Kerry McCluskey
Northern News Services

Iqaluit (July 30/01) - People used to tell Joanne Rose she wouldn't be able to garden outdoors on Baffin Island.

They probably stopped telling the long-time Iqaluit resident that about the same time she harvested her first crop of potatoes.

"They were small, but they were there," said Rose.

As for the taste of the spuds, potatoes have never tasted so heavenly. "It was fantastic because they were so new -- right out of the dirt," she said.

Seventeen years and a new location later, Rose's garden is a must-see for both local folks and tourists. Passers-by routinely pause to take in the intense medley of vegetation. Imagine onlookers' surprise upon discovering two evergreen trees (small, but trees nonetheless), a rhubarb patch, raspberry bushes and a healthy mix of Northern and southern flowers, plants and grasses.

"I just like it," said Rose. "It makes me happy to come home from work and walk past it," she said.

Rose started the well-known garden by rescuing indigenous tundra plants from construction sites. She said builders would dig up the greenery and leave it to die so she slowly began bringing home different kinds of plants. She can now name more than 30 kinds of flowers and plants thriving in beds, boxes and on the ground in her yard.

"We used to go after work and fill up the back of the Bronco," she said.

"We started patchworking it together and at first, it looked pathetic," she said.

Her husband, Bert, built her a greenhouse a few years back so she could add to her collection of growing things, but Rose said after spending the winter indoors, the last thing she wanted was to be inside.

She joked that the hobby gives her the opportunity to revel in the childish pursuit of playing in the mud.

"Ever since I was a kid, I loved playing in the dirt and water. This is a good excuse not to look dopey doing it," said Rose.

And, because the growing season is remarkably short -- Rose doesn't begin to plant until the middle of July -- she can't stand the thought of missing out on getting dirt under her nails, even for one year. On a course in Manitoba for the summer, Rose travelled home specifically to plant her garden.

"I couldn't bear not to put it in. I had to come home."