Gardentalk

Deb Rudis says the best places around Juneau to view Alaska wildflowers include up the road to the Eaglecrest Ski Area, Brotherhood Bridge meadow, Eagle Beach area and Cowee Meadows off 38 mile Glacier Highway.

Snap them off when they start bending over and looping on themselves or you may have small garlic bulbs at harvest time.

Blueberries, raspberries, apples and cherries all seem to be late this season, likely because they have little energy left over from last year's cool and wet conditions.

Other common edible plants in the Juneau area include dandelion, broadleaf plantain, broadleaf avens, chickweed, sourdock, fireweed, and salmonberry.

Lisa Daugherty prefers layering carbon on top of food scraps in a compost bin so that it doesn't attract flies, squirrels, ravens, and bears.

Seedlings from Alaska certified seed potatoes should have soil mounded up around them as they grow every two- to three-inches.

Plant garlic bulbs pointy end up, about two inches deep and about six inches apart. Flower bulbs may be planted, depending on variety, from two to six inches deep.

Buckets of water and fleece blankets can slow the freeze-and-frost process

Ornamental plants like petunias, begonias, dahlias and fuchsias won't survive even a mild Southeast Alaska winter outdoors. We need to bring them into a space that won't freeze.

Wilting and yellowing vegetation must be trimmed off fast — before they succumb to slugs and fungus.