TWIGS _FJOA Quarterly Newsletter

~ TWIGS ~

Quarterly Newsletter of

Friends of Jensen - Olson Arboretum

Autumn Issue October 2022

Quarterly News and Updates

For your autumn reading enjoyment, this issue is bursting

with updates and stories...

An end of summer wrap-up by JOA Manager, Ginger Hudson; A message from Pat White, FJOA President; The Primula Spotlight! By Pat Harris with notes adapted from Merrill Jensen’s “A Primula Minute”; Three perspectives on a fantastic potato harvest; A blurb from Ginger Hudson announcing the success of the summer video project; and flooding photos from the heavy fall rain.

Here’s to a Fabulous 2022 Summer Season!

Some arboretum autumn color by Pat Harris

Art in the garden, Shakespeare amongst the flora, an awning for the potting area; new and exciting ways to celebrate the Jensen-Olson Arboretum’s 15th anniversary.

Colors, shapes, and creativity of Art in the Garden engaged visitors on a new level. The art was enjoyed by summer staff, regulars, and out-of-town visitors. Each piece created a unique experience in the garden. Locals came to see artwork created by their friends or family members. Most people said they’d definitely return, they “had no idea this place existed.” Hard to believe, but true.

This newsletter is the first to publicly announce that three artworks have been donated to JOA. Jay Crondal donated his “Rain or Shine” glass panels seen hanging in the Chilkat Shelter. Thank you to FJOA for purchasing and creating the frame system for Jay’s piece. An anonymous donor generously purchased Corey Alicks’s “Untitled” glassware towers seen at the top of the Word Garden. Bob Dilley in combination with an anonymous donor made Bob’s “Nature’s Glass” a fixture for JOA. His art was visible under the shore pines in the bed across from the Glass House.

“Nature’s Glass” glass and cedar by Bob Dilley

placed under the shore pines across from the glass house.

All art will be stored indoors during the winter.

Look for them to return to the gardens next summer.

“Untitled” recycled glass towers by Corey Alicks at the top of the Word Garden

“Rain or Shine” stain glass artwork by Jay Crondall seen in the Chilkat Shelter

I am grateful to all of the artists who shared their talent with the public through this unique setting. If you know any of the artists featured in the gardens this summer, please thank them for their willingness to put their work out in the open–literally–this summer. I hope we can host another art event next year.

Could there be a more apt work of transient art to honor the arboretum than A Midsummer Night’s Dream? Oberon, Titania, Puck, and the dancing fairies with an Alaskan interpretation–XtraTuffs and all! A fine production by Theater Alaska brought out the largest crowd known in one evening to the arboretum. By some estimates, perhaps one-third of the audience had never been to JOA previously. That’s what these events are all about, opening up the community to the wonderful botanical gem Out-the-Road.

Thank you to Theater Alaska for adapting to the space as the crowd grew. Thank you to FJOA volunteers who helped greet and manage the ribbon of cars along the side of Glacier Highway. Actors, dancers, hosts, and the audience were treated to a spectacular sunny evening. We are proud to say no one was hurt, no trash was left behind, and the forest fairies lingered to entice the remaining summer blooms.

Views of Theater Alaska’s production of A Midsummer’s Night Dream

Ken Murphy and Mike Tobin, trusty parking patrol for the theater performance and many other busy events at JOA this summer

Volunteers are key to successful events like Art in the Garden, Mother’s Day, Primrose Day, and family education workshops. Over 100 hours flowed into these events and others in the way of greeting guests, baked goods, tent-table-and chair wrangling, parking attendants, shepherding young artists, and so much more. Volunteer Weed Warriors and Perennial Potters contributed 100 hours of muddy digging, root detangling, and pot preparations. Master Gardeners working on their certifications contributed nearly 250 hours cultivating the veggie garden, dividing perennials, writing plant descriptions, and cleaning and packaging seeds. With master gardener assistance, JOA donated about 200 pounds of produce to the Glory Hall, the AWARE shelter, and the Southeast Alaska Food Bank.

