Q&A with Alaska State Fair head gardener discussing plant sales in wake of cancellation

WASILLA — The Alaska State Fair recently announced the 2020 season is canceled due to COVID-19, so state fair head gardener Becky Myrvold is making sure all the flowers, shrubs, trees and other sightly plants creatively planted across the grounds get a second chance to beautify people’s lives.

Fair officials are selling the supplanted plants to the public, helping to offset their losses while finding new homes for all the lush greenery unexpectedly robbed of its intended purpose.

Myrvold provided a question and answer interview to discuss the endeavor.

Q: How much work is it to get all this stuff ready for the fair?

“It’s year-round. I start right after the fair ends... We clean up and I start ordering the plants and seeds for next year... By January, I’m sowing the first of these seeds. It’s hard because they’ve been with me since then. By now I should have 10 people, and we’d be out having fun and planting and making the grounds beautiful.”

Q: So, you were already near full swing?

“Before the fair decided to cancel, even before COVID became anything big, I was already three-quarters of the way in. So, it was like, ‘do we stop now? Do we continue?’ We just continued and hoped for the best.”

Q: What is going to become of all these plants?

“We’re selling them so we can recoup some of our costs, so we don’t just have to just trash them.”

Q: Is that a good thing, that they’re going to other folks?

“Yes, it’s beautiful that they’re going to the community. So, the community can share a piece of the fair. It’s heartbreaking for me... Yes, I’m happy people are sharing them, but it’s super hard... this is an incredibly beautiful job.”

Q: Was there anything new or different that you were really excited about?

“We had a whole plan... All of that is a loss. When I look at these, I don’t just see plants. I see the hairs of a musk ox. I see that’s going to make a really beautiful scale for a butterfly. It’s really different for me. I’m not seeing what other people are seeing. So yeah, every year we do something different.”

Q: How long have you been doing this job?

“I’ve been here forever, like 35 plus years. This is my life career.

Q: How many plants did you have ready this year?

“We had close to 38,000.”

Q: What’s the good part about all of this?

“The good part is we’re not just throwing it all away. The public can purchase them and have a piece of the fair for the summer.”

Q: Anything else?

“We have perennial gardens here, permanent gardens that we’re going to do everything can to try to take care of so that they’ll be here for you next year.”

The fair will continue selling plants to the community for another two weeks. Those interested in purchasing plants must make an appointment online so officials can maintain proper social distancing on the grounds.

For more information, visit alaskastatefair.org/site/fair-plant-sale

Contact Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman reporter Jacob Mann at jacob.mann@frontiersman.com