Week of July 19, 2010

The Palmer Garden is located on the grounds of the Palmer Museum of History and Art and Visitor Center at 723 South Valley Way.

The large garden (inside the pole fence) features mainly perennial plants and grasses common to our growing zone, as well as local vegetables and fruits.

We also maintain other garden plots and plantings on the Museum grounds, featuring both perennial and annual plants.

1. Plants of the week.

Too much is going on this week to choose just one plant of the week.

Maltese Cross: Lychnis chalcedonica

Shasta Daisy: Leucanthemum superbum

Motherwort: Leonurus cardiaca

Knautia macedonica

Sunflower "Giant Sungold": Helianthus annuus

Geranium "Johnson's Blue"

Foxglove "Foxy": Digitalis purpurea

Foxglove "Foxy": Digitalis purpurea

Foxglove "Foxy": Digitalis purpurea

Delphinium: Delphinium elatum

Delphinium: Delphinium elatum

Delphinium: Delphinium elatum

Delphinium: Delphinium elatum

Knapweed: Centaurea nervosa

Knapweed: Centaurea dealbata

Monkshood: Aconitum spp.

Monkshood: Aconitum spp.

2. Looking ahead to next week.

Looks like we will be waiting until next week for the majority of the lilies to bloom. Below are a few that showed up last week, but most are biding their time. I do not know the species of these two Asiatic specimens.

Asiatic Lily: Lilium spp.

Asiatic Lily: Lilium spp.

We have nearly 20 different colors of common Yarrow and some are beginning to bloom. There will be more colors appearing next week.

Yarrow: Achillea millefolium

Yarrow "Paprika": Achillea millefolium

Yarrow: Achillea millefolium

Yarrow: Achillea millefolium

4. What's happening in the Rock Garden?

The overview of the garden doesn't do justice to the small plants that are putting on their show.

If you look closer there is a lot of activity in the Rock Garden this week. Here are a few highlights.

Mainden Pink: Dianthus deltoides

Slipperwort: Calceolaria flabellata

Speedwell: Veronica spicata

Dwarf Meadow Rue: Thalictrum kuisianum

Moss Campion: Silene acaulis

General Information regarding our Gardens:

The gardens are open to the public all day, every day. We ask to you please respect certain guidelines:

1. No Dogs

2. No Running

3. Look but don't touch, NO PICKING OR SEED HARVESTING

4. Young children MUST be supervised at all times while in the Garden

2010 Garden Supporters:

Alaska Rock Garden Society

The Alpine Garden Nursery

Little Susitna Farms

Vanderweele Farms

Woolwood Studio and Gardens

Thank you for your Support!

Week of July 12, 2010

The Palmer Garden is located on the grounds of the Palmer Museum of History and Art and Visitor Center at 723 South Valley Way.

The large garden (inside the pole fence) features mainly perennial plants and grasses common to our growing zone, as well as local vegetables and fruits.

We also maintain other garden plots and plantings on the Museum grounds, featuring both perennial and annual plants.

Here are some broad photos of a few of the gardens:

1. Plant of the Week

This week it's all about the Peonies. After withstanding brutal winds and rain this week the Peonies are in full bloom throughout the garden. They will be waning in a few days so now is the time to visit if you are a Peony lover!

"Karl Rosenfeld": Paeonia lactiflora

"Karl Rosenfeld": Paeonia lactiflora

"Sarah Bernhardt": Paeonia lactiflora

"Red Beauty" (left) "Kansas" (right): Paeonia lactiflora

"Red Beauty": Paeonia lactiflora

"Duchesse de Nemours": Paeonia lactiflora

"Raspberry Sundae": Paeonia lactiflora

2. What else is blooming in the garden this week?

Below are some other denizens of the garden that are in full bloom and showing their colors this week.

Maltese Cross: Lychnis chalcedonica

Painted Daisy: Tanacetum coccineum

Lady's Mantle: Alchemilla mollis

Foxglove "Foxy": Digitalis purpurea

Maltese Cross "Vesuvius": Lychnis arkwrightii

Speedwell (blue flowers) and Meadowsweet (white flowers): Veronica spicata and Filipendula ulmaria

Carpathian Bellflower: Campanula carpatica

Clustered Bellflower: Campanula glomerata

3. What's happening in the Veggie Garden?

We also do Vegetables! Here is a brief overview.

Potato bed with OS Cross (the Giant variety) cabbages in the foreground. We plant multiple "Giant Cabbage" specimens and usually have some pretty impressive sized plants late in the season.

Zucchini Flower

We have two beds in which we grow the more popular locally grown vegetables. One bed is planted in Mid-May, the other in Mid-June. In these beds we grow Red and Green Leaf Lettuce, Romaine and Head Lettuce as well as Red and Green Cabbage and Cauliflower and Broccoli. This year we have added two Artichoke plants.

Veggie Garden planted May 15, 2010

Veggie Garden planted June 15, 2010

In addition to the Vegetables we also grow local fruits in the garden. There are three varieties of Raspberries, Black and Red Currant bushes, Gooseberry bushes and Strawberries. We have two Evan's Cherry Trees and two varieties of edible Crabapple species, "Rescue" and "Chinese Golden".

4. Looking ahead to next week.

While some things in the garden are in their prime this week, here are a few flowers to look forward to in the coming weeks:

Lilies! Many varieties of lilies will be blooming beginning next week and continuing on through mid-September. We have varieties of both Oriental and Asiatic lilies that put on a show in mid to late summer. Not to be missed!

Eryngiums, commonly known as "Sea Holly" begin to put on their colorful show in late July through first frost. We currently have 4 species growing in our garden and I will highlight them as they become more colorful.

5. The Rock Gardens

We have two Rock Gardens on the grounds: a large Rock Garden, inside of the fence and a smaller Rock Garden across the street from the library. The Rock Gardens contain many unique plants, some of which are alpine plants native to Alaska.We give our sincere Thanks to the Alaska Rock Garden Society and Jaime Rodriguez of Alpine Garden Nursery for planting the large Rock Garden in Summer 2009.

General Information regarding our Gardens:

The gardens are open to the public all day, every day. We ask to you please respect certain guidelines:

1. No Dogs

2. No Running

3. Look but don't touch, NO PICKING OR SEED HARVESTING

4. Young children MUST be supervised at all times while in the Garden

2010 Garden Supporters:

Alaska Rock Garden Society

The Alpine Garden Nursery

Little Susitna Farms

Vanderweele Farms

Woolwood Studio and Gardens

Thank you for your Support!