grow picks: <em>Deschampsia</em> (tufted hair grass) any and all cultivars (but ‘Schottland’ may be my fave), and <em>Calamagrostis x acutiflora</em> (feather reed grass), all cultivars I’ve seen are great (but ‘Avalanche’ might be the winner…for today). </p> <p>*I ask you <strong>not to buy</strong> the variegated grass <em>Phalaris</em> ‘Feesey’s Form’ and then write me complaining it took over your yard. I do not recommend it except for contained plantings, like, um, containers. In fact I find it quite stunning in a container. <strong>C<em>aveat emptor</em></strong>!</p> <p>Good luck, new Alaskan gardeners! You can do it with a little luck, cash, back breaking labor, a snow covered winter and a long, sunny summer interspersed with drizzly days that water everything. Maybe an electric fence around the garden, too. Bears and moose also enjoy gardens in Alaska.</p> <p> </p> <p><strong><em>Any plants that new gardeners should not try?</em></strong></p> <div class="blogger-post-footer">written by Christine B. for Last Frontier Garden blog</div>Christine B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/08335289758548637661noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3462867846580440325.post-29099507139404938672014-02-17T05:07:00.000-08:002014-02-17T05:07:00.036-08:00Oh say, can you sing that a different way?<p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-Dfr-XPUVFS8/UwHBq3zslQI/AAAAAAAACwQ/lS3c3jHa-MA/s1600-h/photo%25255B6%25255D.jpg"><img style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px" title="uaa playing bowling green in anchorage" border="0" alt="uaa playing bowling green in anchorage" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-VS3eB2PehC8/UwHBreaPAAI/AAAAAAAACwY/ltgdZ-8WJHU/photo_thumb%25255B8%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="391" height="187" /></a> </p> <p>Volunteering in school has its rewards, chief of which are hearing a room full of 7-year olds, with their hands over their hearts, sing to José in the morning. “José, can you see, by the dawnzerly light?” Somewhat further down the list of rewards in no particular order are: being sneezed on full in the face, being touched by fingers that were just in a nostril, and being kicked in the shin repeatedly.</p> <p>Also, you may not know this, fellow Americans, but we do <em>not </em>sing the *Star-Spangled Banner. <strong>It is the “Star <em>Sprinkled</em> Banner”.</strong> With difficulty, I managed to choke back a laugh when I heard that phrase belted out in the classroom. (Considering 98.5% of Americans think a “spangle” is a member of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghostbusters" target="_blank">Ghostbusters</a>, this is one change that Francis Scott Key could endorse.) </p> <p>But it’s not the kids I want to write about today. No, no, they are earnestly singing their little hearts out, unselfconsciously and delightfully. No, I want to offer some <strong>friendly advice</strong> for those good souls who sing our national song at sporting events. </p> <p>A few tips, from the captive audience:</p> <p>1. Read the music through. <strong>Knowing the words</strong> to the song really does help.</p> <p>2. There are no vocal talent scouts or studio execs in the stands in Anchorage, Alaska, so <strong>proving you have a 5 octave range is unnecessary.</strong></p> <p>3. <strong>Vibrato is like wearing perfume. A very little will do.</strong> </p> <p>4. Random pauses, unless one is choking (up), are just annoying. If fans have time to go for a beer and get back before the song resumes, <strong>consider taking fewer breaths</strong>.</p> <p>5. Spectators pay to watch the <em>game</em>, so <strong>don’t go too long</strong>. (National anthem pace is more sprightly than funeral dirge pace, at least in the USA.) Some YouTube videos of the song clocked in under a minute. Let that be your guide.</p> <p>(My editor/Last Frontier Garden attorney wants me to add this list is not meant to castigate any particular performer.)</p> <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-YetvV1rHBDo/UwHBstiJwTI/AAAAAAAACwg/WdThfGzFXf8/s1600-h/zamboni%25255B6%25255D.jpg"><img style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px" title="a zamboni wetting the ice rink down" border="0" alt="a zamboni wetting the ice rink down" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-FkSRYL9pN2Y/UwHBuu9oMxI/AAAAAAAACwo/nIvpQ7q9IAw/zamboni_thumb%25255B4%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="341" height="262" /></a> </p> <p> *<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Star-Spangled_Banner" target="_blank">The Star-Spangled Banner</a>:</p> <p>“O say can you see by the dawn's early light, <br />What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming, <br />Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight, <br />O'er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming? <br />And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air, <br />Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there; <br />O say does that star-spangled banner yet wave, <br />O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?”</p> <p>written by Francis Scott Key</p> <p> </p> <p><em><strong>Heard any good renditions of your national anthem?</strong></em></p> <div class="blogger-post-footer">written by Christine B. for Last Frontier Garden blog</div>Christine B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/08335289758548637661noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3462867846580440325.post-90744737966789736132014-01-05T06:01:00.000-08:002014-01-05T21:04:49.871-08:00A rip roaring good time with the sod ripper<p>I don’t understand how “sod off” got to be an insult. In my experience, not having to deal with the back breaking work of sod removal in the garden is a sublime, yet too infrequent situation. In my <u><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Little-House-Prairie-Ingalls-Wilder/dp/B00E8V6WBS" target="_blank">Little House on the Prairie</a></u><u></u> phase, I removed turfgrass with a shovel. I felt really bad for Pa and whatever horse helped him turn over all that prairie sod. </p> <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-KZntvr0rLPc/Uso5SqQWauI/AAAAAAAACuY/6FF-ln7yBvs/s1600-h/2%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px" title="expanding the gravel garden, one roll at a time" border="0" alt="expanding the gravel garden, one roll at a time" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-Nv7l0hk4R6c/Uso5Tew_eFI/AAAAAAAACug/e9xxz4xUOPc/2_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="387" height="294" /></a> </p> <p>That phase ended September 5, 2013. On September 6th, the sun shone, the birds sang, the dandelions withered, and <strong>I rented a sod remover and joined the Machine Revolution. Hallelujah!</strong></p> <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-r5LseuZO1JE/Uso5UKAHlLI/AAAAAAAACuo/bdxHpQfDW8c/s1600-h/summer6.jpg"><img style="border-right-width: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px" title="sod cut old school style: with a shovel" border="0" alt="sod cut old school style: with a shovel" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxzUSeBfwXHj39aCusg5HUqzhEB22oEypslEQy-UFYdjxG3XFOTBSw6qsNyFwOZ2rOyeadv0v8CTjnjxeYfWIeu7_DWOUfpkVC0g-VvDj5wgGL4B_-5mhItj9kxlTZ6I_jX1I52jK710A/?imgmax=800" width="347" height="337" /></a></p> <p>You might be wondering if it is worth the $. My roommate of 15 years, who shall remain unnamed, did indeed wonder this very thing. After watching me remove about 20 square feet per day, the proverbial snail’s pace (<em>see pic above for messy results</em>), unnamed roommate realized one of two things would happen. <strong>Thing 1</strong>: it wouldn’t get done before winter. <strong>Thing 2</strong>: it would get done but I would be a cripple. </p> <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-VSdVcJ_mPGA/Uso5Vq2gppI/AAAAAAAACu4/oEx0O5NOlXk/s1600-h/rollsod3.jpg"><img style="border-right-width: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px" title="a beautiful thing: rolled sod" border="0" alt="a beautiful thing: rolled sod" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-FYQBTwdPS7A/Uso5WXnqYpI/AAAAAAAACvA/EflgnTbg_JI/rollsod_thumb1.jpg?imgmax=800" width="357" height="272" /></a> </p> <p>Since regular readers know my fondness for lists, this post has two. <strong>If you <u>answer yes</u> to more than one question in the list below, the rental is worth the money.