Last night the weather changed dramatically, I felt the chilly air after the sun had been out all day. The chill seeped into my house and surrounded me in the morning. Its dreary. Its fall in Alaska.

Summers here in Alaska are short lived, flowers are fleeting and the birds make a quick U-Turn. It was quite literally yesterday and I was “just getting started” when it came to cutting flowers in my garden.

Solution to the problem of not having ENOUGH flowers (if thats even a thing) is to plant MORE. And I am hear to tell you the fall time, even in Alaska is a great time to start. With a little patience you will have your very own flower garden in a year or two.

Planting perennial seeds in a cold climate in the fall time is probably the best known way to combat a gap in the flowers “flowering season”. Typically the flowering season gap is between mid June until mid July here in zone 4 of south eastern AK.

Pansy started in February 2025

So what should I Plant

First lets break it down into some categories to help you understand what seeds “types” work and how you can utilize this to your advantage.

Hardy Annuals

Hardy annual flowers are plants that can survive cold temperatures and light frosts, making them ideal for early spring and fall planting. They typically bloom early in the season if planted in the fall. SO yes you can plant them by sowing seeds directly in the ground.

Perennials

Perennial flowers are plants that live for more than two years, regrowing each spring from their root systems after dying back in the winter. They provide consistent blooms year after year with minimal maintenance once established. Usually flowers the second and establishing

Biennials

Biennial flowers establish greenery the first year, overwinter and flower the second, usually only living for 2-3 years. Some people get a lucky plant and the plant flowers for years.

My main point by stating this information is to really empathize sowing hardy annuals in the fall, but here in august in alaska I am also sowing perennials and biennials . Now on to varieties of plants that Shalom specialty flowers is going to sow in flats in the fall for 2026-2027

Hardy Annuals

• Nigella
• Honeywort
• Bupleurum
• Aster Cregi
• Alchemilla
• Anthemis

Perennials

• Milkweed
• Columbine
• Yarrow
• Bergenia
• Echinops
• Agrostemma Githago ‘Milas’
• Heuchera
• Anaphalis
• Nepeta
• Aster
• Rudbeckia
• Scabiosa

Biennials

• Alcea
• Angelica

As soon as spring arrives the seeds will start to germinate and I will transplant them into my newly amended garden beds that I made this fall.