Noelridge Gardens Awarded First Place in 2023 AAS Display Garden Landscape Design Challenge

Cedar Rapids, IA – October 19, 2023 – Noelridge Park Gardens received distinction as the Category II first-place winner of the 2023 All-America Selections (AAS) Landscape Design Contest in October with its entry, Shoe-Bee-Dew! A Whimsical Garden Walk at Noelridge Park.

All-America Selections’ 2023 Landscape Design Challenge theme was A Whimsical Garden, inspiring the AAS Display Gardens to use their AAS-winning flowers and plants in and around a theme. For the challenge, AAS provided the gardens with recent AAS Winner seeds and plants. Each garden was responsible for creating and executing a design, generating publicity surrounding the contest, holding events, then submitting the photos, proof of publicity, and an overall description of their design.

Noelridge Greenhouse staff and Friends of Noelridge volunteers designed and produced the winning entry for Category II (10,001-100,000 visitors per year). Shoe-Bee-Dew! A Whimsical Garden Walk at Noelridge Park was inspired by a desire to include the public in every step along the way. The park invited the public to donate used shoes, which were then planted with AAS Winners and other plants chosen based on their look or name. A meandering path was created through the garden, allowing visitors to get close enough to see the special surprises tucked here and there, read plant tags, and identify which local celebrity’s shoes were on display. For instance, they planted firefighter boots with Red Ember Cayenne Pepper, and winter boots with Icicle Eggplant. Local pop star singer/songwriter Alisabeth von Presley’s sparkly pink sandals were potted with Sweetie Pie Pepper, surrounded by Kelos Candela Pink Celosia and a ring of Main Street Beale Street Coleus, in a nod to her Memphis ties. They planted tall Concert Bell sunflowers in (or through, actually) the clown shoes. The Hawkeye football shoes were surrounded by flowers using team colors black and gold – Gold Rush Gloriosa Daisy and Big Duck Gold Marigold.

“We are so very proud of our talented full-time and seasonal staff at Noelridge Park, especially Lori Farmer, Jacob Melichar, Tyler Dougherty, and the Friends of Noelridge volunteers on this well-deserved award,” said Parks and Recreation Director Hashim Taylor. “They do an outstanding job beautifying Cedar Rapids and hosting exceptional events that rival those held in larger venues.”

All-America Selections is a non-profit organization founded in 1932 to test new plants for home gardening. A complete collection of photos of all contest entrants can be found on the All-American Selections website: www.all-americaselections.org.

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