</strong> You’re welcome.</p> <p><strong><u>Reasons to Rent the Sod Ripper</u></strong></p> <p><strong>1.</strong> <em>are you over the age of 20?</em></p> <p><strong>2.</strong> <em>do you feel arm wrestling <strong>Conan the Barbarian</strong> or <strong>Zena, Warrior</strong> <strong>Princess</strong> would be a challenge?</em></p> <p><strong>3.</strong> <em>do you have more than 200 square feet to remove?</em></p> <p><strong>4.</strong> <em>are you pressed for time,</em> <em>perhaps the season’s first blizzard is upon you </em>or<em> the crew delivering 10 tons of (</em>fill in the blank<em>) hardscape product just called and will be there tomorrow for sure by 3pm?</em></p> <p><strong>5.</strong> <em>is there a slight incline involved anywhere in the removal or disposal area?</em></p> <p>Since I feel sure all but one or two of you qualify for the sod remover rental, a few friendly words of advice. Words of advice that should be laminated and clipped to every sod ripper in the world, I humbly add.</p> <p><strong><u>Tips for handling the Ripper</u></strong></p> <p><strong>Tip 1.</strong> In my opinion, anything called a “ripper” should be handled with caution. (I think rippers are close cousins to mangles. If handling a ripper scares you, they are also called sod cutters. Would you rather rent a cutter?) <strong>If you are tiny, frail, clumsy, weak, or just plain intelligent, get a friend to help</strong>. (If nothing else, they can call 911 when the ripper jumps out of the ruts and cuts your toes off.) </p> <p>My partner in sod removal is 6 feet 4 inches and 180 pounds. He couldn’t have ripped our yard on his own, considering our particular brand of ripper weighed more than 300 pounds. We barely managed it together and I’m not much smaller than he is. How we got it back into the truck to return to the rental company is a tale for another day. <strong>I will only tease you with this: hill, ramp, pulley, bad language.  </strong></p> <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-ITLR8KM5aWY/Uso5XIyYF_I/AAAAAAAACvI/4abRBtP7BKk/s1600-h/brettsod6.jpg"><img style="border-right-width: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px" title="sturdy boots and snazzy outfit mandatory" border="0" alt="sturdy boots and snazzy outfit mandatory" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-Gt3YN3hj0mQ/Uso5XlTslXI/AAAAAAAACvQ/r-Fhfd8oDcc/brettsod_thumb4.jpg?imgmax=800" width="389" height="296" /></a> </p> <p><strong>Tip 2.</strong> <strong>Flat land is best</strong>. Hills are tricky. If your land requires grappling hooks, crampons, or rope to traverse, forget it. If your lawn mower regularly gets away from you and propels itself like a runaway train down your hilly sward, just get your shovel out. Sorry. Our land is sloping and it took two large adults to steer the machine down the hill and around a corner without losing control. Up the hill was almost impossible.</p> <p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgD3UqHAO9Pn7rdDuTD52kJ_tS-1L7m_EBCwf-Poe6H_9skaoSrmNPUncODzIi-oybQi9nmntmI8jY6ZFPN26a3WPINJR4z82d3HJdnZtNG1wu7jp3IWrJZyQoFzjsmLDQvzfPmkDacR0Q/s1600-h/moresod5.jpg"><img style="border-right-width: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px" title="can you tell this is on an incline?" border="0" alt="can you tell this is on an incline?" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-jovBY_Js7Fc/Uso5ZA9jB9I/AAAAAAAACvg/JNKHj3Ar4sA/moresod_thumb3.jpg?imgmax=800" width="390" height="297" /></a> </p> <p><strong>Tip 3.</strong> Is it the rainy season? Would mud be an apt description of the soil? If you were to stand on the bare soil, would it swallow up your foot? The Ripper doesn’t like mud, at all. <strong>Dry or average soil is best</strong>. Proceed at your own risk if the soil is very wet.</p> <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-CtY8SAExz_I/Uso5Z-fXZkI/AAAAAAAACvo/_0ExPPi-xGI/s1600-h/sod5.jpg"><img style="border-right-width: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px" title="the results of the ripper" border="0" alt="the results of the ripper" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-XIIdR70HNSA/Uso5aXmaghI/AAAAAAAACvw/Clym8KCswaU/sod_thumb3.jpg?imgmax=800" width="364" height="277" /></a> </p> <p><strong>Bonus tip.</strong> Your toddler or pet should not be around while the Ripper is ripping.</p> <p><strong>Yet another bonus tip.</strong> Safety glasses, gloves, sturdy boots, and a sense of your own mortality would not be excessive in this situation.</p> <p><strong>Last tip for now.</strong> Any shallow cables or utility lines should be marked. We ended up nicking the phone line and had to have it repaired. Whoever heard of burying a line an inch below soil level? </p> <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-o7Kl_yMpJhM/Uso5baesB2I/AAAAAAAACv4/kLvGQ1D623s/s1600-h/soddy%25255B5%25255D.jpg"><img style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px" title="looking uphill toward the driveway at the ripper's handywork" border="0" alt="looking uphill toward the driveway at the ripper's handywork" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgattzBEA1fzygU7Of3oYeKTC00J-ouwh0LP4TNijf-flSvY4ak5467r0tUlMgSHmWLTq_uN-_uiXgU-Jm6R2Gr1_Xn3zgZP1-JYVEU0xi-lyNxySHhxmrd7qIHlDkD6GEKLCBh6hAJuQ8/?imgmax=800" width="362" height="275" /></a> </p> <p>Good luck with the ripper. You won’t regret it, and your back will thank you. It was $60 well spent. And yes, my sod removal job was completed before the blizzard, if you were wondering. </p> <p><strong><em>Done any sod ripping in your day?</em></strong></p> <div class="blogger-post-footer">written by Christine B. for Last Frontier Garden blog</div>Christine B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/08335289758548637661noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3462867846580440325.post-68256710218556513922013-11-20T06:26:00.000-08:002013-11-20T06:26:00.837-08:00I won the lottery<p>You’re thinking I’m being symbolic, right? Stay tuned. Meanwhile, a few important points of the past November in Alaska. I don’t say this is the worst November ever, because I’m an optimist. It could always be worse. But I think everything has suffered in comparison since my October jaunt to Florida. </p> <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-P9pws0tZfR8/Uou6tGA8HPI/AAAAAAAACt0/EkR27DFGxnk/s1600-h/photo%25255B9%25255D.jpg"><img style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px" title="my view for a week in Florida in October" border="0" alt="my view for a week in Florida in October" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-iisnnxmtRcQ/Uou6t41_SFI/AAAAAAAACt8/VIC7nRH-ucA/photo_thumb%25255B7%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="285" height="372" /></a> </p> <p>1. <strong>November 1.</strong> Get into car accident on freeway. Airbags are deployed, thankfully not tempers. <strong>At least the kids are ok</strong>.</p> <p>2. <strong>November 3.</strong> <strong>The kids are not ok</strong>: discover they have head lice.  </p> <p>3. <strong>November 7.</strong> The fruits of my gambling career (with thanks to my octogenarian grandfather for showing me the ropes) that began on October 9 of this year: I fill out lottery winnings paperwork and send off to the great state of Florida. Envelope must be addressed to “<strong>Florida Lottery, Claims Processing.</strong>” As I write this address on the envelope my expectations of a payout dwindle. Just who, may I ask, upon seeing this envelope, would not be seized by an irresistible desire to rip it open? </p> <p>Further contributing to my doubts, the back of the lottery ticket reads: “<strong>The risk of mailing ticket remains with the player</strong>,” which serves the dual purpose of covering theft by post office employee, lottery employee, loss of mail, or even act of God. A neat bit of work from the same breed of lawyer that crafted “do not eat raw batter” printed on the back of the cake mix box. Pfui!