Alaska Home and Gardens; Willow Garden Tour

Yes. I am Nancy McRae and welcome to Alaska home and garden in the 10 years that we've been doing this program with and all over the state visiting people in their gardens but we've never come to Willow which is so close to home. Well today we're making up for that we're going to do a tour of three of willows very best gardens and we're going to start with would you believe it. A little touch of England right here in the middle of the wilderness. This is my guest Joan Marshall and Joan you are from England. I mean and how long have you been in Alaska. I've been in New Mexico 10 you know 10 years you come right to this spot in the yard plantings. You must have started planting immediately because there are gardens everywhere. Well. I know about planting you sort of get the ground ready you know and that was because it was wood it was

all wood like this and you cleared all this and set up all these gardens. These are very English looking gardens to my mind is this. And this I thought was an Alaskan plant but do you have this inning. Yes well very puckering and especially in the this column by yeah you know we have wild Columbine Alas I don't know that they're much smaller they're kind of an orange ish red I believe that they say that's where all the cultivars came from maybe not the ones in England but the ones over here anyway. Yeah well this is very very attractive and this makes it an English style garden as I think you know what else he got growing brought beings to nature to him and cools all with and we were looking through the eyes. This is a little patch of broad beans or a fave of beans is in here. Jim actually I became some not these but I brought him from England when I first came over here. They didn't do very well but they seem to like Alaska so they like it cool.

Good and I will reserve quite tall weren't they how long how long have they been growing. Well I had them indoors to start with a C and probably take a hundred days from start to finish. OK but they shouldn't go up like that too because I know when I think the strength is in in the store. Stanley the sunlight here that makes them grow so tall. Because here's here's a being a being developed already. How many see how they come you see from these. Yeah they're odd they don't look like them. Yeah they come the flowers right here they just grow out of there. That's really interesting. Will how many will you get off of this patch of beans like we did enough to last you for several meals or through the winter. Oh not through the winter. Probably about three or four pounds to our. Do you drive these or just eat them fresh. What do you mean eat fresh but you can freeze and they freeze well. Marie that's really neat but I would like those they sound interests well

that they have a very strong flavor. There's you have to squeeze out of the Skins Oh you couldn't get it there in a very tough skin. So you have to get them out of that and they say you can eat the skins and I'm going to try again. Ok heading let's go down and look at some of your other flower beds because you have such a nice arrangement. This is quite a lovely embankment you have here up against the house did you create this. Oh no I was there I heard it when I came and I saw possibilities in it and someone suggested having a friend. Oh I don't know or has it. It just gives that carrot to I think oh it's so lovely I mean it it really does look like it might have been designed. Yeah but that's the way you've got the little mosses good you know they just came in on their own you know they just you're really lucky you know. And there's all sorts of little creatures live in here and then you have this tiny little spruce and the oven so pretty so pretty so we go from this natural

embankment over here to this group of shrubs over here this looks very English very manicured and what it's my page you're saying this is your entire head. What was it something huge that you cut down you know it well I guess I don't know I mean I got here. Yeah no I think it was already cut down and there were definitely sort of room or what you call it was kind of strange Yeah isn't it. And I notice that they started shooting out and I thought when I saw him leave it because and just something do something with that one they say that's just true. Oh yeah and this is your English head. But I need to find out what this is I think him. I sure I don't know don't know but you do have three you have at least three different you are in here don't you be has this one in the middle is handling Iran very very cranberry. So do you get cranberry juice keep it trimmed so oh I don't know that but I did vote in the gun. I mean that I would say them but this is so neat to have this entire I just

had to get one little spot. I've got to get it right alone because oh I don't think we're going to have it unless you get them oh no I think it's very interesting what you've done with this big pile of dirt that's just here. You turn it into such an attractive garden Thank you. Well I think originally it was a wolf. Oh well maybe not it will but it didn't really because it was all scraped talent inside is there something it lived in it and it served and what all did you have to do. Well I'd chop saw it on it and made it look a bit more shapely otherwise it was gone and I came in. Filled out the hollow area right. Yeah and then you put in all these raw. Yes I did that but the hole the entrance a few months and that was down there by the bushes and it just went right through and we sort of looked in there and it really looked like. That's true I was in this home for something turned this into a really pretty little garden.

