32°

Merrill Jensen was delighted Saturday to discover a splash of yellow - tulips from central Asia he planted last fall - sprouting at the city-owned arboretum.

"Hoo, hee," he said, charging over to the spot where the small, star-shaped tulipa tarda bloomed under a tree.

The plants are one of the first additions the horticulturist made as manager of the arboretum, and they add a new hue to the purple primroses that dominate the landscape this time of year.

Jensen, who is not related to the family the Jensen-Olson Arboretum is named after, has been living on the grounds for one year. He got the job after finding a want ad while doing Internet research for a vacation to Southeast.

"It had been posted the day before," he said. "I was looking at the right Web site on the right day and got lucky."

He said he was hesitant to take the job that requires him to live on the property where he works, until visiting the 15 acres set in stunning Pearl Harbor just north of the Shrine of St. Therese.

"I'll be working in a bed and hear a whale spout, look up and see a pod of orcas going by," he said. "Sometimes it's so quiet, you can hear the tides change."

Juneau's arboretum is the fourth public garden Jensen has worked in. With a Bachelor of Science in ornamental horticulture from Washington State University, the 52-year-old worked at Idaho Botanic Gardens in Boise, Idaho, and was the collections and acquisitions manager at The Oregon Garden in Silverton, Ore.

Before moving to Juneau, he was the director of horticulture at the Elizabeth F. Gamble Garden in Palo Alto, Calif.

A longtime desire to live in Alaska was spurred by an uncle who spun tall tales from Fairbanks during Christmas vacations when Jensen was just a kid growing up in Cheyenne, Wyo.

His love for plants and addiction to bulbs also germinated when he was a child. He wasn't thrilled at first with the gift of crocuses his grandmother gave him for his seventh birthday.

"Then February rolled around and they popped up, and I got hooked," he said.

He planted 1,000 bulbs this past fall at the arboretum.

New plants and trees are just part of Jensen's plans for the three acres of developed land that was originally homesteaded by John Petersen in the early 1900s.

Guided by an architectural design Caroline Jensen had commissioned before she willed the property to the city upon her death in 2006, Merrill Jensen looks forward to a list of improvements that will be paid for in part by an endowment Caroline set up before her death, and also in grants.

With a seasonal staff of two and some construction help from the Rotary Club of Juneau, he plans to expand the flower beds, build an information kiosk and a possibly viewing shelter, complete an alpine rock garden, erect a sign to mark the entrance, dismantle an old boat house and make signs for all the plants.

And the 100-year-old vegetable garden will be improved where it is overgrown at the ends, he said. The garden produces carrots - "so sweet with a nice snap" - beets, cabbage, peas, broccoli, potatoes and strawberries. Most of the food is donated to the local food bank.

Besides the tulips, Jensen was pleased Saturday to see an anthropology class from the University of Alaska Southeast doing course work on the grounds.

With her gift to the city, Caroline Jensen stipulated that no organized tours would use the property, which she wanted to be a classroom.

Long-term goals are to convert part of the garage into a classroom for year-round instruction, and to build a greenhouse and conservatory near the beach.

"She didn't want this turning into South Franklin Street," Jensen said. "It's a gift to the people of Juneau."

The free arboretum is open to the public from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday.

• Contact reporter Kim Marquis at 523-2279 or e-mail kim.marquis@juneauempire.com.