</p> <p>4. <strong>November 8</strong>. I am talked out of seeing “<a href="http://endersgamemovie.com/" target="_blank">Ender’s Game</a>” at the movie theater and instead watch “<strong><a href="http://gravitymovie.warnerbros.com/upgrade.php" target="_blank">Gravity</a></strong>”. I should have known better. <strong>Any movie that kills off George Clooney can’t be good</strong>. Nearly lose my dinner during the first <strike>twenty minutes</strike> eighty minutes. After Sandra Bullock lands in the water and floats to the top, my first thought was, “What, no shark?” closely followed by my second thought, “At least I’ll die on Earth.” <strong>If you get sick on boats, do not see this movie</strong>. You’re welcome.</p> <p>5. <strong>November 9.</strong> <strong>I cheat Mother Nature</strong> and transplant three bits of <em>Calamagrostis</em> ‘Eldorado’ to the front garden. Weather is unseasonably warm in the 40’s (Fahrenheit).</p> <p>6. <strong>November 12.</strong> <strong>Mother Nature doesn’t take kindly to cheaters</strong>. Things freeze and no snow.</p> <p>7. <strong>November 15.</strong> After the whole house is laundered, wiped down, vacuumed, etc., and two hours minimum spent every day combing through hair, <strong>I am now an expert on lice</strong>. All this close grooming feels a little chimpanzee-like with the possible exceptions of the headlamp and tweezers. And no one eats the findings.</p> <p>8. <strong>November 18.</strong> At 8:02am, I hear something so dreadful and shocking, I mentally curse the radio station that airs it. In future, let’s save “<strong>Jingle Bells</strong>” for after Thanksgiving (November 28), shall we? Boo on Magic 98.9FM in Anchorage. For my mental health, the radio in my car will now be at the classical music station until December 26, the official (at this blog anyway) <strong><a href="http://lastfrontiergarden.blogspot.com/2012/12/the-grumps-guide-to-christmas-music.html" target="_blank">Auditory Sanity Reclamation Day</a>.</strong></p> <p>9. <strong>November 19.</strong> I had a chance to note the time for this milestone as well. At 8:09 am, <strong>it was –15F</strong>. Which would be well and good if this were January or northern Greenland.</p> <p> </p> <p>I know you are all wondering if I am going to quit this cold country and retire with my Powerball lottery winnings to some warm, louse-free place, so I will set your mind at ease. I won $11. Which would be more impressive if the tickets hadn’t cost me $10. I wonder what delights December will bring?</p> <p> </p> <p><strong><em>Seen any movies? Christmas tunes in the air? </em></strong></p> <div class="blogger-post-footer">written by Christine B. for Last Frontier Garden blog</div>Christine B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/08335289758548637661noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3462867846580440325.post-12517853006271355722013-09-23T08:51:00.000-07:002013-09-23T08:51:00.116-07:00There are stranger things than this<p>It’s that time again, gardeners and Alaskans. That time of year when I take a gander at the search keywords that lead poor souls to this blog. That time of year when I get to be Sherlock Holmes and ponder the limited evidence and make a deduction (sans dark trench coat, Y chromosome, and hobbling doctor assistant: take that <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sherlock_(TV_series)" target="_blank">Mr. Cumberbatch</a>!). This will be fun.</p> <p>1. “<strong>golf trinkets and trash</strong>” Why not start off with a bang? My first instinct is “huh?” followed closely by “what exactly are golf trinkets?” I imagine some flashy golden tees or argyle golf socks made from cashmere. Or maybe rhinestone encrusted golf balls. Just what is it about my blog that would attract this traffic?</p> <p>2. ”<strong>night fish dip net</strong>” What is a night fish? Is it related to a night crawler? Dip netting at night is a good way to <em>a.</em> most likely break some fishing regulations, <em>b.</em> slice off a finger with a filet knife, <em>c.</em> annoy your sleeping dip net compatriots on the beach, or <em>d.</em> all of the above.</p> <p>3. “<strong>pictures of potty kids in the wilderness</strong>” This must require some sort of background or understanding of lingo. Otherwise, should I be calling the FBI? This is not that kind of blog. Or (if my first reaction has misunderstood the query badly), use a plastic concessions cup…trust me, it is the best bathroom in the wild short of a wag bag. If you do not know what a wag bag is, you are lucky and not from Alaska.</p> <p>4. “<strong>calamagrostis x acutiflora ‘karl foerster’</strong>” Yes. That is the only answer. Five minimum, nine is better. Anything over twelve and I will be your devoted admirer. Just promise me you won’t fertilize or place in more than 1/2 day shade. </p> <p>5. “<strong>music forgot to change their</strong>” Their what???? Diapers, front man, tablecloth…help me out here!</p> <p>6. “<strong>bunny boots alaska</strong>” Oh, all right. Even though I have written about this <a href="http://lastfrontiergarden.blogspot.com/2011/01/bunny-boots-choice-of-champions-in.html" target="_blank">before</a>. Pick the black pair unless you are an avid snowmachiner. In that case, the unofficial rule requires you to have the white pair or be endlessly mocked as a newbie or idiot. You’re welcome.</p> <p>7. “<strong>alaska snowfall on trees and free ph</strong>…” I may never sleep well again. Free phones, free photos, free phish, free pharmacy technician training (scary!), free phenytoin level, free physical exam. You pick, I’m going for photos.</p> <p>8. “<strong>gardening christmas songs</strong>” I may be the only garden blogger to riff on a holiday song (read <a href="http://lastfrontiergarden.blogspot.com/2010/12/oh-alaska-twelve-tarps-of-christmas.html" target="_blank">here</a>). Since I abhor research unless absolutely necessary, I will never know. For early holiday music rage prevention Last Frontier style, read <a href="http://lastfrontiergarden.blogspot.com/2012/12/the-grumps-guide-to-christmas-music.html" target="_blank">here</a>. </p> <p> </p> <p><strong><em>Do you watch or read mysteries? A Sherlock devotee?</em></strong></p> <div class="blogger-post-footer">written by Christine B. for Last Frontier Garden blog</div>Christine B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/08335289758548637661noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3462867846580440325.post-70788167215472332252013-09-16T09:21:00.000-07:002013-09-16T09:21:00.735-07:00A river runs through it, finally, almost<p>I posted a couple of years ago on <a href="http://lastfrontiergarden.blogspot.com/2011/08/river-runs-through-it-sort-of.html" target="_blank">this topic</a> and didn’t realize quite how aspirational putting in a dry river bed proved to be. Never fear, it is <em>still</em> aspirational. This means I haven’t finished yet, but “aspirational” sounds so magazine editor I just can’t resist. “Unfinished project” sounds more Alaskan though, so it’s a toss up.</p> <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-8TE_z7PMSIo/UjOsWwfa-tI/AAAAAAAACsM/Sl6d5EJz558/s1600-h/yardriver0075.jpg"><img style="border-right-width: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px" title="rusty salmon with Physocarpus Center Glow" border="0" alt="rusty salmon with Physocarpus Center Glow" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-FXAmSF98K70/UjOsXjqna7I/AAAAAAAACsU/Powte_3yt1c/yardriver007_thumb3.jpg?imgmax=800" width="374" height="255" /></a> </p> <p>1. Now <strong>every river in Alaska need some salmon</strong>. If I have a trademark (besides inserting (unnecessary) parentheticals in my blog posts or having my hair done a brand new color every 6 months) it is my rusty salmon. So clearly they are included in a dry river bed.</p> <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-ye0ksC4eWBI/UjOsYUq6nXI/AAAAAAAACsc/0VVw1RCFAQE/s1600-h/yardriver0113.jpg"><img style="border-right-width: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px" title="driftwood and Calamagrostis brachytricha" border="0" alt="driftwood and Calamagrostis brachytricha" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-NsN3gKEgakU/UjOsZBbtJaI/AAAAAAAACsk/7tYiWYE9IIQ/yardriver011_thumb1.jpg?imgmax=800" width="375" height="255" /></a> </p> <p>2. How about some <strong>driftwood</strong>? Luckily Alaska has about as much coastline as a small continent, so plenty of places to harvest that. Currently acquisitions are from the mudflats behind the Kincaid Park chalet. Yes, there were inquisitive looks as I stumped up the paved trail with a twenty foot hunk of battered tree on my shoulder. To say nothing of the smaller pieces shoved willy nilly under my other arm. Luckily driftwood is very light weight. One observer actually had the temerity to laugh when a very long piece would not quite fit into the back of the truck. Phooey!