What are some of things you have growing in here. Pansies of course in Libya Yes and this is an annual Yes premia. And forget you know and I think this is for Monica. Oh that'll be nice. Yeah and you know this is a this little flocks Redwing lot perineal and. You know this is really going to be pretty next year you just planted there right. It hasn't sort of. It's quite not settled in you know settled in one of the everything gets rooted in start spreading that I have been so lovely and these are those and these are the livings to get a living still right there on a rather annual So you have to replant next year. I try to get mostly perennials in fact I want to do that for most of the garden saves a lot of work it saves a lot of work that's for a lot of money and I still have a mixture of them because the annuals they they bloom so much you know they're just they're

so vivid when they blew it and it's a good idea to have a mixture of unlike what I think you have to have a feeling like baby's breath and cold as all and that's the one we do. Joan this is really lovely and then right behind it is another gorgeous bed this one's pretty ambitious it's quite large. Yes well I had all the daisies out in while this was full of daisies because it was easy and yeah you know. And then they came in to clear the snow and took the daises with them. Thought it was something I'm going to have to do something about. So I got some tops and sort of raised the Drop it was flat. Put these in the the raised aspect of it really makes it fit in with your property. I like that there's so much more interest in it. You have some lovely plants in here. This I think is a still be don't anybody quote me on that but it looks to me like that's what it is and it's such a pretty good layout and I saw you know

coming out what else you're growing in here let me see this. Well you've got lots of Diantha's So yeah dietitian pansies those are really good and I'm wondering these are I don't know I think I'm prone to do my schooling for their house but they look a bit old especially this year. Yeah but that doesn't look like a corn flour to us about I guess you know you certainly do have a lovely little patch of England here in the middle of Alaska. I want to thank you for sharing it with us. Thank you I enjoyed it. The next stop on the willow garden tour is the home of Joyce and Ted Smith. Joyce your place is just fabulous Not only do you have that incredible view out over the lake. This is Crystal Lake right from the upstate from your windows when you look in the direction of your yard you have these fabulous beds. You know this represents a lot of work. Of course you know you did it.

You have been you know how many of these that's been in existence. This is the full 50 and now this year. What was the the area like before you put in the beds. We started building about six years ago and it was all a wooded area a hole and it was wood. So you had to clear all of understanding. You have mostly perennials in here don't you. Yes sign the name for a new nose for less problem that kind of it will grow right now but this is the year and I split them on that room. Well they look absolutely gorgeous. I guess one thing that I really do want to look at are your delphiniums. I believe there's something special about these these for how pollinated runs the sea came from England and they really are beautiful when they have been in the past but I haven't bothered cutting them out against the beginning of the year you're supposed to cut them down to four or five dots so that these are kind of small on the outside. Well I think they're still pretty negative up and down and do it the right way and I notice that these they're white blossoms but

they have a touch of green in them. Yes they do. Is that from the hand pollinating you get to I understand you get slightly different colors. They do yes but not as much as with the at least they come true too and when you do and you split them up rather than just leaving them to nature. Well can't do that all the time this is such a fabulous garden and like I can see that you must spend a lot of time out here it's really beautiful and I enjoy it. JOYCE One thing I've noticed since I've been out in the willow area is that everybody's very much into shape. Gardens are a lot of nice soft curves on the front of your house you have this pretty round the bed it's almost a half circle. How long has this one been here. A three is Stream a friend designed it for me. And they did a lovely job too. And this I see is another predominantly perennial bed but I do see some snapdragons. How often you change your flowers in here until they get dizzy to you