Last year FJOA held a raffle with the proceeds dedicated to building an awning over the JOA’s potting and seeding work area. After selecting a basic design and referencing building codes, construction began in July. Bill Ehlers and Ken Murphy are both donating their time to build this much needed awning. This new covered area will allow staff to work outside during less-than-ideal weather. In the past, staff has attempted to work under patio umbrellas, inside the garage, or in the gardener shed. None of those situations were ideal or conducive to potting soil and plant division! The covered area is 20 feet wide extending 10 feet off the back of the garage. A successful raffle year, a much appreciated donation, and a nice addition to JOA.

I cannot begin to express how much I rely on volunteer support, whether it is time or materials. FJOA in particular enables JOA to plan events without feeling overwhelmed. All of those hours of love and dedication for JOA radiate out to the community demonstrating the value of Juneau’s botanical gem to locals and visitors alike.

The planning doesn’t end when the flower season ends. In late October the materials from our 15th anniversary installation at the Juneau-Douglas City Museum will come down. Many out-of-towners visited JOA after viewing the installation; those without transportation enjoyed learning about Juneau’s little arboretum. I’ll be looking for other locations to post information about JOA, including the Travel Juneau visitor center. Early in November I will attend the Alaska Invasive Species Workshop hosted by UAF in Anchorage. JOA shares information about new non-native plants appearing on the shoreline, and the European Mountain Ash removal project. Everyone gains insight into research about effective ways to remove or reduce the spread of unwanted plants. As the weather trends warm in Alaska more outside plants are able to take hold, threatening our cherished ecosystems.

Planning next year’s veggie garden and perennial bed amendments is a big JOA winter task, just like all of you. Seed and vegetable purchases and planting plans are already in progress; surely everyone who likes it has planted garlic by now, next will be spring bulbs! Winter is the standard time to revise the current CBJ-JOA budget. Also this winter, CBJ maintenance will replace deteriorating copper and lead plumbing in the JOA residence.

Somewhere between all those activities I will take a well-needed vacation. Then early next year, before we know it, I’ll be meeting with FJOA board members to plan events for next summer. Some are traditions and will stand, some were new and successful, some may not be advantageous to volunteers or staff. What events did you enjoy this summer? What would you like to see at the arboretum? We welcome your ideas, and most importantly your time to help carry those ideas out. Whatever your capacity, thank you for your continued support of the Jensen-Olson Arboretum, its lore, bounty, and its growth.

Ginger Hudson

JOA Manager

One of many mixed food donations.

Progress on the new potting bench cover, built with funds from last year’s raffle.

Ken Murphy and Bill Ehlers began work on the cover in July this summer.

The completed potting cover!

Photo by Pat White

Message from the President

Photo Below: Ribes bracteosum,

grey currants at the entry plaza

Hello Dear Friends of the Arboretum:

Welcome to the fall 2022 issues of TWIGS.

The greens of summer are changing into yellows, golds and some red/ bronze. Garlic is being planted, the garden chores for fall have begun. This time of year I recall and reflect on the summer process and the relationship between my expectations and what has actually happened.

Certainly the warm weather of May and June combined with the steady cold of winter produced some glorious plants. In my garden it seemed like everything was extra special in size and strength of the plant and blossoms. I feel very very lucky, and my expectations were more than met. July brought fog and rain which turned my great pea crop into a tangle of blossom end rot. Again, my expectations were different from the outcome; one positive one not so positive. The life of a gardener. The summer ended with lush deck boxes of lilies, dahlias and nasturtiums. I sure hope your gardens finished as wonderfully as mine.

The garden beds at JOA have had similar reactions to the weather this summer. I hope you had the chance to visit this summer and, now as the fall foliage is coming on. It is not too late to come on by.

As this season of activity for the Jensen-Olson Arboretum winds down, a few thank you notices are due.

Thank you to the anonymous donor for the purchase of two art pieces for the garden. Bob Dilly and Corey Alicks’s pieces were purchased, and will return to the garden beds after being safely stored over winter.

Thank you Kelly and Merrill Jensen for celebrating with us this summer.