</p> <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-Qk68-qNGxDU/UjOsZ1LX4cI/AAAAAAAACss/boAJN2tCSSY/s1600-h/yardriver0083.jpg"><img style="border-right-width: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px" title="small, obliging boulder and Physocarpus, Bergenia, and Deschampsia " border="0" alt="small, obliging boulder and Physocarpus, Bergenia, and Deschampsia " src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-Xz-VoO4fclg/UjOsak-R4MI/AAAAAAAACs0/CIAWWP5a4Vw/yardriver008_thumb1.jpg?imgmax=800" width="383" height="261" /></a> </p> <p><strong>3. Rocks</strong>. Must not forget the rocks. <strong>Gravel</strong> river beds are as Alaskan as blue tarps, moose, and junked automobiles in the front yard. The autumn of 2012 saw the delivery of 13 tons of gravel to the Last Frontier Garden. And since my garden motto has been reduced to “go big or go home” we are having another 12 tons delivered next week. As we have no excavator handy, my back is starting some anticipatory twinges for the shovel work. </p> <p>Also in this category are <strong>large rocks</strong>. Back twinges from shoveling gravel graduate to spasms with a sure promise of shooting pains. I don’t rule out groans and grunts when dealing with the small boulder size. My two best friends: a long pry bar and an electric heating pad for when it’s all over. Also useful: family members built like NFL linebackers with about 300 pounds of pure muscle. I’m still looking for a few on Craigslist.</p> <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-rPLAmPL-uJg/UjOsbFsqqBI/AAAAAAAACs8/iEqx620Dbc8/s1600-h/yardriver0063.jpg"><img style="border-right-width: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px" title="Calamagrostis brachytricha" border="0" alt="Calamagrostis brachytricha" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-ccW58s6lNyw/UjOsb21s3MI/AAAAAAAACtE/2LqgAgSIWvs/yardriver006_thumb1.jpg?imgmax=800" width="386" height="263" /></a> </p> <p>4. Alaska is home to a bazillion kinds of <strong>grasses</strong> and grass allies. I once wrote a (slightly) technical article on the subject for the <a href="http://www.alaskamastergardeners.org/" target="_blank">Alaska Master Gardeners</a>, Anchorage home page (read it <a href="http://www.alaskamastergardeners.org/Ornamental_Grasses_in_AK.html" target="_blank">here</a>), but I am too lazy to consult it for the actual number of grasses in this 49th state. Suffice to say, there are not may rivers in Alaska without grass waving around nearby.</p> <p>I didn’t want the river to look too fancy (Alaska is not fancy in any way), if that makes sense, so no variegated grass. You’ll pardon me a moment while I mop up my tears, for variegated grasses were so beautiful and useful in my last garden it nearly breaks my heart not to use them liberally in the dry riverbed. <strong>Must. Be. Strong</strong>. I guess the yellow and chartreuse leaved grasses are out under the “fancy” rule, too. This just sounds no fun anymore.</p> <p>Yet I persevere and come up with the (apparently ubiquitous in the Lower 48, but still not well enough known in Alaska) standby: <em>Calamagrostis x acutiflora</em> ‘Karl Foerster.’ I didn’t know this plant was as <strong>common as <em>Potentilla</em> or <em>Pelargonium</em> until a national gardening magazine informed me of the fact, having the gall to write “overused</strong>”. I generally like the aforementioned publication, so instead of firing off a heated letter to the editor, I just imitated my 12 year old and said, “<strong>whatever</strong>.” It helps somewhat. </p> <p><em>Calamagrostis brachytricha</em> was chosen to keep it’s taller and stiffer cousin company in the river. Not a “look a me” type plant, but a good mingler and not fancy. Alas.</p> <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-04cVQ5dYAF0/UjOscjeV2lI/AAAAAAAACtM/accWoMytu8I/s1600-h/yardriver0035.jpg"><img style="border-right-width: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px" title="a long piece of driftwood that barely fit into the truck" border="0" alt="a long piece of driftwood that barely fit into the truck" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgR2GKCvAfmb-3k8lupgtKgS_N-Zk6rYT6jbOLFsibRnnEr0t0nxuUHy6C6kZ8QLR45bHUqGIjkCjAwhm6YdVlTKdqUy9zLl0iCwBv3089wFNfqIF1RfLRcrHZcH61bAFWdJrleevkGgvk/?imgmax=800" width="398" height="271" /></a> </p> <p><strong>5. Structure</strong>, woman! What are you going to look at when it snows? Besides the driftwood, big rocks, and rusty fish. So in go a couple of <em>Physocarpus opulifolius</em> ‘Center Glow’. Don’t judge me. I have to deal with moose, bears, and a snow blower in the unfenced front yard so sacrifices must be made. Remember, no fancy.</p> <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-mJT_yLpg4ys/UjOseES7U2I/AAAAAAAACtc/8ygsn-mD_bg/s1600-h/fair0256.jpg"><img style="border-right-width: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px" title="a salmon, vainly struggling to get across the gravel pathway and join its fellow salmon in the dry riverbed" border="0" alt="a salmon, vainly struggling to get across the gravel pathway and join its fellow salmon in the dry riverbed" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-DdUCZci8NmU/UjOsekHi21I/AAAAAAAACtk/uVXZESrUHkI/fair025_thumb4.jpg?imgmax=800" width="407" height="277" /></a>6. And the <strong>piece de resistance</strong> will be a <em>Pinus aristata</em>, the sublime bristlecone pine. I left a small 3 foot specimen at my last garden and haven’t forgotten it. Tragically for my wallet, a small specimen would look ridiculously out of scale next to the tall front facade of my house. So a bigger chap will be necessary and very pricey. I’m taller than the 5-foot, $700 specimen balled and burlapped at the tree lot, but the cost of an 8-footer might put me behind on the mortgage payment for a couple of months. <strong>Perhaps I should print up my standard “new garden” flier for the neighbors: Looks dumb now, but wait 10 years!</strong></p> <p>All this dry riverbed business at my place was started because we had some drainage problems that required a massive excavation and French drain installation in front of the house. Since some of the turf grass was demolished for that, it seemed the perfect excuse to put in my first garden at our new house. It took three years, but now I feel more legitimate. <strong>The Last Frontier Garden has a garden</strong>. Woohoo! </p> <p> </p> <p><strong><em>What is part of a dry river bed in your area landscapes? </em></strong></p> <div class="blogger-post-footer">written by Christine B. for Last Frontier Garden blog</div>Christine B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/08335289758548637661noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3462867846580440325.post-17122385624565814922013-08-07T06:47:00.000-07:002013-08-07T06:47:00.272-07:00Civic Pride: Town Square edition<p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9UIRG9k8zuzvV7W-TMCHYCaGLvAurTsmVoPsVd00upCAsa_oNLtk_OWfm5YjgGjRQH1TDh9G1YhiDg1wTZTSupmG6Qu2QoD_-0w_1ltYRdmGnFP-J4xUo77eOvcfHSIYazRzTLTkAWLI/s1600-h/IMG_0600%25255B9%25255D.jpg"><img style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px" title="begonias, pansies, and impatiens" border="0" alt="begonias, pansies, and impatiens" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjh6IlcxOs2Cn7gVQ5U5ryE50F5oqoQC5fNN1unYEA7Ueb5MuI0Zrw-1TWpbnXiugjzsayJ_b4T9YVNHTaJsbt3c9QiITULD9eThfdPuIn1ZuQ7GeWqmwGsaVHvLIouLvmnkuNQi2yY5Yw/?imgmax=800" width="300" height="389" /></a> </p> <p>Recently my out-of-state relatives were in Anchorage enjoying the warm weather, and possibly my company, but this is debatable. One of the things that non-Alaskans seem interested, nay, obsessed about are the <strong>plethora of giant things</strong> around here. I include