till they get busier you get if this is the change things around quite a bit. You enjoy adding different things a lot of granules. Yeah this is a pretty Diantha this that's a lovely Irish pink color. This one is this troublesome though some of the smaller ones they received so badly you can see with it but this one kind of stays in the bottom behaves itself. At a plant that I particularly love is the white bleeding heart. Yes the Pink is so common but the white ones are really attract my French lady died out here I don't know why and this ones when they do that you know they bloom early and then they disappear before the others do. It seems that I had a white one in my bed and somebody dug it up because they didn't realise that it was something I was saving. Now you have another another though is this the wild geranium or is another hybrid This is the Johnson's blue jumpsuit. Boy that's beautiful. It's big and bushy doesn't it. It's been

blooming for about four weeks now. It's kind of gotten out of control I just discovered that if patchy lives and too much that they take over the garden Well sometimes that's it but there is no and isn't this a Veronica. Yes that is so pretty it's just a little bit lighter shade than some of them and this one has the gray green leaves. Oh I love that photo right. So I love the way that looks and it really breaks up the rest of the Hosh colors if you get too many of us and grey foliage is very good. Joyce your yard and your beds are absolutely beautiful thank you so much for coming out in the rain to show that we have hope. Thank you for coming. The last stop on our willow garden tour is the absolutely beautiful home of Roy and June Burkhardt. June thank you so much for letting us come out here for sharing this with all of our viewers. This place is fabulous. I understand this is your retirement home. Yes. Well you know

I can see what you've been doing with all of your free time these days. The gardens are incredible and they're so big. And it's gorgeous the way it follows the natural landscape the lay of the land. How do you come up with that idea. Well I wanted to keep it as much natural I vowed when I left Anchorage after 30 years I'd have no lawns and I wanted to keep it in the old. European garden style with pathways and off over here which we'll look at later they had come through and done our well and septic system. And this left a scarred hillside of typical Willow clay. So I thought well I'd start there and build up some terraced beds and it just all books just exploded from there exploded. That's right. How does the whole the whole thing. OK the original beds over there are four years old and I've worked in this natural area right directly in front of us here trying to keep it as much a natural wildflowers. The second year and then went

out the third year and did my vegetable garden which we'll look at later. And then last year everything from the walkway towards the north was done in quite a large all Arctic last year No kidding all of these beautiful beds behind us were just a year old year seconds. This is their second summer. They look so good I mean they look like they could have been here for years. DeSoto included putting in the pond in the waterfall we did have the trees we had the blue spruce and the mountain ash is up but the flowers in the beds were all put in last year. June this very first bed has a lovely shape to it as a matter of fact all of your beds have an odd shape or unusual shape. Did you design this all by yourself. I made a doll out I did it. I don't like just squares and rectangles and rounds and everything will have a curve even though it may have a round appearance it'll have a little curve in it. It is so pretty and I like the combinations of plants you have in your work. We're almost right over the old septic tank is that correct. So this was just really an ugly spot and you started putting in these beds. And what I like about what you've done and frankly this is something

I've seen all over Willow on our garden to her is you have this great combination of colors the silvery leaves and the the gray ones the gray white mixed in with the green you get such a great texture. This is this is awfully pretty and this is obviously spreading beautifully. I'm wondering if have you had to cut that back you know. Yes I have. Two years ago I cut it back and it's it's back out into the pathway again. Pretty invasive right but sometimes invasive plants are really nice and down in front you have one of my favorite ground covers the silver lamb Iam also known as a dead nettle Isn't that an odd name for such a pretty plant but it makes a great combination. Now this is a Primula right. That's already bloomed and yes yes that's about the first boomer you know that other than the little is in the spring Yeah and it always is nice bright pink in the springtime and you certainly do have some beautiful delphiniums. Do you what do you do for these in the fall do you cut them back cut them back everything gets cut back. Yeah.

