GOWRIE- A Victorian garden, cottage garden, butterfly garden, several vegetable gardens and a bird lovers' retreat in serene backyard or countryside settings.
Each will be showcased June 27 during Zion Lutheran Church's garden tour to benefit the Ilembula Lutheran Hospital in Tanzania.
The garden tour is the sixth fundraiser the church has held to help purchase two new industrial-sized washers and dryers for the hospital since a presentation given by Bishop Michael Last of the Western Iowa Synod inspired church member Colleen Palmer and the Rev. Jim Davis, pastor of Zion Lutheran, to help the cause more than five years ago.
The electrical updating, purchase, installation and maintenance of the laundry equipment is estimated to cost nearly $35,000. The fund-raising has been an effort of congregations throughout western Iowa, but around $9,000 has been contributed though fundraisers, grants and donations from Zion, Palmer said.
"Pastor Jim and I went to Bishop Last after church that day and told him we knew this was a project our congregation could help with," she said.
The tour will feature eight gardens and yards of members of Zion Lutheran Church in Gowrie and the surrounding area.
Fact Box
If you go
What: Zion Lutheran Church Garden Tour
When: 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. June 28
Gardens to be featured on tour include:
Colleen Palmer, 1010 Church St. Gowrie
Kris Cathcart, 1409 Lynd St. Gowrie
Monte Albert, 1204 Lynd St. Gowrie
Dick Johnson, 1101 Cottonwood St. Gowrie
Cindy Fevold, 1497 350th St. Gowrie
Jeff Kruse, 1394 350th St. Gowrie
Greta Jansa, 1736 360th St. Gowrie
Phyllis Peterson, 720 Summit Ave. Farnhamville
Cost: $8.Tickets available in advance by contacting Colleen Palmer at 352-3598 or day of tour at Palmer's residence, 1010 Church St. Gowrie
Visitors to the garden of Greta Jansa in rural Gowrie will find a colorful bouquet garden with perennials, irises, day lilies, poppies and bittersweet vines. Hand-made birdhouses and whimsical characters created by Jansa's husband Leonard add to the setting, attracting a variety of birds.
Roses, perennials, and bright colorful climatis surrounded by a white picket fence and large evergreen tree can be found in the garden at the Victorian style home of Monte Albert.
As visitors head west out of Gowrie, they will find the quiet countryside gardens of Jeff and Ann Kruse. The Kruses' gardens feature several perennials, twice-blooming irises, day lilies, heliopsis and a large vegetable garden.
Other gardens on the tour will be at the homes of Colleen Palmer, Kris Cathcart, Monte Albert, Dick Johnson, Cindy Fevold and Phyllis Peterson.
Those with pre-purchased tickets may start at the garden of their choice. Tickets will be available for purchase the day of the tour at Palmer's residence at 1010 Church St.
"It is my hope that we will have raised $10,000 for the hospital after the garden tour," Palmer said.
Rain date for the tour will be June 28 from 1 to 4 p.m.
Contact Emilie Nelson at (515)573-2141 or enelson@messengernews.net