Annual Central Iowa Tour of Water Gardens Ames, Stanhope, Jewell, Roland, Zearing Saturday, July 7 9 A.M. to 5 P.M. Tickets are available at the first garden, 122 N. Russell, Ames; also at the Earl May Garden Center, 1601 S. Kellogg, Ames; Skycrest Gardens, 343 Dave Circle Ames; Holubs 22085 580th Ave. Ames; Reiman Gardens 1407 Elwood Dr, Ames; Bob Lenc Landscaping & Garden Center, 5425 Lower Beaver Rd, Des Moines. Ticket price is $10 per person. 1. Ada Mae Lewis, 122 N. Russell, Ames Directions: Block north of Lincoln Way on N. Russell Ave. (2nd street east of Elwood Dr; 5th street west of Grand Ave.). Garden is on the east side of street. Multiple water features and flower gardens are in this yard. A front yard 'spring' flows into a stream that crosses a path on its way to a larger pool. Bill Boon, landscape designer, designed this area, Jamie Beyer designed the installation of the water feature & Rob Pritchard, Liquid Landscape Designers, installed the hardscaping. Pavers, Mexican beach pebbles, stones from Iowa fields and limestone are used. Stone retaining walls with rock garden plants outline gardens. A cedar fence, arbor with seating, climbing roses & a front gate under an arch, make it a private front yard. A back yard path & drainage system leads to an in-ground rubber lined pond (ca. 1000 gal.) & a tiny bog. An above ground water feature by a swing in an arbor masks noise from the alley. A back yard cedar fence with arches over gates, climbing roses & clematis surrounds gardens. A small bump out greenhouse is at one end of a garden shed, topped by a Welsh dragon weather vane brought back from a trip to Wales. No smoking, please. 2. Chris and LuAnn Ewan, 822 Burnett, Ames East on Lincoln Way to Grand Ave; north on Grand Ave to 9th St (2nd stop light); east on 9th St 3 blocks to Burnett Ave; south on Burnett (parking allowed on west side of Burnett only on Saturdays). Garden is on the east side of street. The house is the second one on the east side of the street. Outside of the house is gray with white trim. Before adding the pond and landscaping, this backyard consisted of a large cement and rock parking area, a small square of grass and brick patio and a few shrubs and flowers. The extra parking in back was great when we had friends over but we wanted a place that would attract nature and give us a place to relax and entertain. The design and installation was done by Country Landscapes in fall of 2003. Some of the existing shrubs and perennials were saved and used in the current landscape. Most of the trees and perennials were planted before winter of that same year. The pond is approximately 3500 gallons and includes one waterfall and two plant pockets for shallow water plants. The entire rubber liner is covered with river rock. The deepest part of the pond is three feet and the dimensions are approximately 16' x 8'. A cedar deck and arbor along with a paver sidewalk and patio area complete the design. Trees included in the design are: 2 - Ash 'Autumn Purple', 1 - Black Alder, 2 - Crabapple ' Prairifire', 2 - White Pine. Shrubs and vines included in the design are: Serviceberry 'Autumn Brilliance, Dogwood 'Ivory Halo', Viburnum 'Bailey Compact American', Viburnum 'Judd', Spirea 'Snowmound', Ninebark 'Diabolo', Juniper ' Sea Green', Weigella 'Wine & Roses', Honeysuckle 'Dropmore Scarlet', Cotoneaster 'Cranberry', Butterfly Bush 'Black Knight', Spirea 'Gold Mound', Lilac 'Dwarf Korean', Rose 'Nearly Wild'. Perennials included in the design are: Catmint 'Blue Wonder', Sedum 'Matrona' and 'Autumn Joy', Purple Cone Flower, Toad Lily, Zebra Grass, Peony, Bearded Iris, Hen and Chicks, Lemon Thyme, Wooly Thyme, Candytuft, Baby's Breath, Creeping Baby's Breath, Salvia, Russian Sage, Poppy, Coreopsis, Phlox, Creeping Phlox, Liatris, Coral Bells, Hosta, Daylily, Dianthus, Columbine, Campanula, Brunnera, Astilbe, Northern Sea Oats. 3. Tom and Karen Smith, 3109 Balsam Circle, Ames Directions: South to 8th St; west 3 blocks to Grand Ave; north on Grand Ave to 24th St; west on 24th St, (turns into George W. Carver and curves north) to Aspen Rd (2nd left after curve); west on Aspen Rd to Ridgetop Rd (T intersection); north on Ridgetop Rd to Balsam Circle (2nd circle on left). Garden is at the end of circle. This is a series of 5 ponds set on a hillside in a shade garden setting. It is a 'race', the upper pond flowing into the next downhill pond. There is a recirculation pump from the lowest to the highest pond with a lift of about 15 feet. In years past, horses were raised on this property. There is a natural spring entering the upper pond which served as a watering site for the horses. When we bought the property it was a nasty mess. Digging it out, to clean it up, resulted in these ponds which are mud bottomed except for the lowest which is lined. Happily, the spring means that filtering is unnecessary. We have tried fish, but the critters get them. 4. Carolyn Blattel-Britton and Ben Britton, 508 W. North St., P.O. Box 257, Zearing Directions: North on Ridgetop Rd. to Valley View Rd; north on Valley View 1 block to Bloomington Rd; east on Bloomington Rd to Grand Ave/US Hwy 69; north on Hwy 69 approx. 