Have you a list of plants that fit that criteria? I am trying to increase the number of perennial vegetables that I have so that I can harvest without having to plant and perhaps they can be divided and shared around the neighborhood? I have Egyptian onions, rhubarb, asparagus and a few others. I want Mache, horseradish, and maybe some artichoke which will need winter protection and may not be worth the extra work. We need to replant the strawberries also. We will be putting in more native plum (Prunus americana) and Nanking cherry (Prunus tomentosa) this spring. Any others to recommend? When I show that things will grow, I am more likely to get the neighbors to try it.

Lee AKA Fireraven9
The snow on your eyelids that curtsy with age
A freezing rare stare on tyranny's wings
The bitterness, hardness, warmth of your skin
Is diseased with familiar caresses (Winter Song - Nico/Cale)

You might try the Manchurian Apricot (Prunus armenicaca var. mandschurica) and/or the Siberian Apricot (Prunus armeniaca var. sibirica) for your area. Both are supposed to be hardy from Zones 3 to 8. Their size can range from 4 to 25 feet, with a width of 6 to 25 feet. "Nanking" Cherry is a good pollinator for them.

Both need a well-drained soil of moderate to high fertility, in a position of full sun but protected from wind and early and late frosts.

It is very hard for me to envision Alaska as being an area protected from early and late frosts *l*.

Incidentally, I don't think edible flowers is a good enough reason to plant rugosa roses, which have the potential for turning your neighborhood into something unusable, very much like multiflora roses have done around here.

Do any of the blueberries live in your area?

Thanks for all your replies. The plants in the "packets" are ones I grow and know will stand up to climatic conditions here. The apricot is interesting; however, as yet I cannot get even crabapples to fruit - no honeybees, having to attract wild bees. Blueberries do grow wild in woods here, and I am trying to grow cultivars in our very acidic soils. As yet, no fruit, after 2 seasons. That is why I am only giving away plants I know will fruit or grow.

Lee, in your climate what about prickly pear cactus, agaves, rosemary, and other heat and dry loving herbs?

I could grow those if I lived in town where it is warm. We are 2000 feet higher than town though and none but a few prickly pear (not the type they have down on the mesa) will live. It is one of those odd situations, we have some good heat in summer (3 months frost free) but we are mostly dry and cold or dry and cool. I can grow almost any herb here though. The herbs that I cannot grow are those annuals that like a long season to mature and perennials that need a warmer climate. I do have a bay tree indoors though.

The Manchurian apricot clump has not done much, but maybe with the new drip system it/they will grow more. Late frost and early frost is the problem for most tree fruits here. Native plums and chokecherry manage well though.

One lucky thing ... we have honey bees in the valley. We also have mason bees and bumble bees and an amazing selection of moths for night pollination. We are fortunate for that. Have you considered buying mason bees or orchard bees for your area? They are not like honey bees and would not require a hive set up.

.

Lee AKA Fireraven9
When you enter a grove peopled with ancient trees, higher than
the ordinary, and shutting out the sky with their thickly inter-twined
branches, do not the stately shadows of the wood, the stillness of
the place, and the awful gloom of this doomed cavern then strike
you with the presence of a deity? -Â Â Seneca

Here is a link that might be useful: Bees!

Dear Lee,

Yes, mason bees seem like a good choice. When I was in the Lower 48 this summer I picked up a book on them and got some nesting tubes.

Two years ago I planted a good deal of comfrey on the swampy edge of the lower garden, both for biomass production, and as a bee food. This past summer I was delighted to find that the comfrey flowers were always covered with wild bees! I've been reluctant to get bees of any kind until there were enough flowering plants on this property and nearby to feed them. Thanks for the link.

Donna

I am surprised that your blueberries are not producing yet.
They like acid soils, and they need plenty of sun. Down
here in Wisconsin, I have to hand-water twice a week in
August, they don't like to have dry roots.

Food for bees is a good reason to have plenty of native and garden flowers. A good excuse to plant as many as you can, yes? While those are getting established you can help out by feeding sugar water when there is a gap in flower production. We did this when the spring flowers did not bloom in drought years and in years when late frosts delayed flowering. At first they tried to raid the hummingbird feeders, but we just put out a dish of sugar water and they liked that well enough and we do it as needed. Having too few bees can make it hard to get fruit. Honey bees like to gather nectar and pollen form large numbers of the same sort of flower. (not sure where I read that) Once that type is done they may switch to another type of flower. A grove of fruit trees is attractive and a large hedge of flowering shrubs (blueberry or roses for rose hip jelly or hip pulp added to fruit leather) should attract them too. I am not sure that mason and orchard bees are like that. Bumble bees (I love to watch them) do not seem concerned about getting all of the same type of flower at all.

Anyway, with a little help (sugar water) and planting more spring and summer flowers the population could increase without having to buy bees.

Lee AKA Fireraven9
When you enter a grove peopled with ancient trees, higher than
the ordinary, and shutting out the sky with their thickly inter-twined
branches, do not the stately shadows of the wood, the stillness of
the place, and the awful gloom of this doomed cavern then strike
you with the presence of a deity? -Â Â Seneca

I have some thoughts regarding your lack of fruit produced
on the blueberry shrubs in your yard. We have no honey bees
here in our yard, either. The blueberry shrubs are visited
by local bumblebees, and also some wasps.

One year we had a very late spring, due to several months of
consistently wet or overcast weather. The grass was greening up nicely, but nothing was blooming, except for
creeping charlie. I had regarded this plant as an invasive
weed, but the bumblebees were feeding on the purple blossoms
that spring, when there was no other food available for them.

Is there an early blooming ground cover type plant that is
native to your area?

COULD YOU ALSO LEAD NATURE WALKS TO FIND WILD FOODS, ESPECIALLY BERRIES, TO MEET THE NEIGHBORS & PLANT YOUR IDEAS??
YRS AGO, THE AK DEPT OF AGRICULTURE HAD A HANDY LITTLE BOOKLET WRITTEN ABOUT 2 DOZEN+ EDIBLE WILD PLANTS... I SEEM TO REMEMBER THAT BLUEBERRIES & CRANBERRIES WERE LOW BUSH (ANKLE HIGH) & GREW BEST IN SUNNY OPEN PEATY BOG AREAS... WHILE THE THUMBLEBERRIES, SALMONBERRIES, BLACKBERRIES, STRAWBERRIES & ROSE HIPS COULD ALSO GROW IN DAPPLED SHADE/SUN ON WOODY CLEARINGS... BEST GUIDE WAS LOOK FOR BEAR SIGN... THEY LOVE ALL BERRIES!GOOD EATING TO YOU.K