For information about membership or upcoming programs, contact: Cooperative Extension Offi ce 1675 C St, Suite 100 Anchorage, AK 99501 Phone: 786-6300 Fax: 786-6312 AMGA NEWSLETTER October 2014 Volume 16, Issue 10 Message from Barbara Baker, Co-President We are bringing back our Membership Drive Drawing! Prizes, including gift certifi cates to Alaska Mill and Autumn‛s Feed, Starbucks and other fabulous gifts will be re- color vealed at the October meeting. All you need to do to palette be eligible is renew your membership by October 31, in is visible person or in a postmarked envelope. The drawing will be through- held at the November meeting. out South Central. A Autumn is also the time to think about becoming a board recent trip member for AMGA. Each year one-half of the board is I took to up for election and this year several of our wonderful the Kenai board members will not be returning, since their terms are up or they have other commitments. Our board Photo by Barbara Baker Peninsula may rival helps determine the monthly programs and summer the east coast‛s striking landscapes and color. The gold- garden tours. Some members have used their adminis- en mountain scapes with their streaks of red and orange trative talents to strengthen the organization. Others are breathtaking. Nature‛s art work is vast, colorful and have used their marketing and communications skills to extraordinary here in Alaska. help get the word out about our organization. Board members are also involved in developing fundraising Refl ecting on September‛s program, it‛s clear our choice ideas. There is a place for your talents on our board. of deciduous trees and shrubs is much greater than we Contact me or any of the board members if you would may have realized. Varieties of maple, elm, oak and ash like more information about serving on the board. I can are successfully growing here and can bring added color, be reached at [email protected]. leaf shapes and tree scaffolding to our landscapes. Now is the perfect time to add one of these to your yard for year-round enjoyment. Inside This Issue.... Autumn is also harvest time. Our October meeting Message from Barbara Baker will feature Cooperative Extension‛s Leslie Shallcross September Meeting: Noteworthy Trees who will talk about “Preserving Our Harvest”. She will Treasurer‛s Report discuss the many ways to extend the use of your foods Peony Viewed As “New Crop” By USDA through canning, dehydrating and freezing, for example. Thank You Summer Garden Hosts! We‛ve always come away with interesting tips and great recipes, when Leslie speaks. Growing Young Gardeners: Sunday morning pancakes Teas from the Forest and Garden If you fi nd that your harvest of potatoes, beans or Paris quadrifolia (herb paris) other yummy produce exceeds your needs, consider a Bird Chatter donation to one of the many food pantries throughout Herb Study Group Update South Central. Food banks are having a diffi cult time 2014-15 Master Gardener Class Information and Links keeping pace with the increased needs in our communi- Garden Event Calendar ties. We will have a barrel at the October meeting to Reminiscing about Advanced MG Camille Williams collect food donations for the Food Bank of Alaska to The Gardens of London Tour Share the Harvest. Noteworthy Trees wonderful pictures with By Pat Anderson the names of tree species that are under-utilized, but Jill Shep- viable tree options for our herd, one of area. She had 22 pictures Anchorage's and names of fabulous fi rst Master trees that we can and Gardeners, is should be growing in our the compiler yards! Patricia suggested Patricia Joyner - Photo by of the original that we go to UAA and see Nickel LaFleur "Notewor- the trees and the color. thy Trees of There are elms, ash, oaks, limber pines, pears, Malus Anchorage" and Prunus, lilacs, hawthorns shrubs, currants, black in 1998. She chokeberry to name a few. Go online for the UAA tree began her tour, and check out the tour; there is a map given to Jill Shepherd - Photo by Nickel LaFleur tree report follow. Patricia is always aware of exceptional trees and with the tree history of The Anchorage Memorial Park takes an interest in them, which means taking pictures Cemetery, 22 acres of land in downtown Anchorage to show what grows in Anchorage. We have a wealth of between 6th and 9th Avenue. The Cemetery was creat- incredible trees that grow right here in our city! ed in 1915 by Woodrow Wilson's Executive Order No. 2242. Three years later he ordered that one half of Nickel LaFleur, Certifi ed the land be sold to religious and fraternal organizations. Arborist and Advanced Today 50 percent