And then I just depend on Mother Nature for natural insulation and pray for you know that's the kind of gardening right like to do I tell you. And then as we move up the slope. I like the way. Yes that we're going up the slope and actually the plants are going to be higher but you're getting your plants themselves are all getting taller anyway. This bed has a lot more delphiniums in it and you've got this pretty little Veronica down in front once again with the silver gray leaves. And also next to it is one of my favorites also that Lamb's Ear that is so pretty you know I don't have any of that in my garden and I think I'm going to have to start adding that in the silver now and this is a great plant because you have kind of a well it's a rock garden right. The mayor was speaking in this and why no will really spread out. You're going to love that as it gets bigger and older. And your little wishing well do you do wish there. Oh sure. Nice most of your plants are perennials aren't they. Most of my perennial so I do add annuals

by containers and pots. Nice thing about them is it that really profusion right color right. And now this this is a really pretty bad this are you. These beds are four years old is that right. So this is I think it's a type of rugosa rose to reduce its white yams. We block probably need less here with us to tell about all the plants but the Maltese cross the big red ones at the back. I've seen people make hedges out of those. They are really nice and they certainly hold up well in Alaska. Yeah I guess one of the reasons I've had such good luck in my gardens is being a very Irish person I've always had a pot of gold and my little lucky leprechaun. And last year I even went so far as to add some gold coins which you're laying it down in the gravel. This section of the beds are really attractive. What I find interesting is that even though they're twice as old as the beds on the right the beds on the right look like they've been the stablished forever also. And you've got lots and lots more flowers over there so let's check those out. OK. This bit is one of those that kind of runs the gamut from A to Z because you've got those tall

almost six foot tall delphiniums that one is in over here by us we're down to this ground cover which is pretty short right. And one of the really nice plants you have in here that I like is a pink Veronica. They they are so pretty I can't make up my mind if I like the purple ones with the green leaves or the Penguins or the green leaves of the purple ones or the Silverleaf. It's obviously you could make your mind either because you've got all hope of all of them. Did you plant this group of Veronica last year as well. Are they yes they were last year. They were last year. They're doing pretty well aren't they yes they are they're really have they were they didn't blossom much last year but this year they're putting out around my show and then here is something I have not tried Linaria. That's not really a perennial is it. I didn't think it was but it has all came back. This was last year's planting. I want to see if it if it's the same plants or it receded. I don't know. Couldn't And I don't know. And these are these related to the what we call the wild Snapdragon Yes the little Also known as butter and eggs. I was only familiar with those I didn't know they came in this gorgeous

brilliant red and gold color. And something else that I think is always good in these beds are the the Hyacinth because they look like they're still blew me. What color were these. They were they're purple grape purple grape hyacinths and now the seed pods What will you do with the seed pods do you just leave in May I just leave them. Do you take do you clean out your beds in the fall. Yes I cut everything down to six seven inches seven inches. Except the ground covers I just let them go. OK. Even even the flour stock so well you got to keep the flour stocks off most of the ground cover Yeah you know I just I was really surprised to learn that a juga does so well up here and I've never seen any this color I've only seen the dark purple head in the air and it's just been a brilliant show it was earlier in the summer it was even a brighter pink. And the stock or stocks when I first came up were almost a purple blue. It was just an amazing array of different colors. Les break was down here several times wishing he had it in his yard just

putting it in mine really. Are you going to just let it spread as long as it wants to and I think I'll take some of it up to the back behind the blue spruce there that color would go with the blue spruce or very well. Fabulous. Plan on taking some of it back there in the next week or two. And what about your bleeding heart. Do you have any more of the this is the old the only old fashion that I have I just absolutely love them so I'm going to treat this one very tenderly. I know they usually spread pretty easily don't they. I've got several other varieties but this is you know my old fashion. I like them because the leaves are so much lazier and the and the flowers are more delicate as well. June you know I see you do have some annuals in this bit I grant you just couldn't resist. There are those little holes in the bricks I gently put Livingston's in every year and one thing about them is you can. There are good weather gauge because they only come out when the sun dished me for it.

