This afternoon I paid a call on **Pat Holloway**, Professor of Horticulture at the University of Alaska and Director (and founder) of the Georgeson Botanical Garden. I wanted to ask her advice on a science project we are doing at my school which involves growing plants in a very cold environment. **Horticulture **is the science of plant cultivation.
The plants are on the upper floor.
Professor Holloway was amazingly nice to me. She gave me several hours of her time, took me on a tour of her greenhouses, answered all of my questions, gave me some books and magazine articles, and even drove me back to the hotel afterwards.
There's something magical about how it affects your mood. As soon as you step inside, you breath deeply and say Ahhhh....
It is a wonderful experience to step in from the snow and enter one of her greenhouses. Suddenly you are in a colorful and luxuriant jungle. I saw figs, a coffee tree (!?), tulips, goldfish, and ornamental plants too numerous to list here.
Old greenhouse
(I think)
I'm not sure what these are
Professor Holloway’s projects aren’t all about gardening, though. She has discovered that Alaskan blueberries have ten times the antioxidants of blueberries in the lower 48 states! Since a lot of people like to eat blueberries for their antioxidant properties (antioxidants are chemicals that are good for you and prevent cancer), Holloway believes there is real potential to market these berries to consumers outside of Alaska.
University of Alaska greenhouses
What else? It turns out that Alaska is uniquely situated to grow peonies . During the summer and early fall, they really can’t be grown anywhere else. But they do very well outdoors in Alaska. So, Holloway is promoting Alaskan peonies to the world cut flower market.
In the greenhouse.