of the free burial land is for the pub- Master Gardener, told lic, and 50% is for private burials. Our city cemetery is us how to buy and plant one of the most unusual in the nation. The Bagoy family trees. planted a small chokecherry tree there in 1940; in 1961 BUYING - get the right the Anchorage Garden Club planted two European Bird tree for the right place, Cherry trees at city hall which was noted in the Anchor- remembering that they age Times. Anchorage Garden Club members planted will get bigger. She the hedge around the perimeter, and donated shrubs said (and used props) to and trees which included caragena, honeysuckle, rugosa visualize trees and its rose, lilac plus Mountain Ash, May Day and fl owering roots as a wine glass on crabapple. a turkey platter. Roots are located in the top 12" Nickel LaFleur - Photo from to 16" of soil. The garden club envisioned the cemetery as a public Nickel LaFleur arboretum, where native and non-native trees would be Continued on page 6 tagged with permanent markers. In 1974, a weeping birch tree was planted. The Times paper covered all the events and supported the effort with editorials, photos and ‘how-to‛ articles about trees. The Soroptomists Treasurer‛s Report Club partnered with the Garden Club, and the City of Anchorage thanked the clubs for the donation of 94 Balances 7/31/14 Checking account 4035.63 trees, including one Lodge Pole Pine, "the largest in An- Savings account 11678.63 chorage". George Sullivan was mayor that time. In 1976 $17321.56 McDonald's restaurants donated 1776 trees to the Dedicated Funds $6453.86 School District. The MOA with help from Atlantic Rich- Revenue: fi eld started the AnchorTree project in 1978. ARCO Plant Sale 1290.37 provided 1,300 free trees to residents. This giveaway Interest 1.49 Membership 100.27 continued for a number of years, with the number grow- $1392.13 ing to 3,000 in 1981. In that year Town Square Plaza, Expense: with all its trees, was created as well as the Performing Operations 49.99 Website 45.00 Arts Center, Sullivan Arena and the CJ Loussac Library. $94.99 All research materials for Jill's article were available because of the tireless efforts and vision of Nickel Balances 8/31/14 Checking account 6938.58 LaFleur who researched the history of the Anchorage Savings account 11680.12 Garden Club, of which she is a member. The Garden Club $18618.70 has a copy of the history, as well as Nickel. Dedicated Funds $6453.86 Patricia Joyner, Certifi ed Arborist, with the Community PAGE 2 Forestry Program, the AK Division of Forestry, showed Peony Viewed As “New Crop” By USDA September 15," she said, "but that's okay -- we sold all By Jill Shepherd the buds.” Last spring Alaska peony grower Rita Jo Shoultz sat Alaska harvests it‛s peonies from July to September, down to talk with Sen. Lisa Murkowski in the senator‛s when there are no peonies blooming in the rest of the Washington, D.C., offi ce about Alaska‛s burgeoning world. Peonies are one of the cut-fl ower industry. Shoultz was in the nation‛s capitol most popular cut fl owers for at the invitation of the White House. weddings, so the Alaska market fi lls the summer and fall wed- “I was nom- dings' niche. inated as a “Champion Shoultz, who is a former mem- of Change ber of the Alaska Master Gar- for the New deners Association, started and Generation operated Fritz Creek Gardens of American with her husband Leroy for 16 Agricul- years before concentrating on ture,” said peonies. Shoultz. The April 18 Thank you Summer Garden Hosts! event was Courtney Thompson – Forget Me Not Nursery hosted by Robbie Frankevich – Glacier City Gardener the White Franny and Dave Junge House to, in the words of an offi cial press release, “cel- Luann and Steve Hennig ebrate the innovative accomplishments of local agricul- Gina Docherty ture leaders in farming and ranching, both now and in Mary Shier the future.” Doug Tryck – Tryck Nursery Kate Wilber – The Natural Health Center “I was the only person ever recognized for cut fl ow- Harry Deuber ers,” said Shoultz. “Usually the nominees are farmers Camille Williams – Pioneer Home and ranchers who produce food crops, cattlemen, fi ber Sandy Skaggs growers, that type of thing.” Sherri Spengler Bonnie Tisler – Anchorage Senior Center Neither President Obama nor the First Lady were at Annie and Dennis Ronsee the White House ceremony, but Shoultz did meet with Rosa Meehan – Mardane‛s Garden Krysta Harden, deputy secretary of the U. S. Depart- Sharon Davies ment of Agriculture. Susan Brueshaber “Peonies are a “new” crop in the eyes of the Department of Agriculture,” Shoultz reported. Autumn Quotes “ Bittersweet October.