WATERLOO — Tucked behind their house on Waterloo’s Graceline Boulevard, Kim and Grant Veeder’s charming garden is planted with “anything that makes me happy,” said Kim.
Kim and Grant Veeder’s home garden on Graceline Boulevard, one of the seven gardens featured in this year’s Grout Museum Garden tour.
CHRIS ZOELLER Courier Staff Photographer
A broad mix of annuals and perennials bask in the sun, while hostas are the foundation for a shady spot in another corner of the garden started 33 years ago. Scattered throughout are vintage finds, like a metal headboard that is now support for climbing vines and a tricycle with shimmering streamers dangling from its handlebars, as well as a variety of garden art. Small quilts hang on the fence and walls.
Kim and Grant Veeder’s home garden on Graceline Boulevard, one of the seven gardens featured in this year’s Grout Museum Garden tour.
CHRIS ZOELLER Courier Staff Photographer
The Veeders’ garden is one of seven beautiful plots that will be open to the public Saturday for Garden Tours 2024, presented by the Grout Museum District and Friends of the Grout Historic Houses.
The tour is from 1 to 5 p.m., and participants can view the gardens in any order. Tickets are $15, available online at www.groutmuseumdistrict.org or at any garden site on tour day. Children 12 and under are free. Presenting sponsor is Koch Construction.
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Kim and Grant Veeder’s home garden on Graceline Boulevard is one of the seven gardens featured in this year’s Grout Museum Garden tour.
CHRIS ZOELLER, Courier Staff Photographer
Proceeds will support maintenance and upkeep of the 1861 Italianate Rensselaer Russell House Museum and the Snowden House, an Italianate Victorian home built in 1881. Both houses are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Other featured gardens are Steve Carignan, 199 Hampshire Road; Reynold and Joyce Erdmann, 7066 La Porte Road; Karin and David Sigl, 870 Prospect Blvd., Ginny and Randy Platte, 3042 N. Elk Run Road; and the Northeast Iowa Food Bank Community Garden, 261 Vinton St., all in Waterloo; and Bill Witt and Karen Franczyk, 1006 W. Ninth St., in Cedar Falls.
Steve Carignan’s home garden on Hampshire Road, one of the seven gardens featured in this year’s Grout Museum Garden tour.
CHRIS ZOELLER Courier Staff Photographer
Blooming clematis entwine an archway welcoming visitors into Carignan’s garden. Spring-blooming peonies, allium and bearded and Siberian irises are fading, setting the stage for summer bloomers ranging from lilies and daylilies, coneflowers and bee balm to dahlias and other flowers and foliage plants. Hostas hug shadier spots in the wrap-around, ever-expanding garden Carnigan has been working on for 14 years.
Steve Carignan’s home garden on Hampshire Road, one of the seven gardens featured in this year’s Grout Museum Garden tour.
CHRIS ZOELLER Courier Staff Photographer
Three koi and goldfish ponds, water features, a pergola, railroad track and trains and a Snow White cottage are attention-getters in the Erdmanns’ garden. The Erdmanns began transitioning from a large vegetable garden in the 1990s. Now hostas intermingle with other plants, including butterfly bushes, perennials and potted annuals. A variety of collections – lightning rods, enamelware pans, register grates – create more visual interest.
Steve Carignan’s home garden on Hampshire Road, one of the seven gardens featured in this year’s Grout Museum Garden tour.
CHRIS ZOELLER Courier Staff Photographer
Karin Sigl is a hosta lover who loaded up a trailer with hostas from a previous Cedar Falls home when the family moved to Charlotte, North Carolina, then brought them all back to their present location in 2004. In the ensuing years, the garden has been filled with more hostas, coral bells, native Jack-in-the-Pulpit and bleeding hearts, as well as other plants. Bird baths, feeders and houses are tucked throughout the garden. A pair of owls returns each year to raise their young in an owl house David built high in a tree.
Kim and Grant Veeder’s home garden on Graceline Boulevard, one of the seven gardens featured in this year’s Grout Museum Garden tour.
