Noelridge Park Greenhouse and Gardens, Cedar Rapids, Iowa
A Garden Oasis located in Cedar Rapids, Iowa
The Noelridge Park Gardens provide a sanctuary for all who enjoy flowers and the outdoors! It is a large area with over 30 beds filled with color, fragrance, and presentation of hundreds of different varieties of annual flowers, natives, and perennials. Our AAS Display Garden is at the top of the list for color and beauty to see while you’re here. The gardens and greenhouse are owned and operated by the City of Cedar Rapids. There are a lot of benches and tables to sit and enjoy, whether you enjoy the sun or shade, we have you covered! Our garden area has an ADA-compliant sidewalk that meanders around some of the gardens, near the butterfly tent, the hosta garden, and back to the main entrance.
Q: What is your garden most known for?
A. Noelridge Park Greenhouse and Gardens in Cedar Rapids, Iowa is just one park in the 2nd biggest park system in the state of Iowa. We have a lot of things to do and see in our 106 parks! Here at Noelridge is the largest variety of plants provided for all to see but is only 1 of many areas we plant and maintain. The flower gardens get a crop rotation year to year so we don’t get pest or disease problems. That includes the AAS Display Garden which we usually rotate every 2 or 3 years because there are new Winners planted every year. Our gardens are known for the large number of varieties and how they are displayed. Some beds are planted in rows to show different sizes and colors and some are planted in “Grandma style” with large numbers of the same plants for a nice “wow” of color.
Q: When was your garden established?
A. The Noelridge Gardens were started in May of 1972 and have been expanded and changed ever since. There have been trees and benches added for some shady spots and picnic tables to enjoy your lunch among the flowers. Most recently we’ve added a large native bed with educational signage and now have our own seed to collect so that we can add natives to other areas of the City.
Q: How long have you been an AAS Display Garden?
A. The AAS Display Garden here at Noelridge was started between 1985 to 1989, so it’s been here for about 35-39 years. My name is Lori Farmer. I have worked for 30 years at Noelridge Greenhouse and Gardens. In January 2020, I became the AAS Display Garden contact.
Q: Do you showcase AAS Winning flowers, or edibles, or both?
A. At Noelridge we plant both flowers and edibles in our AAS Display Garden. It often depends on the size of the garden if we plant the sprawling vegetable plants or not, and sometimes we use a second bed.
Q: Which AAS Winner(s) attracted the most attention in the garden?
A. The top AAS Winners that attracted the most attention last summer were the Petunia-Bee’s Knees, Canna-South Pacific Orange, and Coleus-Main Street Beale Street. The Bee’s Knees petunia did very well during our hot and dry summer and the yellow color is not seen a lot in petunias. The Canna was very showy, not overly tall and people loved the vibrant orange color. People were awed by the colors of Main Street Beale Street coleus. The dark red to almost purple colors make it stand out against the greens of other plants in the Garden. The Tomato Early Resilience produced the highest yield but it was hard to tell as people like to help themselves to the bounty that the plants provide!
Q: What is the most common question garden visitors ask?
A. The most common question that we get at Noelridge is “What is an AAS Winner?”. We tell them about the trials that are done every year to decide if there are plants worthy enough to become AAS Winners. They are then shipped to Display Gardens like Noelridge to display the plants for gardeners all around the US to see. We inform them about the AAS website and all the information available to them, like where to buy the Winners.
Another question asked is “How many people take care of all the gardens?” We have flower and native gardens all around the City that we plant and maintain. We also grow plants for many other areas of the City such as the golf courses, library, fire station, and airport. There are 2 full-time employees at Noelridge Greenhouse and Gardens, 4-6 seasonal employees, and a group of great volunteers, the “Friends of Noelridge” that help us get the work done. The most common garden challenge, as it is in most gardens, are the weeds that grow. We are trying to use fewer chemicals and do more manual pulling but it can be hard to keep up.
Q: Tell us about the AAS Landscape Design Challenge?
A. We loved the “Whimsical Garden” theme for the Landscape Design Challenge last year because it could go in so many different directions. It was fun to see what each entry came up with for their own idea. We had so many ideas that a committee was put together to trim them down and then decide what to do and get it started. At the event we had for the Design Challenge, it was fun to talk to more people about the AAS Winners, where to find them, and that there are many Display Gardens all over the US.
