Start your trip with a traditional comfort food breakfast at the newly remodeled Valley Hotel's Round House Café. Or have a great Latte and pastry next door at Vagabond Blues coffee house. If you're out on a Sunday, stop in at the Church of a Thousand Trees. Built in 1936, this small town church in the center of Palmer just glows with a golden log warmth. Then have brunch at the Inn Café, an intimate little restaurant housed in the restored dormitory from the early Palmer Colony project. You'll need to work off those calories with a stroll around the Mat Valley Agricultural Showcase Garden at the Visitor's Information Center where you might get some ideas about what plants you want to add to your subarctic garden. These plants have to be really tough to survive in wind, sun, wind, no snow, wind....If it grows well here it'll grow anywhere! So, take lots of notes. 
Next, head out of town on the Old Glenn Highway and visit our nursery and art studio. Turn onto Clark-Wolverine Road on Lazy Mountain and follow those signs up the hill to WoolWood Studio & Gardens. Our Alaska Grown perennials are just starting to green up in the propagation beds and we're digging and dividing as fast as we can! Come see my trellises, garden art, and birdhouses. Check out the frog choir in the pond. Visitors are amazed that they sound just like ducks! Bring a container later this summer and you can catch a pollywog for your wetland or pond at home.
On the way home, stop for a photo op on the old Matanuska River Bridge. With pullouts on both sides, there's plenty of parking and picnic tables on the bridge. Take a walk along the river banks and look for great drift wood pieces or neat red, black, or speckled rocks for your garden. Or head back into town and get a real soda fountain style shake in a glass with whipped cream and a cherry, and a great burger at the Country Kitchen. Husbands will love the local fishing information on file there!
Call ahead for a tour of the display beds of wetland and upland species at the
state's Native Plant Nursery on Trunk Road ( 746-7290). Located just down the hill from the University of Alaska (Fairbanks) Agricultural Experiment Station, this research nursery specializes in producing plants for commercial growers that are native to Alaska. Primarily used for remediation of wetlands these native specimens can be quite beautiful in a garden and can often be a hardy look-a-like substitute for less hardy favorites. Our graceful native Pacific Willow has very bamboo-like leaves and could be trained over that pond you're hankering for!
We hope you enjoy your visit.
Mark your calendar!
June 24 - 25th - The 9th Annual Alaska Botanical Garden Fair at the botanical gardens. Music, art, great food, demonstrations, plant affianados everywhere and fun for all! Be there! We will!
July 8th - The Blue Poppy Garden Walk is a fund raising event for the Valley Garden Club. 10:00 to 4:00 with admission of $5.00 for advance purchase or $8.00 at the gate per person. They will be providing Coffee, Lemonaid, and snacks. The club members will also be stationed at each terrace garden to explain what the guests are seeing or answering questions if they can.
July 22nd - The second annual Alaska Garden and Art Festival at the state fair grounds. Enjoy the beautiful garden displays put on by the fair's garden crew without the crush of the crowds later in August! Lots of local nurseries, artists, speakers, hands on activities and food for the famished will be on display. Bring your sun block and plan to party!!
I'll keep you posted as more events turn up, so stay tuned.
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