Four gardens and a villa featured in Pella-area Garden Tour

The seventh Gateway to Hope Garden Tour June 29-30 and July 1, showcases the gardens of Ginny Geetings, Jon Kuyers and Carol Van Klompenburg, along with the community garden of Faith Christian Reformed Church. It also features the Pella Victorian Villa, a three-story Italianate mansion built in 1871.

At Faith Church, 215 E. University, visitors can visit the church’s community gardens, purchase garden art, enjoy complimentary cookies and a beverage and take the shuttle to the rural gardens of Ginny Geetings. Ginny’s gardens feature 423 different cultivars of daylilies, 138 lilium, 16 kinds of allium, 44 kinds of iris and a vista of the surrounding countryside.

Of special interest at the garden of Jon Kuyers, 506 Liberty, are the 30 varieties of trees rising up from beds of annuals and perennials. One of Jon’s favorite trees is the tri-color beech, which has outstanding three-color foliage throughout the growing season.

At the Van Klompenburg gardens, 599 228th Place, visitors can enjoy Carol's beds of perennials and shrubs, along with Marlo's raised-bed vegetable garden. In the backyard gazebo, Carol's just-off-the-press book "Tending Beauty: Forty Moments in my Gardens" will be available, along with Nicaraguan ceramics and jewelry.

The Victorian Villa was also part of the 2016 Gateway to Hope Garden Tour, the first time it was open to the public in 30 years.

“After the 2016 tour, we had many requests to repeat the villa as part of the next tour, that we decided it was well worth showing it again,” Kathy Groenenboom, chair of the 2018 tour said. In 2018, Piet and Carol Van Waarde began managing the villa as an AirBNB.

The villa, 1261 185th St., is recognized as an Iowa historic site and it is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Built in 1871, the villa was completely renovated over the past seven years by Stan and Alma Vermeer. It includes period-specific furnishings, stained-glass windows and hand-crafted Dutch folk art by local artist Sallie De Reus.

The 2018 Gateway to Hope Garden Tour is sponsored by Friends of Chinandega, a ministry of Faith Church of Pella, and all proceeds will be used by this ministry to assist in its relationship with five sister churches in Chinandega, Nicaragua.

Admission to the villa and gardens is by donation with a suggested minimum donation of $10. Visitors may begin the tour at any location.

Tour hours are 3 to 8 p.m. Friday, June 29; 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, June 30; and 1 to 4 p.m. Sunday, July 1.

Additional information and a tour map are available at friendsofchinandega.wordpress.com.Tour maps will also be available at each tour location.