bears, political egos, and vegetables in this category. So naturally I took the opportunity to show off our city-maintained plantings in Town Square (544 W. 5th Avenue) which usually feature giant kale or obese cabbages. That is if the homeless don’t get them first. </p> <p>(<strong>True story sidebar</strong>: My sister, in a previous life, worked in the Town Square gardens, planting, weeding, and watering for our city. She said, besides being threatened by the occasional bum, she found used <strong>drug needles, human excrement, and once, a copulating couple</strong> in the plantings. Replacing the kale or cabbage due to human poaching was both expected and planned. If they ran out of spare cabbages, they just replaced them with something else. Gotta love downtown, eh?) </p> <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-lc3liHLR4F4/UgGBv2tUdWI/AAAAAAAACmo/AZdIcAgz2po/s1600-h/IMG_0604%25255B5%25255D.jpg"><img style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px" title="dark themed border including dahlias, scabiosa, pelargoniums" border="0" alt="dark themed border including dahlias, scabiosa, pelargoniums" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-dkKtRBdQ8bM/UgGBwo9o0qI/AAAAAAAACmw/_tCwsW99J8M/IMG_0604_thumb%25255B3%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="286" height="371" /></a> </p> <p>Civic pride seems strong downtown (just step over those drug needles, would you?) but lessens with each step southward, and by the time you hit 15th Avenue and head down Minnesota past the “flower picture” in the hill you’ve pretty much seen the last of it, with a few exceptions. So <strong>take this review as the somewhat jealous observations of a resident of south</strong> (unbeautified on the public dime)<strong> Anchorage.</strong></p> <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-OsKpfY7sZqs/UgGBxEzUBaI/AAAAAAAACm4/npLhlxVWjR8/s1600-h/IMG_0590%25255B7%25255D.jpg"><img style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px" title="fountain planting including artichokes and petunias" border="0" alt="fountain planting including artichokes and petunias" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-YrxaLIxa7bA/UgGBx960vBI/AAAAAAAACnA/ARibmORzxoY/IMG_0590_thumb%25255B5%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="364" height="281" /></a> </p> <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-i0fNeAjHByA/UgGByhGASxI/AAAAAAAACnI/_COaRLnN_QQ/s1600-h/IMG_0591%25255B7%25255D.jpg"><img style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px" title="IMG_0591" border="0" alt="IMG_0591" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-8GMlTjaCRt4/UgGBzTHPrKI/AAAAAAAACnQ/agSN7Q2w_Rw/IMG_0591_thumb%25255B5%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="380" height="293" /></a> </p> <p><strong>Town Square is the hub of the floral explosion</strong> and it radiates out from there. There is a fountain in the middle of the square and if one can but avoid the skate boarders, panhandlers, and idiots stopping suddenly to take photos (oh, wait, that was me….), <strong>it is a lovely place for snapping a picture, consulting a map, or checking to see if you still have all your shopping bags/children</strong>. Each bed seems to have a color theme of it’s own. This year I noticed a yellow theme, white theme, pink theme, dark red theme, and rounding them all out, a dahlia bed with no color theme I could discern.</p> <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-5oUww3mu9xI/UgGB0Hj8amI/AAAAAAAACnY/7kiSvRcw_KU/s1600-h/IMG_0575%25255B19%25255D.jpg"><img style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px" title="yellow theme" border="0" alt="yellow theme" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-52z6EKCtDKw/UgGB00YC3pI/AAAAAAAACng/QRHjSmiVXd8/IMG_0575_thumb%25255B21%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="330" height="359" /></a> </p> <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-96TfmD6beu8/UgGB1Zq1AVI/AAAAAAAACno/vas8grBDZ2k/s1600-h/IMG_0570%25255B11%25255D.jpg"><img style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px" title="white theme with begonias, delphiniums, kale, blue poppies, foxgloves, salvia, pansies, and a bunch of other stuff I forgot" border="0" alt="white theme with begonias, delphiniums, kale, blue poppies, foxgloves, salvia, pansies, and a bunch of other stuff I forgot" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-Imo4u-VidcE/UgGB2GrbGiI/AAAAAAAACnw/FdKnIkVEtx4/IMG_0570_thumb%25255B9%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="337" height="432" /></a> </p> <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-GeN8HDtlaYg/UgGB2_DrIxI/AAAAAAAACn4/aD-d5Vfr3-M/s1600-h/IMG_0592%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px" title="pink border with delphiniums, pelargoniums, snapdragons, salvia, foxgloves" border="0" alt="pink border with delphiniums, pelargoniums, snapdragons, salvia, foxgloves" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-GTfBPuI93Us/UgGB3rCpqgI/AAAAAAAACoA/AZ7cmUaSGzo/IMG_0592_thumb%25255B2%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="344" height="447" /></a> </p> <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-PQ2fYCMnwAs/UgGB4azJB1I/AAAAAAAACoI/__yEkuUknKI/s1600-h/IMG_0603%25255B9%25255D.jpg"><img style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px" title="dahlias, pelargoniums, impatiens, pansies, scabiosa, etc." border="0" alt="dahlias, pelargoniums, impatiens, pansies, scabiosa, etc." src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-WEYJcmMb-hU/UgGB5BeGAUI/AAAAAAAACoQ/ihP951jL-x4/IMG_0603_thumb%25255B7%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="424" height="332" /></a> </p> <p></p> <p></p> <p></p> <p></p> <p></p> <p></p> <p>Now some pictures of the dahlia border. My legal team tells me <strong>I must disclose the fact that I have two dahlias in my own garden</strong>. They encourage me to state this means I am neither a “hater” nor a “dahlia nut.” Their words, not mine.</p> <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-hwDekqkJuxc/UgGB5x5GTOI/AAAAAAAACoY/Sqd3bxpIiHk/s1600-h/IMG_0582%25255B6%25255D.jpg"><img style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px" title="I believe this is Dahlia 'Bodacious' with cosmos in the background" border="0" alt="I believe this is Dahlia 'Bodacious' with cosmos in the background" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-DebK-UNVyNs/UgGB6scBIiI/AAAAAAAACog/FyKYzt9eXzw/IMG_0582_thumb%25255B4%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="306" height="390" /></a> <a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-6BAo0cc3XwE/UgGB7I8IBHI/AAAAAAAACoo/orPe85FMaKU/s1600-h/IMG_0583%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px" title="dahlia border" border="0" alt="dahlia border" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-drx7eqzNVk8/UgGB76_cejI/AAAAAAAACos/vvX-GcSPTVk/IMG_0583_thumb%25255B2%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="312" height="405" /></a> <a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/--dMYSZU0tdA/UgGB8ta9vAI/AAAAAAAACo0/2GVSjRG1wec/s1600-h/IMG_0586%25255B6%25255D.jpg"><img style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px" title="dahlia border" border="0" alt="dahlia border" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-1Atf8dM8HTg/UgGB9Uq7pmI/AAAAAAAACpA/LsI6bOtWadM/IMG_0586_thumb%25255B4%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="365" height="282" /></a> <a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-7OmFlWqptTA/UgGB98_q_eI/AAAAAAAACpI/zLRRL2qCLtk/s1600-h/IMG_0580%25255B5%25255D.jpg"><img style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px" title="dahlia border" border="0" alt="dahlia border" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-6qk03w2n3wg/UgGB-qtNbpI/AAAAAAAACpQ/t5slDFZM6Xs/IMG_0580_thumb%25255B7%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="354" height="383" /></a> </p> <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-ZXBlBo8ejbc/UgGB_vXh3wI/AAAAAAAACpY/c9e3PP_2OEs/s1600-h/IMG_0584%25255B6%25255D.jpg"><img style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px" title="dahlia border, with cosmos" border="0" alt="dahlia border, with cosmos" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-9YxTUgUYnbQ/UgGCAWKjYqI/AAAAAAAACpg/7Zp-82K1MZ4/IMG_0584_thumb%25255B4%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="378" height="291" /></a> <a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-TwszLkl3ZlU/UgGCA6XxikI/AAAAAAAACpo/T4mfPvf1WPo/s1600-h/IMG_0579%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px" title="white dahlia, with Last Frontier hand for scale" border="0" alt="white dahlia, with Last Frontier hand for scale" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-KpAESSTKnPo/UgGCBch2rbI/AAAAAAAACpw/SotRTnqD_10/IMG_0579_thumb%25255B2%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="311" height="404" /></a> </p> <p>OK, enough of the Town Square dahlias. For additional flower sightings, <strong>head to the visitor information log cabin</strong>. If you aren’t sure which log cabin it is, it’s the one with the sod roof, and this summer, the sod is crispy. So head north from Town Square until you find a shack with dead grass on the roof and you’re there (546 W. 4th Avenue).