I have always loved to garden. Living in Alaska presents some wonderful and unique gardening experiences. With our cool and long summer days we are able togrow quite a variety of things.  We can grow most any type of flower and the cool weather beauties like begonias, fuchsias, geraniums and delphiniums do magnificently. There is a multitude of wild flowers and annuals that thrive in our conditions as well.
One of my favorites to grow is the Dahlia. I grow several of this variety and they are absolutely beautiful with flowers that measure up to 10 inches in diameter. I grow them in containers, outdoors. The tubers store very well over the winter and are easily started indoors in the spring. I then move them to the greenhouse where they gain ample growth before being moved outdoors for the remainder of the summer. Another great dahlia link is "Doing Dahlias" which is the web site of the Colorado Dahlia Society. They have great photos as well as articles on the care of dahlias.

Several years ago we built a 12' x 16' greenhouse. The following summer I added a small out side garden and the next summer of we fenced our back yard to keep the moose out. At that time I expanded the outdoor garden which is used primarily for vegetables.  The spring of '98 I ran underground electric, water and natural gas to the greenhouse. It has been great to have natural gas heat rather than the expensive electric portable heaters.

This is a picture of my 1998 garden.

This was the garden area in the winter on 98-99. We had quite a bit of snow very early in the season followed by very cold (-30's) temperatures.

The birds are always a great joy and I fed quite an assortment. There are Stellar's Jays, Gray Jays, woodpeckers, Magpies, finch and many other small birds.   I had to start feeding the larger birds dog food along with the sunflower seeds since there are so many (I can't afford to keep up the peanuts). They also have peanut suit, which seems to be a big hit with them all. The squirrels have to take their turn at the feeder and are quite a riot to watch as they chase off the larger birds.

   Here are some pictures from my '98 garden. 

Here is a little something for you, Flowers Speak.

Happy gardening to all. Please email me or chat on ICQ. I love to talk gardening and would love to hear from anyone who visits my page.