Looking for variety? Try a new approach

After a few years, the flower garden starts to look the same -- alyssum, geraniums and lobelia throughout. If you want to take a different approach to the flowers this summer, there are plenty of options.

Recluse Gardens is a unique place to start when looking to mix it up in the garden. While they have all the usual suspects -- the popular species of flowers -- they have lots of rare and imported species.

"We've got a lot of rare foreign flowers. That's really what we specialize in," said owner Rhonda Williams.

In the front bed of Recluse Gardens, visitors can find colorful varietiesof flowers from the Orient, Turkey, Yugoslavia, Armenia and other destinations thousands of miles from Alaska. The flowers have been chosen specifically for Alaska's climate and growing season.

Many of the flowers Recluse Gardens offers were brought back to Alaska following a seed expedition three years ago.

If you want to get away from flowers, you can plant a variety of shrubs and trees that can spruce up your home.

Northern Fruits Nursery in the Butte, for example, has a wide variety of plants and tree species, such as crabapple and chokecherry trees.

Unlike annuals, planted trees and shrubs flower year after year, and they provide lasting cornerstones around which to plan your landscaping.

Next season, if you want to get back into flowers, trees and shrubs serve as good complements. Yet another alternative, and a popular one in Alaska, is a rock garden.