Flowers of Skagway

Never having traveled so far from my Chicago roots, it was interesting to me to see the effects of twenty hours per day of sunlight on gardens and flowers. I had visited Halifax, Nova Scotia, on two previous cruises and had remarked that the flowers there in August look as lush as the flowers in Chicago in June. But Alaska has much more sun power than Halifax, it seemed to me.


Touring a garden in Skagway, I was struck with the intensity and clarity of the colors of all the flowers. The greenery, as well, was powerful and beautiful. This particular flower was one of hundreds on display, with a touch of rain on the petals, on an otherwise gloomy morning. Featured among these gardens were kale and other vegetables that were impressive giants in the well-tended landscape.


We get nowhere near as much sun time in Chicago, of course, and I doubt I would like to take the extra sun that Alaska gets in summer. After all, if there is twenty hours of sun on a day in summer, there would likely be four hours of sun on a day in winter. Hard to imagine. Believe it or not, though, I would love to not only take another cruise tour to Alaska, I would love to fly up for a long weekend sometime. In the middle of winter. It would be an adventure!

A poem:

FORGET-ME-NOT

Visitors learn much in beautiful Alaska, noting at times that the
Forget-me-not is the state flower, but no explanation included.
Shouldn't the state flower of this state be some giant showy beauty
Technicolor and about the size of a dining platter
Rather than the classy subtle attraction of the forget-me-not.

Forget-me-not? Who could forget this wonder? Ever?