Thank you Corrine Conlon for her efforts to provide educational programs.

Thank you Theatre Alaska for choosing JOA as a site for their summer festival production.

Thank you all the volunteers who helped at JOA this year, weeding, baking for special events, serving the refreshments counting types of primrose, dividing and potting plants, working in the vegetable garden.

And thank you to all who have become members this year. Your memberships and donations help FJOA support the Jensen-Olsen Arboretum into it’s next fifteen years.

Pat White,

FJOA board President

Primula Spotlight!

Pictured Below:

Primula florindae, yellow and orange forms (July 21, 2022)

To highlight the Jensen-Olson Arboretum’s national primrose collection, Twigs features one of the arb’s more than 150 Primula cultivars. Primula florindae (Tibetan cowslip), is almost as ubiquitous and easy to grow in Juneau as our beloved drumsticks. A native of southeastern Tibet, it seems quite at home in southeastern Alaska, self sowing “with abandon” to quote Sally Arant (Alaskan Primrose Primer). Plants are perennial and produce abundant fragrant yellow, orange, or shades of reddish orange blossoms in mid to late summer. It is often one of the latest primroses blooming at the arboretum.

Notes adapted from: A Field Guide of Selected Plants Jensen-Olson Arboretum, Merrill Jensen

Pat Harris,

FJOA Board Member

Primula florindae and

Primula vialii (red) (June 27, 2022)

Primula florindae, (June 27, 2022)

Videos made for JOA with ARPA Grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services

FJOA received a $3,500 as part of the American Rescue Plan Act created to assist museums and libraries in adapting to distance education as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. FJOA board members, with the assistance of JOA manager Ginger, crafted two grant applications last year to the Alaska State Library, our regional grant administrator. One grant was a Project Grant, the other an Easy Grant; FJOA was granted the latter. The goal of these grants were to develop distance learning programs or to create content for folks who may not be able to travel due to Covid restrictions. FJOA proposed to create short videos: an overview of the arboretum, a description of some of our programs, one on the Primrose collection, and one instructional video.

After a search for a local videographer, Veriditas Rising was selected. The owner, Kevin Jeffery, founded Blue Index, a way to capture peoples’ emotional reaction to water–in his previous home of Austin, TX. His interest in the environment proved a great fit. Kevin spent many hours documenting activities and the nature of JOA. His skills and our knowledge came together to make some informative videos remarkably squeezed into two-minutes shorts! For the instructional video, Will Mader of KTOO documented Ginger and Pat White talking about pruning techniques.

FJOA board member and digital wizard Michelle Duncan will be creating a Youtube channel to host these videos. The website will have links. We had a fun time creating these and look forward to making more and building a library of videos to enhance the outreach of the arboretum.

Ginger Hudson

JOA Manager

Stills from the video “Basics of Pruning”

Three Perspectives:

Tlingit Potato Harvest with Harborview Elementary School and TCLL

Photo below:

Elizabeth (Betsy) Kunibe (left)

and Michelle Martin (right) reconnect.

On September 28, teacher Michelle Martin from the Tlingit Culture, Language and Literacy (TCLL) program at Harborview School brought her fourth and fifth graders to the Arboretum. Their focus was to dig the Tlingit potatoes that were ready for harvest in the garden and to explore the word garden with the new Tlingit words that have been recently added. The Friends of the Arboretum provided the money for the bus transportation and the rain clouds parted for a lovely fall morning at the Arboretum. The students were split into two groups. One group dug potatoes while the other created poetry in the word garden. The students were familiar with many of the Tlingit words and used them seamlessly in their creative sentences. We were surprised by the large harvest of potatoes and by the enthusiasm of the kids for creative expression. Michelle was delighted by the experience and had a chance to renew her friendship with Elizabeth Kinube, the botanist who has done a study on the DNA of the Tlingit potatoes. We hope that the TCLL students will be able to come in the spring to plant potatoes for next year’s harvest.

