Garden Design

We’re back today visiting with Susie Zimmerman in her beautiful Fairbanks, Alaska, garden.

stone garden path cutting through densely planted garden bedsThe garden beds are planted densely and are overflowing with flowers. Just because you garden in a cold climate doesn’t mean you can’t have incredible gardens.

hand doing work in a new sloped garden bedSusie calls her husband “the Undergardener. He’s contributed a lot of hard work in the creation of these beautiful gardens.

aerial view of garden beds and small garden pondAnd wow, has that hard work paid off! Flowers are everywhere. In particular, notice the towering blue spires of delphiniums (Delphinium elatum, Zones 3–7) you can see in the back of the beds. It is possible to grow delphiniums in many climates, but they reach their peak in the very cool summers in places like Alaska.

three moose in the garden in winterMoose visiting in the winter are browsing for something to eat. They are just as annoying as deer, only bigger!

rock garden with various low-growing plantsA rock garden is full of interesting plants as well as interesting rocks.

plants with small white and purple flowersShades of white, silver, and pink make a soft, romantic cloud of bloom.

close up of Russian arborvitae growing over a garden pondRussian arborvitae (Microbiota decussata, Zones 3–7) tumbles beautifully over the edge of the pond. This low-growing conifer is native to Siberia and so takes the Alaskan winters in stride.

view of garden from balcony of houseLooking down from the house at the beautiful gardens

close up of pink lilies next to small white flowersLilies (Lilium hybrid, Zones 3–8) in the most romantic possible shade of delicate pink.

Have a garden you’d like to share?

Have photos to share? We’d love to see your garden, a particular collection of plants you love, or a wonderful garden you had the chance to visit!

To submit, send 5-10 photos to [email protected] along with some information about the plants in the pictures and where you took the photos. We’d love to hear where you are located, how long you’ve been gardening, successes you are proud of, failures you learned from, hopes for the future, favorite plants, or funny stories from your garden.

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