CHRIS ZOELLER Courier Staff Photographer
Randy Platte has been working on the garden on Elk Run Road for his entire life. He was born and raised in the house, and he followed examples set by his parents and grandparents. More than 300 pots of annuals bloom throughout the garden, including impatiens, petunias, begonias and pansies that Ginny starts from seed in the basement each winter. There are three goldfish ponds, with a fourth pond being added this year.
Steve Carignan’s home garden on Hampshire Road, one of the seven gardens featured in this year’s Grout Museum Garden tour.
CHRIS ZOELLER Courier Staff Photographer
In 2014, the Northeast Iowa Food Bank collaborated with Iowa State Extension Master Gardeners, UNI AmeriCorp Vista student and community volunteers to create the first garden which has grown steadily. Last year, the garden produced more than 12,000 pounds of edible produce – vegetables, berries and herbs. Produce is harvested and brought into the Food Bank where it is packaged in a variety of sizes for distribution.
Kim and Grant Veeder’s home garden on Graceline Boulevard, one of the seven gardens featured in this year’s Grout Museum Garden tour.
CHRIS ZOELLER Courier Staff Photographer
The Franczyk and Witt garden in Cedar Falls has been expanding ever since the couple moved to Ninth Street in 2005. They kept the previous owners’ peony garden and dense wisteria vines covering the pergola, and then began integrating native prairie plants with traditional perennial beds, raised vegetable beds and herb gardens. Brick and stone walkways, a pair of willow trees and a fountain add structure to the garden.
Steve Carignan’s home garden on Hampshire Road, one of the seven gardens featured in this year’s Grout Museum Garden tour.
CHRIS ZOELLER Courier Staff Photographer
Kim and Grant Veeder’s home garden on Graceline Boulevard, one of the seven gardens featured in this year’s Grout Museum Garden tour.
CHRIS ZOELLER Courier Staff Photographer
Steve Carignan’s home garden on Hampshire Road, one of the seven gardens featured in this year’s Grout Museum Garden tour.
CHRIS ZOELLER Courier Staff Photographer
Kim and Grant Veeder’s home garden on Graceline Boulevard, one of the seven gardens featured in this year’s Grout Museum Garden tour.
CHRIS ZOELLER Courier Staff Photographer
8 must-have tools for beginner gardeners
1. Gardening Gloves
The first essential tool on your list should be a durable pair of gardening gloves. Gloves help you plant and weed without scratching your hands, exposing cuts to bacteria, or getting dirt under your nails. For maximum comfort, look for gardening gloves with reinforced fingertips made from breathable material.
Buy it here: WANCHI Gardening Gloves, $15
2. Hand Trowel
From planting bulbs and seeds to transplanting seedlings, a hand trowel is essential for any gardener. A durable, rust-resistant trowel could last a lifetime, and the upfront cost is minimal.
Buy it here: Fiskars Ergo Trowel, $7
3. Watering Can
Regular watering is essential to the health of your plants. Invest in a watering can with a comfortable handle and detachable nozzle for a precise flow.
Buy it here: Union 2-gallon Watering Can, $25
4. Garden Scissors
A pair of garden scissors will help you deadhead flowers and harvest herbs. Stainless steel scissors are durable and rust-resistant, making them a good pick for the garden.
Buy it here: Camfeast Garden Scissors, $12
5. Pruning Shears
Pruning shears can also help you deadhead flowers, but the sharper blades tend to be better for trimming branches and shrubs than garden scissors.
Buy it here: GrowIt Titanium Bypass Pruning Shears, $14
6. Garden Hoe
A garden hoe will help you remove weeds, create furrows for planting or irrigation, and avoid soil compaction. A sharp, rust-resistant blade is best for soil cultivation.
Buy it here: Truper Tru Built 48-inch Welded Garden Hoe, $38
8. Soil pH Meter
Gardening can be tough to get right, especially when you’re getting started. Keep your plants in optimal health by investing in a soil pH meter. This tool can give you valuable clues if your plants are struggling.
Buy it here: SONKIR Soil pH Meter, $10
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