</p> <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-elIaijwqBRE/UgGCCS4Lq3I/AAAAAAAACp4/VpAz-aMZEEk/s1600-h/IMG_0613%25255B8%25255D.jpg"><img style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px" title="rear view of visitors information cabin" border="0" alt="rear view of visitors information cabin" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-2CNOeNFvt_c/UgGCDOqd0qI/AAAAAAAACqA/sRg-2_9Ja8Y/IMG_0613_thumb%25255B6%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="392" height="306" /></a> <a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-djSneLtn6Io/UgGCD5IfwwI/AAAAAAAACqI/_JRNXH3eHS8/s1600-h/IMG_0614%25255B6%25255D.jpg"><img style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px" title="visitors checking out droopy fuchsia baskets outside the visitor information cabin" border="0" alt="visitors checking out droopy fuchsia baskets outside the visitor information cabin" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-ElQ4lo59E90/UgGCEmjt2GI/AAAAAAAACqQ/N7kOHc9oe_I/IMG_0614_thumb%25255B4%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="293" height="380" /></a> <a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-JGhQ2scetDo/UgGCFZ23ROI/AAAAAAAACqY/7h9C7YmZY1I/s1600-h/IMG_0615%25255B8%25255D.jpg"><img style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px" title="visitor's information cabin garden, including pelargoniums, salvia, begonias, snapdragons, and two tired tourists" border="0" alt="visitor's information cabin garden, including pelargoniums, salvia, begonias, snapdragons, and two tired tourists" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-_TCGQpk8ykQ/UgGCGGX7V7I/AAAAAAAACqg/LEyOzaFy9Ig/IMG_0615_thumb%25255B6%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="393" height="303" /></a> </p> <p></p> <p></p> <p></p> <p></p> <p></p> <p></p> <p></p> <p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiJ4M6wpIB2gZVrXHg2Km7J6ciezX5YlycYxM36N76kHf3y0lKoZb6kcuF-XDYOBxay3gSgzy-M2DacV2R31fq2PLEUdRuEW7vS4Lf6ySVX8gRt_OAVMi2dAMOVbmDRzXLjZdF19OhUts/s1600-h/IMG_0611%25255B6%25255D.jpg"><img style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px" title="visitor's information cabin, front view" border="0" alt="visitor's information cabin, front view" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-dWANLVUrKqg/UgGCHzeRapI/AAAAAAAACqw/hhY2sUHMe6s/IMG_0611_thumb%25255B4%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="381" height="294" /></a> </p> <p>For those <strong>visitors inclined to censure</strong>, I feel I must mention the reason we have hanging baskets of blue lobelia with a white eye and yellow marigolds every year without fail: they are the colors of our state flag. “Eight stars of gold on a field of blue….” Thus begins our state flag song. Does this excuse rampant marigold and lobelia use? The jury is still out.</p> <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-fOXYfrl8DFo/UgGCI2-ekDI/AAAAAAAACq8/QWw5QBMjHHA/s1600-h/IMG_0618%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px" title="marigold and lobelia baskets, ad infinitum" border="0" alt="marigold and lobelia baskets, ad infinitum" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-idhAZQlEPNc/UgGCJX03VrI/AAAAAAAACrE/icEHG_eA45A/IMG_0618_thumb%25255B2%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="318" height="413" /></a> <a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-oGmzQBvp388/UgGCKAMt4ZI/AAAAAAAACrM/is65iMXTBdU/s1600-h/traindenali%252520075%25255B6%25255D.jpg"><img style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px" title="more lobelia baskets and a fun nasturtium bucket with begonias and a spiky thing" border="0" alt="more lobelia baskets and a fun nasturtium bucket with begonias and a spiky thing" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-Fl24MXY6yMs/UgGCK3OC-SI/AAAAAAAACrU/9LxusHc7b-8/traindenali%252520075_thumb%25255B4%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="304" height="394" /></a><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-KRzNudtKhxw/UgGCLSPCaNI/AAAAAAAACrc/CgXlGVwbT9I/s1600-h/IMG_0607%25255B7%25255D.jpg"><img style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px" title="why do I love nasturtiums so much?" border="0" alt="why do I love nasturtiums so much?" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-iwvciBQ16vU/UgGCMKLp3II/AAAAAAAACrk/vHVpT3RIukk/IMG_0607_thumb%25255B5%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="324" height="421" /></a> </p> <p>There were still some intact cabbages as of this writing, so gather the kinsfolk and head downtown. Just find Town Square and you and yours will get an eye full, and see a lot of flowers, too. If the cabbages run out, you’ll have to wait until the <a href="http://www.alaskastatefair.org/site/" target="_blank">Alaska State Fair</a> starts on August 22nd. See my coverage of that <a href="http://lastfrontiergarden.blogspot.com/2010/09/flowers-food-and-freaks.html" target="_blank">here</a>.</p> <p> </p> <p><strong><em>How do you show off your ar</em></strong><strong><em>ea to visitors?</em></strong></p> <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-JW1JGlhANfM/UgGCM_9ExdI/AAAAAAAACrs/ACdtZyP411g/s1600-h/IMG_0623%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px" title="don't let this keep you from visiting!" border="0" alt="don't let this keep you from visiting!" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFeo1EEMO82-5G53FDXxAYQyFBAG2qZ8FNRr7rz8Rh68IsQZeHNe6SNAQYUMoBP0d-cNbyKR-XTYRvjlMtrZ9Aji9VNB6uRuv66EEMkFIxo-wOabAD5cPwhgEqHLWhwKU66oZK9eoruRk/?imgmax=800" width="328" height="426" /></a></p> <div class="blogger-post-footer">written by Christine B. for Last Frontier Garden blog</div>Christine B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/08335289758548637661noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3462867846580440325.post-66738865490197088262013-06-10T07:51:00.000-07:002013-06-10T07:51:00.890-07:00Those trees growing in my yard: Anchorage edition<p>A few people have requested a post about the native trees in their yards. There aren’t <em>that</em> many trees and large shrubs <strong>native</strong> <strong>to the</strong> <strong>Anchorage area</strong>. If it’s tall and growing in your backyard and you want to know what it is, you’ve come to the right place. Or if I missed one, you all will let me know.</p> <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-cZZmR7i6F1o/UbRCLWlAkmI/AAAAAAAACjA/BzjTPzUghNk/s1600-h/4%25255B5%25255D.jpg"><img style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px" title="cones of white spruce" border="0" alt="cones of white spruce" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-piL7iKRUzao/UbRCLwiFHKI/AAAAAAAACjI/RJWK5SIbOFM/4_thumb%25255B3%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="377" height="287" /></a> </p> <p>1. <strong>White spruce</strong>, <em>Picea glauca</em>. The shaggy Christmas tree in high heels. If it doesn’t lose it’s leaves in the winter and it’s a tall, native tree, the answer is spruce. Usually quite a bit taller than wide, especially with age. Needles are shades of green, sometimes with a bluish cast.