7 miles to E18/130th St (just north of RR crossing); east on E18/130th approx. 16 miles to US Hwy 65; continue east approx ¼ mile to N. Elm (1st street on right); south on N. Elm to W. North (T intersection); west on W. North ½ block. Garden is on the north side of street. In 1994, we started building a rock garden on a vacant lot we purchased in 1991 across from our home. We have hauled in several hundred tons of rocks of various sizes and planted a variety of bushes, trees and perennials. It will probably always be a work in process. In 1994 we started having an art show in our rock garden, ÂArt in our Yard which attracts hundreds of people. Art in the Yard was held from 1994-1998 and again in 2001. We will be making plans for hosting it again sometime and when we do, we will post all pertinent information here on our website. Bus tours and garden clubs have visited the rock garden. In a series of articles on gardens by the Des Moines Register in 1996, Eliot Nusbaum featured our rock garden as a Âyear round gardenÂ. Our garden has been featured with numerous television and newspaper articles. It provides a natural display for BenÂs metal sculptures. Since the Rock Garden is our private property, it is closed to the General Public, open only to this tour or by request 5. Greg and Sue Olson, 202 Duea Circle, Roland Directions: East ½ block on W. North to N. Elm; north to E18/130th (T intersection); west on E18/130th approx. 10 miles to Duea Circle (approx 5 blocks west of 4 way stop in Roland); south on Duea Circle. Garden is at the south end of circle on the east side. Greg and Sue have built four water gardens that are surrounded by numerous perennials, a lilac bush hedge and dwarf conifers. The largest pond (3000 gallons) features a limestone waterfall with aquatic plants, koi fish and sprinkler. A formal circular pond is in a shady area of the yard among hundreds of hostas. This three-tier fountain includes plants, fish and under water lighting that accent the fountain and trees above at night. The third water garden greets visitors at the front entrance with plants, fish, sprinkler, fog mister and colorful under water lighting at night. The last project was a ceramic vase fountain by the back yard deck. The OlsonÂs are also hosta and garden conifer collectors. They have over 400 varieties of hostas and built an octagon shaped four-tier planter that display over 50 miniature and small hostas. Their new display of pendulous and weeping conifers offer both unique and unusual form, texture and color to their landscaping. So if youÂve been pining for a different look in your yard or just want to spruce up the place, the water garden tour will be full of ideas! 6. Blaine and Maricarol Hansen, 56703 135th Lane, Story City Directions: North on Duea Circle to E18/130th/W Maple; west on E 18/130th/W Maple approx. 3 miles to 570th Ave; south on 570th approx. ½ mile to 135th Lane; west on 135th Lane. Garden is at the end of lane on south side. Our pond is truly a healing water garden for all of us. We all love to sit on the deck and listen to the sound of the water as it cascades over the rocks and waterfalls. There is a bedroom downstairs next to the pond and we enjoy a better nights sleep because of the peaceful lulling of the water and the cool breeze that comes across the stream. Even our dogs jump into the ponds a few times a day to cool off and swim. The pond/stream started as a project for Curtis, our son. He had the vision and desire to transform our yard into a water feature. We are fortunate to have many large rocks on our property. When he dug out the ponds and stream we realized that we didnÂt have nearly the amount of rocks that we would ultimately need so we started harvesting rock from the neighboring fields and from ditches along the road. It does not surprise me that Curtis would enjoy working with rocks and streams because he started collecting rocks when he was about two years old and built many streams in our yards over the years. There are two ponds and four waterfalls in our water feature. The water garden has added greatly to our lives. We now enjoy watching the Koi and tad