Pollinator-friendly garden, community gardens featured on Cedar Rapids garden tour

On a sunny June afternoon, Mateo Rwayitare, 5, could barely contain his excitement at the chance to help release monarch butterflies.

When his neighbor Carol Elliott asked him to extend his hand so he could hold one of the butterflies, he was scared at first; 'Do they bite?' he asked. But once a bright orange and black butterfly was crawling on his arm, he squealed with delight, jumping with excitement after the butterfly flew away.

Elliott holds these butterfly releases regularly with neighborhood children as part of her efforts volunteering with the Monarch Research Center in Cedar Rapids. She also raises monarchs in a small tent in her garden, where she grows milkweed and other pollinator-friendly plants.

Her garden will be featured on the Linn County Master Gardeners Garden Walk on Saturday, July 8. Filled with shade-loving plants like hostas, interspersed with bright bursts of colorful lilies, her garden displays many of her passions, caring for butterflies being just one.

Glass art she crafts at the Ceramic Center pops up among the flowers, and in the backyard a brick patio provides a comfortable seating area around a wood-fired oven her husband Craig Elliott built to facilitate their love of hosting homemade pizza nights.

A master gardener and member of the Iowa Regional Lily Society, she said gardening never gets old.

'I absolutely love lifelong learning,' she said. 'No matter what I learn, there's always more.'

Her garden will be showcased on the garden tour alongside four other gardens on Cedar Rapids' southeast side.

'We try to select gardens that have some diversity and that are in the same quadrant of the city,' said Master Gardener Beula Dvorak, chair of the garden walk.

This is the first year the walk will include two community gardens: the Wellington Heights Community Garden and a garden at the Catherine McAuley Center, a nonprofit serving women and immigrants.

Both gardens highlight the Linn County Master Gardeners community garden partnership program. The Master Gardeners provide education, consultation and mentorship for community organizations interested in planting gardens. Catherine McAuley Center was the pilot partnership a few years ago, and the program has since expanded to almost 20 gardens around Linn County, including at several area schools.

At the Catherine McAuley Center, women who live at the center have done much of the gardening and taken gardening classes. The first year, Master Gardeners taught the classes, and the second year a Catherine McAuley staff member took over.

Dvorak said she hopes people are inspired during the garden walk to take on their own gardening projects.

'We hope people will get some inspiration to garden themselves if they're not already, or perhaps get some new ideas to use in their gardens,' she said. 'And we hope people deepen their love of gardening. There's just something wonderful about walking through a garden and being in nature.'

In addition to the Elliott's garden, at 2038 Fourth Ave. SE, the tour includes:

Wellington Heights Community Gardens, 1449 Fourth Ave. SE: Designed to be inclusive, this garden features both raised and elevated beds which can be used by seated gardeners. Volunteers from Transamerica created the hardscaping, the pergola and raised beds using materials donated by Home Depot and Lowes. The picket fence was painted by students from the Johnson STEAM Academy and installed on the United Way's Day of Caring in 2015. Under the supervision of Master Gardeners, students from McKinley Middle School and Johnson STEAM Academy are learning garden management skills and planting and tending vegetables. The original Community Garden is located a half block north on 15th Street. The perennial garden in the rear yard has been restored over the past three years by neighborhood volunteers. Neighborhood residents are encouraged to visit the garden and use the produce growing there.

Catherine McAuley Community Garden, 1063 Fifth Ave. SE: The Catherine McAuley Center facilitates this community garden with 12 raised beds, a wild flower bed and a pollinator center. For the past two years, the center has grown over 800 pounds of produce used by residents and students at the Catherine McAuley Center. Last year the center held its first butterfly release party and began herb gardening.

Wiesendfeld Garden, 4325 Pioneer Trail SE: This garden has evolved over 27 years of experimentation and features a landscape and garden designed to fit the natural surroundings. Sitting on about 2 acres, it includes pollinator gardens, shade gardens and vegetable gardens as well as developed woodland, prairie and open areas shared with a variety of wildlife.

Nelson Garden, 6313 Berry Rd. SE: A variety of perennials, annuals, shrubs, small conifers and ornamental trees abound in this unique garden, which also features whimsical, handcrafted garden art, water features and a model railway running through the garden, complete with handcrafted metal structures and bridges.

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IF YOU GO

What: Linn County Master Gardeners Garden Walk

When: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday (7/8)

Cost: $5 adults, 12 and under free

Details:

extension.iastate.edu/linn/news/2017-garden-walk

l Comments: (319) 398-8434; alison.gowans@thegazette.com