New growth exudes from all mounds and corners and walls of the Arboretum as we bask in the post equinox light—what squeezes through clouds. Mid-March spares no time melting the snow. This time last year snow lingered on the ground, until early April. Weather records have been set in ten of the past fourteen months in the Juneau area—and nearly as many records throughout the country. As I pick up the pieces of wind-blown trees, move the mushy piles of leaves blanketed by snow before being raked, I feel fortunate. Storms from the Gulf of Alaska may spawn gusts and squalls, but at least they don’t spawn tornadoes as have ravaged the Gulf of Mexico states. Our mountainous surrounds occasionally fall victim to landslides and avalanches that scrape the landform clean, much like hurricane force winds rip one-hundred-year-old oak canopies to shreds. Neither is a pretty sight, but these buds coming up despite the weather sure brighten a gardener’s outlook.

Snowdrops, crocus, and corydalis glow atop the leaf litter of last year. This year the beds rested comfortably due to the record persistence of the white stuff. In January there was 41 inches of snow on the grounds at the Arboretum. Thankfully it sealed in the gardens before any deep freeze settled in and remained through most of the ice—until the late January rains. Small ponds formed in some areas of the grounds. Surrounded by high snow, the water could not run off. It’s possible some plants could suffer ill effects from the standing water. As spring continues to evolve, let’s hope more Primroses and perennials bring the color back to those saturated spots.

Visitors and supporters of the Arboretum are going to be looking for that color all summer. We’re counting on it to frame the events planned to celebrate JOA’s 15th Anniversary. Children’s programs, art, music, and revisiting our favorites: Primula Day and the garden community picnic. As limitations on gatherings lift, the anniversary events are expected to attract an array of visitors with wide ranging interests. We’ll be including some onsite plant sales with events, refreshments will be back thanks to some industrious FJOA foodies, and the first Art in the Garden call. My focus will be on garden appearance, like cleaning house before guests arrive. In early March Parks & Rec staff assisted me in removing more bear-attracting mountain ash. Several woody plants will receive vigorous pruning, and I am hoping the supportive weed warriors return this year to help keep garden beds tidy. Positive visitor engagement and attention will be a high priority since visitation is expected to dramatically increase as tourism returns. I look forward to continuing to talk about the valuable impact Caroline Jensen made by donating her property for the public to enjoy. The Southeast Alaska Land Trust was instrumental in shaping the vision of the property, they too will join in on the anniversary celebrations.

School groups, weddings, and clubs return this summer to benefit from Caroline’s vision of using the grounds for education and their pure aesthetic value. Whether groups realize it or not they are part of the anniversary. And, anniversary or not, JOA staff strive to keep the grounds tidy and lovely for those groups as well. Volunteer time goes a long way toward extending the scope of our maintenance in the gardens.

I look forward to a robust volunteer season adding knowledge and skills to support events. FJOA has already been invaluable in many facets: volunteers inventoried and stored the Word Stones to help plan to order more words; committees have been formed to spearhead the art in the garden project, and to searching for an education coordinator; and board members have divvied up who will be leads on each of the special events planned for the summer. I’m sure many of us are especially looking forward to the individually crafted refreshments that will provide a sense of hospitality to our visitors at the events. Or, really, we’re all looking forward to following the blooms in the fabulous gardens that Caroline developed, and the first JOA manager Merrill formalized. As soon as the next flowers appear, that wave of primroses that splashes the landscape pink and purple and white, I’ll soon forget all those wintry record snow and rainfall days.

Ginger Hudson

JOA Manager

The storms also washed some seaweed up out of the normal tideline that Ginger harvested and applied to the veggie garden--on a rare sunny day!

Spring is a time for hope and renewal of life. Winter’s darkness and cold is receding, the earliest spring bulbs are blooming. So with hope and rebirth of the natural world and in our gardens, I welcome you to the spring 2022 issue of TWIGS.

This is the Jensen-Olson’s 15th year as an Alaskan Public Garden. Let’s celebrate!!! Thanks to the creative energy and drive of Merrill and Kelly Jensen and now Ginger Hudson, JOA is well established and flourishing.

To celebrate our anniversary, the Friends has prepared events all summer. Three events in May, and an ongoing Art in the Garden show starting in June.

Check out the website: friendsjoarboretum.org

There is lots of information on the site, and if you haven’t renewed your membership that would be a great time to do so.

Enjoy the gifts of spring in Southeast Alaska and especially at JOA. Come visit often to witness the ever-changing beauty of the Arboretum.

