At the Garden

With an early spring and lots of outdoor garden chores to do, I've taken a bit of a break from blogging to take advantage of the nice weather.  With the bulk of the early garden work done, I can take it a little easier and enjoy our long summer days.  Tuesday my granddaughter Sydney and I went to the Georgeson Botanical Garden at the University of Alaska.  She was in a hurry to get back to the Children's Garden and set a pace that I had a hard time keeping up with.  I heard lots of "Hurry up, Grandma!"

After she played a while in the Children's Garden we headed back towards the main flower garden.  Early flowers are blooming and the wild iris and yellow lilies provide a lovely background for the split rail fence.

Of course, I had to take a few closeups of the flowers.

Looking even closer at the iris above you can see a hitchhiker.

As we got closer to the entrance to the garden, I once again heard "Hurry up, Grandma!"  However, this time it was because Grandma was taking a few too many photos of the flowers.  The green lawn beckoned Sydney to take a bit of a rest and commune with nature in her own way while she waited.

Back on April 15th Sydney and I visited the Garden briefly after stopping to see the reindeer calves at the UAF Experiment Farm, which shares a parking lot with the Garden.  The snow was melting but the paths were covered with patchy mud and ice.  Sydney was all for running back to the Children's Garden, but with the tricky footing underneath I chose to come back after spring had sprung.  Well, we're past spring and into summer now, but with our long days and short summer months, we'll cram as much as we can into the next few months.

The photo below is my Index #531, which I'm linking with

Gaelyn's Foto Friday Fun 114.

I'm also linking with Good Fences

at the Run "A" Round Ranch Report.

Children's Garden

The Georgeson Botanical Gardens at the University of Alaska has a children's garden with a lot of fun things for kids to do.  The gate into the garden has an adult entrance with a smaller entrance for kids.

The side of the archway has a child at play and Sweet Peas climbing up the ironwork.

After you go through the archway you find a large tree house with a view down the hillside.

When we were there on Sunday my granddaughter Sydney found a friend from her preschool who was at the garden with her dad.  That's Sydney on the right.  The walkway to the right takes you around through the trees to the viewing area.

The walkway straight ahead has an undulating section that takes a little bit of concentration.  I took the longer route on the boards that did not move around!  The ornamental ironwork in the fence is the fence I posted in May.   You can see that post HERE.

Up the hillside from the tree house is another section of the ornamental ironwork fencing, watched over by a friendly bear welcoming everyone to the children's garden. 

This section features a pond with ducks and cattails.  There are more fun things for kids to do in the children's garden, and I'll get back to them another day.

I am linking with Good Fences

at the Run "A" Round Ranch Report.

August Colors

Georgeson Botanical Garden

Fairbanks, Alaska, August 10, 2014

Ornamental Iron Fencing, Alaska Style

These fence sections are on a viewing platform at the Georgeson Botanical Garden at the University of Alaska in Fairbanks.  They are made by a local company and variations can be seen around town.

I am linking up with Good Fences

at the Run "A" Round Ranch Report.

Visiting the Garden

I visited the Georgeson Botanical Gardens a few days ago. It was a lovely sunny afternoon, and I was looking for ideas for my perennial border and also for a few specimen trees.The Gardens were in full bloom and full of lots of beautiful flowers and other plants. It is a popular tourist destination, but also a spot for those of us who live here to get ideas for our own gardens.

I did several posts last year about the Gardens. In late June I posted Georgeson Botanical Gardens and Irises at the Garden and Bees Love Onions. In early September I posted Flower Portraits. I also included some photos from the Gardens in my Fireweed post in early July. You can tell I like to visit there! Now in late July the flower beds at the gardens are lush and in full bloom.

We have brightly colored Rudbeckia above, and below Delphinium, one of the stars in the late summer landscape in Fairbanks.

Another lovely plant is the Lupine.

The brightly colored Trollius was very attractive to the bees.

One of the trees that do very well here in Fairbanks is the Chokecherry, and this variety has purple leaves .

Another bloom that the bees found very attractive is an Ornamental Onion.

The Delphiniums come in many colors. The dark blue is the color seen most around town.

Peonies are being tested extensively at the Gardens and an attempt is being made to promote commercial production of Peonies here in Alaska. They bloom here in July, August, and September, a time when they are not available elsewhere, and there is a great demand for them in florist shops at this time.

Another attention-getter is the Foxglove.

All of these photos are just as they came out of the camera, with the exception of some cropping done on the Trollius, Onion, Peony, and Foxglove. Now I need to study my photos and think about what I want to add to my garden.

Flower Portraits

These flower portraits were taken at the Georgeson Botanical Garden yesterday.

Tour Time: Fireweed-Summer's Timepiece

The wildflower that has taken center stage all around town now is the Common Fireweed. When I visited the Georgeson Botanical Gardens the fireweed had started blooming. The first several shots in this post were taken at the garden.
Fireweed is one of the most distinctive wildflowers in Alaska. To me it symbolizes summertime in Alaska. It can grow to be eight feet tall and will cover a field in a beautiful blanket of color. The roads in Alaska are bordered by Fireweed most of the summer, and you can look across a valley and see nothing but the pink of the Fireweed. It covers meadows and quickly grows in disturbed soils and burned-over forests. It rejuvinates the soil after a fire, hence the name Fireweed. It will grow in the most inhosptiable soil where other plants will not grow. It is propogated by both seeds and rhizomes.

Fireweed can be used for food, drink, tinder, twine, and medicine, and was used by the Indians in the Northwest, Alaska and Canada. Fireweed honey and jelly are favorites in Alaska.

The Fireweed blooms from the bottom and moves toward the top. From the beginning buds in late June to the fluff that covers the seedpods in early September, it seems to count off the days of summer. When the fluff appears, you know it is time to begin preparing for winter, because in another month the landscape will be covered in a blanket of white until the coming spring. The transistion is portrayed beautifully in a lovely set of prints done by an Alaskan artist, Gail Niebrugge. You can view her fireweed triptych at her website http://niebruggestudio.com/Alaska_Wildflower_Print.htm . She has many prints featuring Fireweed but the triptych is my favorite. You will see Fireweed in a lot of Alaskan artwork and photographs.

The shot below was taken in my yard on June 25th. In it, the Fireweed buds are almost ready to burst open.

I took the next shot on August 9, 2006. You can see the blooms have worked their way up to the top leaving the spiky seedpods below.

Finally, the blooms are all gone. This shot was taken on September 6, 2004. The fluff will carry the seed on the wind to begin the cycle all over again next summer.

Fireweed will show up uninvited in your garden beds and grow happily among the other flowers. Below is a flower bed at our previous home. I took the photo on July 25th, 2007. The Fireweed fits in nicely with the Veronica, Russian Salvia, Dwarf Delphinium, and the leaves of the wild Iris which has finished blooming. I used to pull the Fireweed out of my flower beds in favor of the more domesticated flowers. Over the years my philosophy has changed and my flower beds are becoming more natural and self-sustaining, and now I leave the Fireweed to grow where it will.

When we moved I transplanted Iris, Russian Salvia, Dwarf Delphinium, and a few other things to my new home. We moved at the end of the summer and there were no flower beds, so there was just a quick pass with the rototillar and some flower bed soil added and the plants dropped in the ground. All of the transplants have done well, but now it is time to begin reworking that bed and another near our road. And yes, there is Fireweed growing in that new bed. I have two beds along the trees that I have planted with wildflower seeds and I will make sure the Fireweed establishes itself in them, although I think it will do the job by itself without my intervention. There is Fireweed growing along the trees and in the fields that surround our house. While the Fireweed blooms, it is summertime in Alaska.