The Anchorage Garden Club no longer has big tour articles in the ADN. I assumed it was because the crowds were getting too big, but I'm not sure. Now you have to check the Garden Club website to find the details. It always seems to be at the last weekend of July, so I checked with google.
There were only six gardens this year - two near each other in east Anchorage, two near by in Oceanview, and two Lutheran Church community gardens.
Some highlights:
Oceanview delphiniums and still blooming peonies.
Alaska railroad engine runs through this same garden.
Lutheran Church of Hope has a community garden that's growing food for the food banks. There's lots of food growing here. It's surrounded by a six or seven foot fence to keep the moose out.
And the water comes from a fire hydrant. I asked about this arrangement and I was told the church was required to put it in when they expanded. It's on their property, they paid to put it in, and they get the water bill. And I know I have a few readers who find mechanical pictures far more interesting than the flowers and vegetables.
This was a beautiful and unexpected garden in east Anchorage. Behind the trees in the back is a fork of the Chester Creek system.
I think this is a spirea. If you click on the picture it will enlarge and focus better.
Central Lutheran Church started creating a rain garden on the edge of their parking lot, which drains down toward the garden. The first section is being planted with iris and ferns. Then there's a berm. That first section is to filter out any toxic residues from the parking lot. To the left of the picture they are starting to plant edibles. They are testing the soil to be sure that the filter system works. I think it's important that people begin recognizing how much nature acts as a natural infrastructure to clean water and air and move water around. An older post on E.O. Wilson's The Future of Life, talks about the enormous economic value of the natural infrastructure.
And finally, a peony, still gorgeous in middle age.
I might add that all the gardeners who opened their homes were as helpful as others have been in the past. Two were even giving away some gotten plants and seeds.
Typically using a fire hydrant for water supply like in this situation requires special permission from the proper authorities. A meter is typically provided (it can be seen in the picture) and the water consumed is recorded with the meter and then billed at a typically much lower rate than for a standard water meter. This is because the water does not enter the sanitary sewer and require treatment.
ReplyDeleteI once worked for a company which had a number of these meters provided by the cities we worked in. All we needed to do was call the appropriate person in advance of hooking up the meter to the hydrant. We had meters and hoses up to standard fire hose size for occasions when we needed lots of water.