By Laura Robertson |
Last Sunday, a yellow school bus carried garden enthusiasts across town as they peered into greenhouses, admired tomato plants and smelled flowers. The Nome Garden Tour, an annual tradition celebrating Nome-grown gardening talent and ingenuity, began at 2 p.m. and continued well into the evening, culminating with a 6 p.m. potluck.
At the scheduled time, plant enthusiasts met at Old St. Joe’s and clambered onto the bus, which was driven by Brittany Heinrich. Once all arrived, it took off, driving around the block and ending up right across the street at the Nome Community Garden. Raised beds were filled with flowers and vegetables, and the participants poked their heads into the greenhouses before getting back on the bus.
Heinrich drove through town and the garden tour peered out the window at some roadside gardens: Dave McDowell’s house, the XYZ Center, and Josie Bourdon’s plants.
The next full stop was Lloyd and Christina Perigo’s home. Inside a blue greenhouse, flowers bloomed white and orange in large pots.
Junk became treasure under Kim Knudsen’s care. She turned an old sled from the dump into a planter. Flowers climbed out of old rainboots. At a little white farmstand, she sold salmonberry jam, candles in recycled spam containers and postcards with photos of her sea glass art. Tour participants got to see her greenhouse, aromatic with the scent of heirloom tomato plants.
The bus next headed to Icy View, and the tourers got out in front of Angela Hansen’s home. After crossing her deck, painted a rich, electric blue, they found themselves in her “Secret Garden.” Willows had grown up thick and twisted throughout the garden and around its boundaries, and they created a kind of maze in which her planters, chairs and greenhouse lived.
Before leaving Icy View, the tour made its way to Angie Gorn’s home. Tall delphiniums grew out of raised beds at the back of the Gorn’s smooth lawn, and a greenhouse was overflowing with raspberry bushes.
Julie Kelso and Lauren Rosene showed off their greenhouses. Kelso uses a sunroom to keep her thriving geranium plants out of bad weather. Both Kelso and Rosene were planning to experiment with new subsurface irrigation systems, and they showed the assembled crowd the equipment they’d bought for it.
On the bus to her house, Julie Cross told the participants that her mother had been an avid gardener, and while Cross hadn’t understood it at the time, she did now and gardened in her mother’s honor. Inside her greenhouse, flowers bloomed in spectacular colors, creating a thick, floral perfume. Only so many people could be inside at once, and fluffy, golden dogs ran around licking the tour participants while they waited their turn.
Lisa Leeper had a greenhouse full of raspberries, and her greenhouse was decorated with sea glass, pennant banners, and a mini-hot air balloon.
The last stop of the tour was Nome-Beltz to see the Beltz Gardening Class. Dozens of tomato plants grew in one greenhouse, while another hosted kale and other leafy greens. Then, it was time for the bus to head back to town so people could drive individually to the celebratory meal at the end of the night.
The evening ended with a potluck in the mine shaft at Dredge No. 7 Inn. There was an enormous bounty of food, including homecooked ginger cake, pesto, and soup. As the gardeners and their fans relaxed with the food, they chatted into the evening.
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