Pat White,

FJOA board President

 To highlight the arboretum’s national primrose collection, Twigs will feature one of the more than 150 Primula cultivars in this and subsequent issues. Notes are adapted from Merrill Jensen’s “A Primula Minute”, a series of presentations he made to the Juneau Garden Club and from A field Guide to Selected Plants Jensen-Olson Arboretum. In this issue we feature the drumstick primrose, Primula denticulata, probably the most common and loved spring primrose in Juneau gardens; it is certainly the most common at the arboretum; in 2020 Merrill counted 7400 plants.

In the 1840’s, Primula denticulata seeds were brought back from its native moist meadows in the Himalayas to England where it became a popular cultivar. The drumstick thrives in cool and moist southeastern Alaska. The deciduous plant forms a basal leaf rosette from which the strong flower stems emerge during flowering. It grows (6 to 18 in) high and almost as wide. Flowers range from white, lavender, dark pink, to red and are arranged in the characteristic drumstick-shaped ball.  P. denticulata are easy to grow from seed or division and do well in many soil types with adequate humus and moisture. Be on the lookout for the basal leaf rosettes in April, weather depending of course, and for plants for sale at the arb in May.

Pat Harris,

FJOA Board Member

A Gift for the Future 

Many people are familiar with the history of the Jensen-Olsen Arboretum – how Caroline Jensen and her husband moved “out the road” and cultivated the property in the mid-1960s. Over the years, Caroline worked hard to transform a portion of the property into a fine flower and vegetable garden. Many also know that Caroline wished for her gardens to benefit Juneau long after she was gone and that this is why she gifted the property to the City and Borough of Juneau in 1998.

What many locals may not realize however, is that Caroline simultaneously worked with the Southeast Alaska Land Trust to place a conservation easement on her property. A conservation easement is a legal document that effectively preserves Caroline’s gardens for the public in perpetuity. The Jensen-Olson Arboretum was the first property to be conserved by the Southeast Alaska Land Trust.

The Southeast Alaska Land Trust was a new organization at that time, incorporated in 1995 to conserve vitally important properties with landowners just like Caroline. In Caroline’s own words, the conservation easement enabled the arboretum to be maintained for the public to enjoy, and as an educational center for learning about gardening, horticulture, and landscaping. When Caroline passed away in 2006, the city assumed management of the property and established the Jensen-Olson Arboretum.

Today, the Southeast Alaska Land Trust tends to Caroline’s vibrant legacy with bi-annual stewardship visits and by thoughtfully interpreting the conservation easement as time passes and the arboretum evolves. We work closely with the City and Borough of Juneau, with the arboretum manager, and with Friends of the Arboretum, to ensure that Caroline’s vision is maintained as she would have wanted – for the community, forever.

To find out more about the Southeast Alaska Land Trust, please visit our website at www.SoutheastAlaskaLandTrust.org.

Amanda Pilley

Communications and Development Coordinator

Southeast Alaska Land Trust

Arboretum in summer photo by Amanda Pilley

We hear from community friends that when they need landscape inspiration, they often head to the Arboretum. This is the time of year when the urge to grow hits gardeners, as it does plants. The Friends of Jensen-Olson Arboretum are busy ensuring a docent is available in the garden whenever possible.

Volunteer docents at the Arboretum help make inspiration come to life. A docent provides a cheerful welcome, answers questions, shares personal knowledge, and is a vital part of the Arboretum operations. Each spring we invite interested persons to join our vibrant group of volunteer docents.

If this may interest, here are the details:

If you are interested, please email your name and phone number to friendsjoa@gmail.com, and we will provide you more information.

See you in the garden,

Mary & Kim, Docent Coordinators

Some displays inspire your garden, and maybe even your wardrobe!

FJOA is looking for submissions for art to be featured at the Jensen-Olson Arboretum from June 15th through September 5th as part of an Art in the Garden display to celebrate the Arboretum's 15th Anniversary. The exhibit will be juried and $750 worth of prizes will be awarded!

What do you need to know?

All amateur and professional artists are eligible to submit up to three works.

Please include a description and up to three renditions such as drawings, photos or videos.

Submit applications via email to friendsjoa@gmail.com by April 15th.

Visit our website for more details.

      

We featured articles written by FJOA members in both the Fall and Winter issues of 2021 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!

        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 

    Friends of Jensen - Olson Arboretum Partners  

  Friends of Jensen - Olson Arboretum Board Members