Susan Baxter

FJOA Board Member

Stones above read: "Gunalchéesh Caroline"

In english: "Thank you Caroline"

Stone poem below:

"Wet as a strong salmon"

Tlingit Rocks!

…Literally!

We have added 29 Tlingit rocks to our word garden with the help of Will Geiger at the Sealaska Heritage Institute and Hans Chester, Juneau School District. Gunalchéesh tlein, Will and Hans!

It was heartwarming to hear the visiting 4th and 5th grade students’ excitement when they discovered a word they recognized and even more heartwarming to see the poetry they created.

The young author of the raven poem below explained it: "Why is Raven (Yéil) dark on the outside, but happy on the inside? Father said, Eagle is here forever."

Pat Harris

FJOA Board Member

Stone Poem:

"Just feel dark and happy big yéil

why father said eagle is here forever"

Science and History

Studying the Tlingit Potato

FJOA board member Sue Baxter leafed through her rolodex to find a group eager to learn about growing and harvesting potatoes. A gaggle of forth and fifth grade students under the leadership of Michelle Martin visited JOA on September 28 with the charge of getting their hands dirty. FJOA generously purchased children-sized gloves and sponsored the bus service to bring 24 children and 4 chaperones out-the-road. In addition to Sue, FJOA board member Pat Harris were on hand to assist in guiding the dig; along with Elizabeth (Betsy) Kunibe, PhD. candidate studying the Tlingit potato. Michelle divided the group into the separate grades and Sue helped guide students in the Word Garden while Pat helped with the digging. The potato row was divided in half so each grade had the opportunity to dig. About 30 pounds of potatoes were relieved from the dark, rich soil.

Some of the potatoes will be stored for replanting at JOA and shared in the community for planting. Many will be added to our produce donation rounds, and a few were passed on to Betsy for research. Betsy is working with Sagar Sathuvalli, PhD. of Oregon State University to continue genetic testing on the Tlingit and Haida potatoes. Readers of this newsletter who live in Southeast may be interested to know that the Tlingit potatoes grown at JOA originally came from Richard and Nora Dauenhauer’s garden. Betsy passed them from the Dauenhauer’s to Merrill Jensen early in his tenure at JOA. Nora was a well-known and loved Tlingit poet and both she and Richard worked tirelessly to document the Tlingit language and translate their stories. JOA is honored to grow and educate the public on this valuable food crop.

Ginger Hudson

JOA Manager

On September 28 students from Harborview Elementary School and TCLL helped harvest Tlingit potatoes from the JOA veggie garden.

Photos in this section taken by Pat Harris, Ginger Hudson, and Sue Baxter

Battling Lake Caroline

Record flooding across the entry of the arboretum on October 1 followed by 9 1/2 inches of rain over a 5-day period. 3 of those inches in the 24 hours Sept 30 - Oct 1.

Lake Caroline was so deep–deep enough to top Xtratuffs– the entry path had to be closed for a day!

Ginger Hudson

JOA Manager

Jensen-Olson Arboretum Events 2022

November 25-27: Juneau Public Market

FJOA will have a table with gift memberships, field guides, cards, and seeds for sale.

Look for these highlights in the Winter issue of TWIGS

*Snowy photos of a quiet arboretum

*Information about the new

videos on the website

*Year-end reflection and a peek into plans for 2023

Thank you to those who supported the Friends of Jensen-Olson Arboretum through

Pick.Click.Give. this year!

We appreciate your generosity!

You may have noticed...

We featured articles written and photos taken by FJOA members in previous issues of TWIGS. If you would like to be included in a future issue, please contact friendsjoa@gmail.com. We love being a platform to share our members' expertise and experiences. Our community is full of incredible gardeners with unique perspectives. If you have something you would like to write about, we want to know about it!

"Lake Caroline" at the entrance to the Arboretum

Mission Statement

The vision of the Arboretum is to provide the people of Juneau a place that both teaches and inspires learning in horticulture, natural sciences and landscaping - to preserve the beauty of the landscape for pure aesthetic enjoyment - to maintain the historical and cultural context of the place and its people.

Caroline Jensen