Anchorage's Flowers Perfume the Air, Dazzle the Eyes
By John Woodbury

Forget about Paris in the spring. If fragrant flowers and bold buds are your thing, Anchorage is the place to be during the growing season.

With up to 20 hours of daylight in late spring and early summer, plants flourish, and thanks to the green thumbs at the department of Parks and Beautification, Anchorage is literally awash in blossoms during the summer.

Brightly colored displays of indigenous and introduced flowers pepper curbside plots and parcels throughout Anchorage. A walkabout Downtown is a perfumed pleasure, with Town Square Park taking center stage.

"There's a big variety that includes just about everything we grow," says Kathy Anderson, volunteer coordinator for Anchorage Parks and Beautification. "There are a lot of flowers."

Splashes of color dot the Delaney Park Strip, and the Anchorage Museum of History and Art boasts floral accents during the brilliant but brief growing season. The sod-roof Log Cabin Information Center becomes part of the display, and residents join in the annual City of Flowers campaign by making their yards and storefronts come alive with flowers.

Now in its sixth year, the City of Flowers program has blossomed into a city-wide effort, with more than 80,000 plants tended throughout the municipality. Volunteers planted more than 20,000 flowers and logged more than 25,000 hours keeping Anchorage fragrant and litter-free.

"I think it's a matter of community pride," Anderson says. "We need to keep our city beautiful, and this helps make Anchorage a better place."

Anchorage's Best Floral Gardens

• Town Square Park
  Fifth and Sixth avenues between E and F streets
  "Town Square has probably the largest concentration of flowers in one small area," says Susan Miller of the horticulture section of Anchorage Parks and Beautification.
• Anchorage Museum of History and Art
  121 W. Seventh Ave.
  "One of the primary areas for viewing flowers is the museum," says Miller. "Those beds around that block are really excellent."
• Alaska Botanical Garden
  Campbell Airstrip Road
  This 110-acre site located just off Tudor Road features a variety of gardens nestled in a wooded expanse that is home to moose and other wildlife. Check out the herb, demonstration and perennial gardens, which feature a collection of native and non-native plants.
• Delaney Park Strip
  Ninth and 10th avenues between A and P Streets This swath of grass fields, baseball diamonds and tennis courts hides a secret rose garden behind a rugosa hedge. The delicate roses perfume the air, and nearby benches allow for aromatic viewing.
• Log Cabin Information Center
  Fourth Ave. and F St.
• Z.J. Loussac Library
  3600 Denali St.
• Mann Leiser Memorial Greenhouses
  Russian Jack Springs Park
  5200 Debar Road

Anchorage Flower Web Sites Alaska Botanical Garden Alaska Master Gardener Association