I've seen a lot of Diantha's since we've been in Willow because they're practically a ground cover in themselves are much taller but they spread so beautifully. Are these like separate plants here that I can see to that. Yeah they were put in I will. I think they were like maybe six eight inches apart last year and they've spread this much this year. There's another mound of them back over in that other little slope they were planted the same way the same way. And in between the two white ones you have another variety which is also Diantha's but it's a big pink one. That makes a nice contrast having all those around there. The first year I planted Diantha's in my yard I pulled them out in the fall. Why did I feel stupid like I didn't know I don't know what I was thinking at the time. Now this plan is we're coming up to the top of the slope is it's Yarrow. Right. But it's you know I was mostly familiar with the yellow ones and the white the wild ones and wild white ones yeah. I was too I grew up with them with my dad saying take them out drop them out

and now here I have them in my yard and I love them. So I guess these are like I guess these are domestic euro domestic. Yeah and. And when they were put in here we thought we were getting all the dark the darker Pinker and almost red and it was such a delightful surprise because we've got pigs salmon colored one is almost a lilac color now. As we go up around the curve you really have this tapestry of color all in this Yarrow. And with those against those feathery green leaves I mean it is really beautiful. And they're blending with the blue spruce so well the color blue almost as a good background for a lot of plants. I think one thing about Yarrow It's they're beautiful but they don't smell very good. So something you wanted Meyer from that distance. Well here again it's very shallow soil here so we needed something that didn't need a lot of room in the yarrow growing just practically nothing. So that was the main reason for this corner being put in that way and I'm just delighted to have it now. Oh yeah. Is this really rich soil do you do anything to it. Well this was all we brought in all topsoil and then as you know a lot of natural

additives So it's very good soil. Yeah. It's the natural soil here no you have to bring in topsoil and treat it like we do everywhere in Alaska. Otherwise you get Willow clay in June this is a beautiful bit on the right all these little layers in it. Well it was a really rough terrain and rather than to try to smooth it all out and rebuild. I followed the terrain and with just little loops as it went up through the rough part even left some of the stump organ which I often sit pots on. And one last break came down to help me plan he called it a patchwork quilt so it's kind of what we refer to it as yeah and it is beautiful in that it has a few different plants in it than we've seen already today you get some gorgeous clumps of sweet william certainly one of my favorites. The dark dark red all the way to the white right and there's a clump back there that's almost purple pink and that is one of my favorite pretty unusual isn't it. And then this is the gourd to stand out what the peach Bellflower peach tree Bellflower you're called. Yeah that's true elsewhere that's a pretty oh that

comes back every year right. Boy I just love this bed. And we're getting up here to the top. This is one of my favorites that I that I have not started to grow yet myself but I need to get some minutes. It's Lythrum right. Right. How old are these plants. These are again this is second year second is more often I did last year they blew last year. Not all of them. I don't recall them with room looming some of the pendulum's bell flowers Jia and the sweet william were put in last year of course their biannual so they didn't bloom till this year. But the the Lythrum just keeps getting bigger it gets bigger and bigger on it and you can have these huge round bunches of it with just all those purple flowers and it's really striking. June this is a very Alaskan focal point for your European style garden isn't it. Yeah. Well the totems some people up the road have made and put them up at their business and my husband saw them immediately ordered a pair. He wanted

them on this hillside and we really worked hard to getting him up here. And then we came up the idea of the sled and the pond in the waterfall to kind of tie it all together into the Alaskan Alaskan central point. Our theme and you made a lovely scene and your flowers are just a spectacular breathtaking background for the totem poles. This has been a really beautiful visit. Everything is just gorgeous. And I specially want to thank you for providing this wonderful weather. Well I thank you for coming. Appreciate having you here.