</p> <p> <a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-SUPWhpNuuXI/UbRCMsWBUFI/AAAAAAAACjQ/t8QCXrISxJA/s1600-h/3%25255B20%25255D.jpg"><img style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px" title="Needles of white spruce" border="0" alt="Needles of white spruce" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-NKEGCxrcB7c/UbRCNCFhx1I/AAAAAAAACjY/TkZwUpmuP4Q/3_thumb%25255B18%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="187" height="240" /></a> <a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-v65UKcvQsTM/UbRCNlZGt4I/AAAAAAAACjc/C2MT79C25Iw/s1600-h/14%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px" title="bark of white spruce" border="0" alt="bark of white spruce" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-CHPyPgfj0u0/UbRCOHY4c-I/AAAAAAAACjk/nsi-Nx-BM-U/14_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="190" height="247" /></a> </p> <p>2. <strong>Black spruce,</strong> <em>Picea mariana</em>. The ugly stepsister of the white spruce. It’s charms are somewhat, shall we say, subdued. Well, I would be too if I had to grow in a swamp. If it looks scrawny, spindly, and half dead and it’s growing in a low, poorly drained spot, it might be a black spruce. Doesn’t get as tall as the white spruce.</p> <p>3. <strong>Cottonwood,</strong> <em>Populus trichocarpa</em>. The one that grows about 8 feet a year and drops twigs, branches, leaves, etc. at any time and for any reason. If it’s “snowing” in July, it’s a cottonwood. Last year, the air was thick with little white fluffs for several days. Trees are either male or female. <strong>Do not park your Ferrari under this one</strong> on a regular basis unless you were going to have it repainted anyway. Other cottonwoods call Alaska home. Do think twice about planting this.</p> <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-3-epL4QnGSk/UbRCO_08G-I/AAAAAAAACjs/mC5cJLx2ffw/s1600-h/18%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px" title="18" border="0" alt="18" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-0PYE5XpoSEw/UbRCPWnYofI/AAAAAAAACj4/EAfyxUzxe98/18_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="259" height="340" /></a> </p> <p>4. <strong>Birch,</strong> <em>Betula </em>spp. A couple of different varieties of the tree forms, but for our purposes, just birch. Hosts <strong>monster aphid parties</strong> every year, has white, peach, gray, brown or any-combination-thereof-colored bark. If there is a new pest in town, it will move into the birch hotel for a stay. Keep this one watered if you plant it or things can get ugly…real ugly. Sometimes a very respectable yellow gold leaf in autumn.</p> <p> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCR9kF2lkIQyX8gMYMZtcUmYvPi6neQZO2ecP1bpl4T4Q-N2GTNcBnOzmEwnv2H_f8bzzMH6lZn973Rfl9hD7drb_rdSu5vT-e3G0Vzfua1MYBK5pgeWiWZEp77xP9c2QdPVk7MxKCoiE/s1600-h/17%25255B5%25255D.jpg"><img style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px" title="birch bark" border="0" alt="birch bark" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-U2erM3HYMTI/UbRCQZ_OpYI/AAAAAAAACkI/eRJZOzT1CtM/17_thumb%25255B3%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="235" height="309" /></a> </p> <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-FzaOaHu5Mmw/UbRCQ0v_tPI/AAAAAAAACkQ/QkF4NiltRjI/s1600-h/11%25255B6%25255D.jpg"><img style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px" title="birch bark" border="0" alt="birch bark" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-guP5MqT_MIc/UbRCRodkmtI/AAAAAAAACkY/otOfWPRodgM/11_thumb%25255B4%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="252" height="331" /></a> </p> <p>5. <strong>Willow, </strong><em>Salix</em> spp. We have scads of kinds, from wee baby willows to big daddy willows. If the bark has been sampled by the moose on a yearly basis, then it’s probably a willow. In fact, one sure way to tell (besides the silver, furry catkins covering the branch tops in March) if it’s a willow is the <strong>45 degree angle of the trunk or branch</strong> where it’s been snapped over by said giant ungulate. Leaves usually longer than wide, sometimes remarkably so, bark gray.</p> <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-XQSFrw089d8/UbRCSLk67QI/AAAAAAAACkg/2ej0k-ZTMyk/s1600-h/2%25255B5%25255D.jpg"><img style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px" title="willow with moose browse damage" border="0" alt="willow with moose browse damage" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-L-hDvFr6s_Y/UbRCS6S5NVI/AAAAAAAACko/J78aTQspW0I/2_thumb%25255B3%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="266" height="349" /></a> </p> <p>6. <strong>Alder,</strong> <em>Alnus </em>spp. The shrub that is too big to be a shrub. When I think shrub I think 8 feet max, though I realize this is not true and the dividing line is around 30 feet botanically. If it has 6 trunks instead of one, that’s a clue. Also the <strong>lenticels on the bark</strong>, sort of light colored marks that function like pores. Check for itty bitty pine cone looking things that are in fact called female catkins (or cones, or conelets, take your pick). If your kid wants to climb the almost diagonal limbs of some 30 foot shrub, it might be an alder.</p> <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-5My55AZzBj8/UbRCTRiR1hI/AAAAAAAACkw/UUC4Dqsi7F8/s1600-h/9%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px" title="alder bark with lenticels and lichen" border="0" alt="alder bark with lenticels and lichen" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-aKKlgNkgEvs/UbRCTx4ic4I/AAAAAAAACk4/sXtRAchorC0/9_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="252" height="331" /></a> </p> <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-mU6KVsr3YXw/UbRCUswJLWI/AAAAAAAAClA/wE6NBjyzi1g/s1600-h/16%25255B5%25255D.jpg"><img style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px" title="some crazy angles of alder growth" border="0" alt="some crazy angles of alder growth" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-ZtabnjQcuBY/UbRCVF3SP3I/AAAAAAAAClI/AIAgl4gJdwc/16_thumb%25255B3%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="253" height="332" /></a> </p> <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-ZQcjPVDhpJw/UbRCV8k3XgI/AAAAAAAAClQ/9nKu40noRtk/s1600-h/photo%25255B5%25255D.jpg"><img style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px" title="alder with male catkins hanging" border="0" alt="alder with male catkins hanging" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-U9-rW_cVyKE/UbRCWWTLDOI/AAAAAAAAClU/iIazcHr8tXw/photo_thumb%25255B3%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="374" height="284" /></a> </p> <p>7. <strong>Red</strong> <strong>Elderberry, </strong><em>Sambucus racemosa</em>. Definitely a moderately sized shrub, not really in the same category as the big ones, but it has annoyed me so much this spring that I am including it in the hopes <strong>some of you have chainsaws and less than tender hearts</strong>. Leave this one alone if it’s in an out of the way spot or you enjoy yearly pruning. I had two in my last garden (planted by robins, not me) that made spectacular informal hedges with<u> yearly</u> trimming.</p> <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-8pWTkkLEHBs/UbRCXPKuoKI/AAAAAAAAClc/s89rKSfAEM0/s1600-h/12%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px" title="elderberry snarl just leafing out" border="0" alt="elderberry snarl just leafing out" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-bw1QEt0iiPQ/UbRCXrVzyrI/AAAAAAAAClo/dZiYQktXjoA/12_thumb%25255B2%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="189" height="247" /></a>  <a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-2bX4mqDGEN4/UbRCYSUJq9I/AAAAAAAAClw/HxGq5gBL6FM/s1600-h/6%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px" title="very old elderberry wood" border="0" alt="very old elderberry wood" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-lAY9HF78rHc/UbRCY2KoeGI/AAAAAAAACl4/Ydi8VHmz4jI/6_thumb%25255B2%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="184" height="244" /></a> </p> <p>With great age (which for this shrub counts as about 15 years) can become a tough, sprawling monster, but branches only a year or two old are easily breakable. Kids adore making scepters, swords, and buggy whips from the younger wood. I have been whipped a few times while hauling brush and yes, it does hurt. <strong>One of the first shrubs to leaf out in the spring</strong>, white flowers, wood smells unpleasant if broken or bruised. Robins eat the berries but you shouldn’t.