poles swim around in the large pond and love listening to the frogs throughout the day. We get beautiful butterflies, hummingbirds, hummingbird moths and our birds that light on the plants around the pond. We have lighting in the evening and enjoy many fires down at the firepit on the other side of the retaining wall which borders the large pond. 7. Gary and Deb Scott, 12641 Oakview Hgts. Drive, Story City Directions: East on 135th Lane to 570th Ave; north on 570th Ave to E 18/130th; west on E 18/130th 1 block to Oakview Heights Dr. Garden is at the northeast end. Gary and Deb Scott have a kidney shaped pond with a boardwalk going over it to the front entry. The pond has a natural dry creek bed which runs around the home for the for the run off of the pond overflow. Their pond is stocked with Koi and gold fish and has waterlilies and cattail, and is surround by many different varieties of hosta which lends itself to the naturalized surroundings of the woodlands. The whole area is surrounded by 200 year old oak trees. 8. Pete and Elaine Tekippe, 12939 Royal Orchard, Story City Directions: South on Oakview Heights Dr to E 18/130th; west on E 18/130th to Royal Orchard (across Interstate 35); north on Royal Orchard. Garden is 2nd house on the west. Pete & Elaine have a 5 year old pond with a stream, waterfall and footbridge. The pond is stocked with Koi and goldfish. Their wooded lot also featues a long stairway winding down a steep hill. At the bottom of the hill is a 60' footbridge leading to the river. The front yard has an area with many varieties of ornamental grasses. 9. Kenn Outzen and Dean Koob, 548 East Ln, Jewell Directions: South on Royal Orchard to E 18/130th; east on E 18/130th to I-35; north on I-35 approx. 9 miles to Jewel/Ellsworth/Radcliff Exit; west on Hwy 175 approx. 4 miles to Jewel. Garden is on the south side of street. Please park on East Lane Rainbow Botanical Gardens was established in 2001. The gardens consist of a large Hosta collection of between 550 and 600 varieties, a dwarf conifer collection of about 50 and the most unusual collection of Colocasia and Alocasia, s Xanthosoma, Remusatia (Elephant Ears). There are 12 varieties of Bananas planted in the garden which will get well over 12 feet tall by the time frost hits. These are the plants the make the garden so unusual. We have been growing these unusual plants for six years, well before the tropical craze started. Now you have come to see the ponds of which we have two of them. The large one holds about 3200 gallons and has two streams running into it. We have three pumps in this pond -- one for a Bio filter (1000 gph), one for a UV light (500 gph) and the other for the large stream (3200 gph) which has no filter. The other pond is about 100 gallons with one waterfall and has a 1200 gph pump. This pond is in shade for most of the day but we are still able to get some blooms on our lilies. Dean and Kenn welcome visitors at any time, just give them a call. 10. Nila and Clayton Zanker, 860 School St, Stanhope Directions: West 1 block to US Hwy 69/175/Main St; south on Hwy 69/175 approx. 2 miles to Hwy 175 West; west on Hwy 175 approx. 8 miles to Hwy 17; north on Hwy 17 to Center St (7th street to east); east on Center St to School St (first street to north); north on School St. Garden is on the east side. Gardening On A Shoestring. After a long interest in gardening, 8 years ago, my husband I decided to put some landscaped ponds in our yard. We started with a smaller pond that was connected to a larger pond with a series of waterfalls and a small stream. We stocked it with fish and built up the surrounding areas with rocks and various plants and flowers. Two years later we decided to build another larger set of ponds on the South side of our house. A friend came over and donated his time and equipment for only a couple of cases of beer! These ponds were also built up with different rocks that we found. All of the rocks came from our farm. Most of the plants that we have were given to us from friends and family. The time to build was donated from our 4 sons during a lot of summer weekends. Through a lot of trial and error, we still continue to work and add to our ponds, but have always loved the time that we get to spend together working on them. An additional reward is having our friends and family over to relax and enjoy all the sounds of the water and the beautiful yard that we have created. This event is co-sponsored by the Story County Master Gardeners Assoc. and the Central Iowa Water Garden Association. For more information contact Judy Anderson, 515-278-0939, email: andrsnjudy@mchsi.com or Jamie Beyer, 515-433-0194.

