After Mendenhall and my first ever (not seen from an airplane) icebergs,
our next stop was Glacier Gardens. No they aren't on a glacier but they are on 50 personally owned acres of reclaimed avalanche/mudslide land on the side of a mountain. The man who began with 10 acres was on his last day of renting thie excavator when he backed into a tree trunk and damaged the machine. Furious at himself, he used the machine to grasp the log and smash it into the ground - into smithereens. Not what happened what occurred was the ground was so soft from the snow melt and mud that the tree rammed into it and stood there, roots waving in the air. (Recall from a previous entry that the glacial soil here is very thin and tree roots grow horizontally, not vertically. As he is looking at this upside-down evidence of anger gone amok, he has a brainstorm: he creates a lattice of rebar, stuffs it with mosses and lichens and plants and VOILA!!! An Upside down tree is born. 
He buys the 40 neighboring acres which abut the 17 million acres of Tongass National Forest and he creates a magical, fairyland in the temperate rain forest! In winter the plants are taken indoors to what, during summer is the Visitors' Center, where the heated floors and greenhouse architecture keep them alive through the Alaskan winter. I loved this place!!
Here are two trees whose roots "glued them together" and when finished will be the first double upsidedown tree in the Gardens. 
The owner is a professional landscaper so ALL the flowering plants are intentionally placed, but all the woods, trees, ferns and native plants are allowed to grow, live, get diseased, die, fall over, rot. Whatever to follow the natural cycle. The Gardens never replant, they allow nature to do so. I discovered Bronze Weeping Beech trees.
I learned that Devil's Club has thorns on the leaf tips that will lodge in skin and fester, but if pounded into a paste, it makes a salve that cures arthritis aches.
It hasn't rained here in a bit but the morning fog is so thick it settles on the plants like dew drops:
The Visitors' Center is the greenhouse in winter; currently it is a riot of color and fragrance that welcomes guests to linger and enjoy. Barbara stopped short when she entered!
Then she turned to speak to me and I snapped a grinning flower lover in her element.
Of course, she immediately returned the favor. We each thought of our mothers and their passions for blooming plants!! 
The Juneau "attraction" we visisted next was the Macauley Salmon Hatchery. This non-profit business raises salmon from fry to full-grown, releasing more than a million a year into the bay; around 5-10 percent return because they have imprinted on the water in the hatchery and find their way home to spawn and die. 
At the hatchery I "met" my first sockeye salmon. Though I must admit that at first glance, I thought he was a mutant or had been in one hulluva a fight!
Right after him, came a close up encounter with a pink salmon (I believe he may just know I migth be contemplating his cousins for dinner!)
We strolled home to the ship through "downtown" Juneau,Barbara stopping to admire a store window display and making a new friend:
Me thanking my lucky stars we didn't have to use the Juneau version of an alley to get back to the ship. 
Our day ended with yet another unidentified beautiful plant. WHERE is Jean (or her magic flower ID app) when I need her??
He buys the 40 neighboring acres which abut the 17 million acres of Tongass National Forest and he creates a magical, fairyland in the temperate rain forest! In winter the plants are taken indoors to what, during summer is the Visitors' Center, where the heated floors and greenhouse architecture keep them alive through the Alaskan winter. I loved this place!! Here are two trees whose roots "glued them together" and when finished will be the first double upsidedown tree in the Gardens. The owner is a professional landscaper so ALL the flowering plants are intentionally placed, but all the woods, trees, ferns and native plants are allowed to grow, live, get diseased, die, fall over, rot. Whatever to follow the natural cycle. The Gardens never replant, they allow nature to do so. I discovered Bronze Weeping Beech trees. I learned that Devil's Club has thorns on the leaf tips that will lodge in skin and fester, but if pounded into a paste, it makes a salve that cures arthritis aches. It hasn't rained here in a bit but the morning fog is so thick it settles on the plants like dew drops: The Visitors' Center is the greenhouse in winter; currently it is a riot of color and fragrance that welcomes guests to linger and enjoy. Barbara stopped short when she entered! Then she turned to speak to me and I snapped a grinning flower lover in her element. Of course, she immediately returned the favor. We each thought of our mothers and their passions for blooming plants!! The Juneau "attraction" we visisted next was the Macauley Salmon Hatchery. This non-profit business raises salmon from fry to full-grown, releasing more than a million a year into the bay; around 5-10 percent return because they have imprinted on the water in the hatchery and find their way home to spawn and die. At the hatchery I "met" my first sockeye salmon. Though I must admit that at first glance, I thought he was a mutant or had been in one hulluva a fight! Right after him, came a close up encounter with a pink salmon (I believe he may just know I migth be contemplating his cousins for dinner!) We strolled home to the ship through "downtown" Juneau,Barbara stopping to admire a store window display and making a new friend: Our day ended with yet another unidentified beautiful plant. WHERE is Jean (or her magic flower ID app) when I need her??
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