</p> <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-OS2K4okL6pY/UbRCZehwyeI/AAAAAAAACmA/qPDvO1p6fEY/s1600-h/10%25255B2%25255D.jpg"><img style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px" title="my little garden cart full of elderberry trimmings" border="0" alt="my little garden cart full of elderberry trimmings" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-UD3FBEI0E3A/UbRCZ3CgmVI/AAAAAAAACmI/qpWMvBvvRgU/10_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" width="184" height="244" /></a> </p> <p><em><strong>I have been busy in the yard, have you? Or did I miss any common native Anchorage trees?</strong></em></p> <div class="blogger-post-footer">written by Christine B. for Last Frontier Garden blog</div>Christine B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/08335289758548637661noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3462867846580440325.post-1326229297676214752013-05-28T11:41:00.000-07:002013-05-28T11:41:01.003-07:00PSA: Contaminated manure or compost?<p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjL-H0pXs5JYkJkNMBCMxnixbSuWCZXAG5qt-yPTvbiYVKZFp453iWxFknys_No3jSb8fYh-TdZgcnqNUQwddcxRn85Uz9G2d3eh4c6wbHs9F1z5mct5MBmJpdZripXxzG8z_oV_onMqB8/s1600-h/photo%25255B10%25255D.jpg"><img style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px" title="photo" border="0" alt="photo" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-FBnuBvu9Zpg/UaT4pmaOi8I/AAAAAAAACiw/a1fYqMAs6lk/photo_thumb%25255B8%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="361" height="277" /></a> </p> <p>In case Alaskans were feeling lazy with all the (extremely belated) beautiful weather, this <strong>hot tip</strong> will keep us on our toes. The Operations Manager at Anchorage Soil and Water Conservation District, Mr. Ryan Stencel, cautions us: </p> <p>“As we finally get into spring, be careful on your source of manure or compost for your garden-there are several confirmed contaminations statewide, including here in Anchorage. Be sure your supplier doesn’t use <strong>Aminopyralid/Clopyralid</strong>…. And for those using these products, please follow the label carefully, including not allowing any contaminated products to leave your property (hay, manure, compost, or dirt).” </p> <p>He was kind enough to include <a href="http://www.adn.com/2013/05/25/2915922/the-case-of-the-twisted-potato.html" target="_blank">a link to an article in the paper</a> that will (to use the lingo of my kids) <strong>freak out</strong> every gardener in the Greatland. Check it out, if you dare. And scrutinize the provenance of that compost. Your taters will thank you.</p> <p>Now back to your gardens!</p> <div class="blogger-post-footer">written by Christine B. for Last Frontier Garden blog</div>Christine B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/08335289758548637661noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3462867846580440325.post-24954170685361157652013-04-22T07:41:00.000-07:002013-04-22T07:41:00.616-07:00Springtime in Alaska…or not<p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-aTWF51nn0sY/UXSwe1gDu0I/AAAAAAAACh4/64_42xOo1qc/s1600-h/decandjan2011-12%252520118%25255B10%25255D.jpg"><img style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px" title="decandjan2011-12 118" border="0" alt="decandjan2011-12 118" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-Qu88if3f0LI/UXSwfh_pdPI/AAAAAAAACiA/qnNJY4SjJvM/decandjan2011-12%252520118_thumb%25255B8%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="299" height="393" /></a> </p> <p>I try not to ponder the great mysteries of life too often. For example, what if the traffic light is green but no cars are moving? Is the traffic light <em>really</em> green? More importantly, will those two containers of ice cream in the trunk melt by the time it truly is? Such musings only lead to despair, disappointment, or in extreme cases, the need to get the car professionally cleaned. </p> <p>In that vein, calendars officially state <strong>spring begins on March 20</strong>. (The state of Alaska needs a good attorney, at the very least we could get the calendar companies on fraud.) I should know better after all these years in the hinterlands, especially since the snowplow came by on Saturday. And as I glance out the window (<strong>tip: never do this while writing about springtime in Alaska, things will turn out ironically</strong>) I note that it has started snowing. So those advertisements encouraging me to buy capri pants are especially galling.</p> <p>My “public service announcements” practically write themselves because Alaska <em>needs</em> explanation. We are different. Weird. (I would say freaky, but it’s a matter of taste.) So here goes. <strong>Calendar companies, pay attention</strong>!</p> <p><font size="3"><strong>It is <em>only</em> springtime in Alaska when</strong>:</font></p> <p>1. the buzzards come home to roost. Or in reality, since we have no buzzards, the <strong>Canada geese honk their way into town</strong>. I saw about 100 today, winging their way north in a V-formation (or maybe a giant, malformed “W”). </p> <p>2. <strong>the scent of manure rises</strong>. I’ve written about this <a href="http://lastfrontiergarden.blogspot.com/2011/03/five-ways-to-know-its-pseudo-spring.html" target="_blank">before</a>, and I’ll probably grouse about it again. Scoop your poop, dog owners! Freshly revealed by the melting snow, partially mummified canine feces litters street sides, sidewalks, and trails in my town. I am walking or biking around it like a boat trying to avoid a minefield. SOS! Full starboard! Blech!</p> <p>3. <strong>dipnets are for sale</strong> again. Saw them at Sam’s Club last week. See you in July, you rascally salmon, you.</p> <p>4. <strong>potholes the size of Luxemburg appear in the roads</strong>. Bye bye transmission box. So long, right front wheel. On a positive note, the winter studded <strong>tires get changed out</strong> for a supple summer set.</p> <p>5. <strong>people forget how cold it really is outside</strong>. I mean, who needs sleeves, let alone a jacket? Clearly not that gentleman I saw entering Wal-mart on Friday in a tank top. Never mind that it’s 30° Fahrenheit and the snow is still covering the ground. The calendar said it’s spring, so there will be exposed flesh.</p> <p>5. the <strong>motor homes awaken from their long winter’s nap</strong> and begin to hold up traffic by driving approximately 20 miles per hour less than the speed limit. When the traffic light turns green (see first paragraph), the driver counts to ten, texts mom, then accelerates. Sort of. I think they sign a contract about it.</p> <p>6. <strong>winter boots feel like overkill</strong>, but summer shoes would be ruined. I do not have the answer to this problem. Some wear rubber boots (XtraTufs are a cult), others do the Dansko clog thing, and some even go straight to flip flops. Well, you know what grandpa says, “You can’t fix stupid.”</p> <p>7. the <strong>first summer adventure trip is planned</strong>. We are rafting the Tazlina River this summer. Also the Gulkana. Definitely Kenai. Another sign it’s spring: over scheduling.</p> <p>8. the first <strong>garage sale</strong> sign appears. Hallelujah, it’s spring! Pursuit of “the good deal” is almost as popular as pursuit of the salmon.</p> <p>9. <strong>sunglasses </strong>are needed at 7am.  </p> <p>10. garden ads are heard on the radio. <strong>Nurseries are open</strong> for those fuchsia starts. Game on! (I got carried away with myself just now. No game for a couple of weeks at least. Sorry about that. Keep those plants indoors for a bit longer.)</p> <p>So you see, dear calendar companies, planetary cycles notwithstanding, spring is not spring in Alaska until…it is. Or at least until you are parked for a couple of minutes at a green light. Until then we call it winter.</p> <p> </p> <p><em><strong><font size="3">Seen any capri pants lately? Has spring arrived?</font></strong></em></p> <div class="blogger-post-footer">written by Christine B. for Last Frontier Garden blog</div>Christine B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/08335289758548637661noreply@blogger.com7