LOL, Debra.....that is the sort of look I rock when I visit Carl Harmon's garden in late July. It always seems to be in the 90's that day and I spend hours meandering around the hot field, getting pollen and purple daylily juice on my clothes and legs. I enjoyed your photos, anyway. I LOVE those birdhouses! Just today, I had to put two baby robins back in the nest. The wind had knocked the nest down and the poor things were on the ground with mama squawking nearby. We have several birdhouses here that are mostly occupied by chickadees. Wish the robins would use birdhouses and not the eaves of the house or the floodlight. I had to climb on a ladder to get the nest back up there. Blue Ridge Gardens looks like heaven. I used to order from Bob when he sold on the Blooming Auction. Some of my healthiest, hugest, and all-round best daylilies came from that garden! About the daylilies.....all are super looking but my favorite is My Pet Dragon and orange is my least favorite color, so that's a compliment! The other I love is Help From Your Friends. Now that's my favorite color!! Oh, and I forgot to mention, that I met Charmaine Rich a few years ago. My hubby and I rode there on our motorcycle. She will always remember us....lol.

Thank you Jeri and Sheila, Sheila, it is not really an ordeal, I am very chill about it and even looking forward to the arrival of the roses. I have learned in my life not to get stressed out about things over which I have no control. The Board of Directors I work with, the staff at the Research Station where the gardens are located and of course my volunteers are all on board. As long as I lead, they will make things work. The local retail nursery, Garden Works, also stepped up to help at the first request. This crisis shows that good people, with good hearts, do good things. So, I am experiencing a reality that is beyond my control. As an early elder mentor used to tell me: "From the day that you're born, till your ridin the Hearse, there ain't nothin so bad that it couldn't get worse"! That has been a mantra to me from my mid twenties to my late 60's. The reality is that it is spring, and my own garden is coming to life, as are the Summerland Ornamental Gardens behind locked gates. The cycle of the seasons goes on irrespective of our human fears and individual angst. As the old Bobby McFerrin song "Don't Worry, Be Happy" so succinctly instructs, no worries, it is what it is and it will be what it will be. So cherish nature, hold fast to those you love and smell your roses Sheila. Another poem from modern mythology that suits the times and is one I have used to live by goes: Roads go ever ever on, Over rock and under tree, By caves where never sun has shone, By streams that never find the sea; Over snow by winter sown, And through the merry flowers of June, Over grass and over stone, And under mountains of the moon. Roads go ever, ever on Under cloud and under star, Yet feet that wandering have gone Turn at last to home afar. Eyes that fire and sword have seen And horror in the halls of stone Look at last on meadows green And trees and hills they long have known.[ From - "The Hobbit", J.R.R. Tollein Don't Worry, Be Happy. It is what it is and will be what it will be. Rick

Embothrium, yes there are plans for signage, that is on the spring to do list. Both myself and the lead on the Grounds Committee, as well as members of my Rose Team, are fans of companion plantings. However, we will wait to finish the new garden and for the plants to fill in before we begin to make decisions on companion plants. I personally like an English Garden look and plant companions such as Lavender, Delphiniums and others in my own rose garden. So we shall see how the garden unfolds as it and we move forward. There are deer and bear fencing around the entire research station. We seldom have deer inside the Gardens, however back bears are resident in summer. The research station has orchards, vineyards and other yummy test plots surrounding the display gardens. We are also right on the edge of mountainous wildlands, so the wildlife is handy by and this is their territory, not ours. Same can be said for the First Nations Peoples in the valley. Think Yellowstone National Park in the US. We are very cognizant of the human, bear interface and post a lot of information, along with bear proof refuse containers. The few resident bears ignore the humans almost completely and are in fact a bit of an attraction in themselves. One old sow loves to climb an old Ponderosa Pine with a spectacular view near the new rose garden and doze in the crook of a large llmb on summer afternoons. I have often had to ask "visistors" not to get to close or to disturb her. She is quite photogenic when dozing. Very occasionally, the Provincial Conservation Officer Service has had to remove a deer, or a young bear who does not yet know the rules, from inside the fence. I love the fact that the wildlife is so close. The South Okanagan Valley is home to a lot of wild critters. We have many protected areas and soon, a new National Park Reserve in this part of the Province. I have California Big Horn Sheep in my neighbourhood every winter. And each spring, there are young back bears looking for a new territory. The problem is never with the animals. It is always with the people who don't care, or won't share the "their space" with the rest of our fellow Earth creatures who were here long before we were.. If we do not soon realize that we are part of the environment and the environment is part of us, Mother Nature will fix the problems we are causing in spite of us. We as a species are far too arrogant and ignorant about our importance in the grand scheme of things. It is past time that we as a species and a culture reflect on our place and our ecological limits in the grand scheme of things.. Cheers, Rick