North to Alaska

Hi! I'm moving to Southeast Alaska in June. Wrangell, to be specific. Does anyone know what zone that is? Does anyone have a recommendation for an annual flowering vine I might try and grow up there? Thanks everyone!

I think the summers remain pretty cool along the Inland Passage so I would think that Sweet Peas would work rather well. I don't know what the USDA zone you are in but the Sunset Western Garden Book zone you are in is Zone 4. (If you don't have the Sunset Western Garden Book, I recommend you either buy one or get one from the library. It could be a tremendous help.) Dotti

Thanks Dotti! You think the Western Garden Book would help me then? I will get it today and start to plan my plantings. Yes, I think the summers are cool there. I can't quite figure out the USDA zone for Wrangell, but it looks like maybe 7?? This is a problem when looking at plant hardiness; wondering if it is using the USDA zoning or another. Cathy

Yes Cathy, definitely zone 7. The island probably has many micro zones however. If you know where you're going to be living maybe you can talk to neighbors? I'll bet wind and currents will be big factors and different from one side of the island to the other.

When I lived in Petersburg witch is the very next island that you see to the north I only remember rain. I was young with 2 babies and not much into gardening. My mother in law how ever was. I recall that most of her plants were annual and she put up a huge green house to winter her plants.Can't recall anyone who did a garden as the season was so short there. Good Luck!
Debbie

Wow, Southeast Alaska. I grew up in Skagway and gardened there for 20 years. You have to work twice as hard to get half the results but it's sure worth it! Annuals look great all season long. I never knew that petunias could get sort of leggy and past their prime until I moved to Washington. In Alaska, they remain lush and green for quite a while. AND nobody can grow delphiniums as well as they can in AK. The summers never get hot enough to encourage mold and they grow bigger and stronger each year. Nothing can beat 6 - 10' spikes of cobalt and purple...ahh...The sweet peas, becasue of the mild summer keep going and going. Don't forget to plant some fragrant stock. Peonies do quite well and lilacs never smell better than in that clean southeast Alaska air.Daylillies are a staple, bergenia works nicely. Lots of rosa rugosa. Glads, dahlias (be prepared to dig and store them & start them inside early in the season)

Skagway was more of a zone 4. I'm a little dubious about the zone 7 thing. I also lived in Sikta and Craig (Prince of Wales Island) & believe me, the snow and freezing temperatures sure didn't seem like zone 7 to me. In the Sunset Western Garden book, they list the area as a Sunset zone 4, the same as Puyallup, Washington which, believe me having lived there couldn't be farther from the truth. In any case, there is a book called "Color in Rain Country - Gardening in Southeast Alaska" which is cool and an indispensable book called "Landscape Plant Materials for Alaska" publication P-35 from the cooperative extension service - University of Alaska. I have a January, 1980 edition which was my bible when I gardened there.

Enjoy Wrangell. I'm a little jealous.

Thought I'd share part of " The Spell of the Yukon" by Robert Service. I think you can find the whole thing online by doing a google search.

No! There's the land. (Have you seen it?)
It's the cussedest land that I know,
From the big, dizzy mountains that screen it
To the deep, deathlike valleys below.
Some say God was tired when He made it;
Some say it's a fine land to shun;
Maybe; but there's some as would trade it
For no land on earth - and I'm one.

There's a land where the mountains are nameless,
And the rivers all run god knows where;
There are lives that are erring and aimless,
And deaths that just hang by a hair.
There are hardships that nobody recons;
There are valleys unpeopled and still;
There's a land - oh, it becons and becons,
And I want to go back - and I will.

CATH;
Averages are as follows: http://www.weather.com/weather/wxclimatology/monthly/graph/USAK0268?from=search
Precip avgs run from 3.8 to over 12"

Best;
bluelytes

Lucky you are I left half my heart in alaska so quiet you can hear a snowflke land. clear skies so clean you see true colors unlike the dirt filled sights you get here. Throw in the eagles soaring around and salmon rushing up the creeks and rivers and what could be better than that.

Ak Rick lives in juneau and has put up a small gh maybe he can tell you better what to expect.

Hi all,

As I recall and with calls to my sister and niece who both garden in Alaska still, it's not the averages that get ya it's the freeze/thaw thing that happens repeatedly & most of the time without an insulating blanket of snow. It's pretty hard on some perennials.

My cousin was an extension agriculture advisor between Prince Rupert and Smithers. She'd tell me how she liked visiting Prince Rupert to see the Monkey Puzzle Tree she knew. I've heard there are a few palms (Trachycarpus fortunei) there as well. My cousin also mentioned the freeze/thaw has been worse inland in Terrace the past few years. All the maps I've looked up show 7a/b. It's unfortunate the ferry between Vancouver & Prince Rupert sank. You absolutely need the Western Garden Book - I used mine a few times today.

I tried Cardinal Vine this year and its a little different - small but nice reddish blooms.