Reiman Gardens
Encyclopedia
Reiman Gardens is situated on a 14- acre site located immediately south of Jack Trice Stadium
on the Iowa State University
(ISU) campus in Ames, Iowa
. Reiman Gardens is a year-round facility that has become one of the top ten attractions in Central Iowa. It is open seven days per week, from 9:00 am to 4:30 pm, with extended hours in the summer season and extended evening hours for its annual events. The Gardens are closed on Thanksgiving
, Christmas
, and New Year's Day
.
Reiman Gardens consists of a dozen distinct garden areas, an indoor conservatory and an indoor butterfly "wing", butterfly emergence cases, a gift shop, and several supporting greenhouses. ISU students and their classes are admitted free of charge, as are the Gardens' members, known as CoHorts. An admission fee is charged to the public. Reiman Gardens is free for clients of United Way of Story County agencies.
. Construction began in 1994 and the Gardens' initial 5 acres (20,234.3 m²) were officially dedicated on September 16, 1995. The landscape design was created by Rodney Robinson Landscape Architects. The Mahlstede Horticulture Learning Center was the original building in the Gardens; the original maintenance building was torn down when the new conservatory was built and a new maintenance building was built in the parking lot. The Gardens opened its 30000 square feet (2,787.1 m²) conservatory complex in November 2002. The new building made the Gardens a year-round facility with an indoor plant conservatory (5,000 square feet), a glass house filled with tropical plants and exotic butterflies (2,500 square feet), an auditorium for classes and events, gift shop, an events hallway, greenhouses dedicated to the indoor glass house needs, a headhouse, staff offices, and two large areas housing all the heating and cooling and greenhouse systems equipment.
Architects Smith Metzger designed the Christina Reiman Butterfly Wing, the Mahlestead Learning Center, Conservatory Complex and Hunziker Garden Home.
The theme encourages guests to view the garden and its mission from a different perspective each time they visit. By working annually, all displays have interconnected sub-themes that support the annual theme
What is the planning time-line?
Why Plan this Way?
Reiman Gardens' Theme Years:
Jack Trice Stadium
Jack Trice Stadium is a stadium, in Ames, Iowa, United States. It opened on September 20, 1975 making it the newest stadium in the Big 12 Conference...
on the Iowa State University
Iowa State University
Iowa State University of Science and Technology, more commonly known as Iowa State University , is a public land-grant and space-grant research university located in Ames, Iowa, United States. Iowa State has produced astronauts, scientists, and Nobel and Pulitzer Prize winners, along with a host of...
(ISU) campus in Ames, Iowa
Ames, Iowa
Ames is a city located in the central part of the U.S. state of Iowa in Story County, and approximately north of Des Moines. The U.S. Census Bureau designates that Ames, Iowa metropolitan statistical area as encompassing all of Story County, and which, when combined with the Boone, Iowa...
. Reiman Gardens is a year-round facility that has become one of the top ten attractions in Central Iowa. It is open seven days per week, from 9:00 am to 4:30 pm, with extended hours in the summer season and extended evening hours for its annual events. The Gardens are closed on Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving Day is a holiday celebrated primarily in the United States and Canada. Thanksgiving is celebrated each year on the second Monday of October in Canada and on the fourth Thursday of November in the United States. In Canada, Thanksgiving falls on the same day as Columbus Day in the...
, Christmas
Christmas
Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...
, and New Year's Day
New Year's Day
New Year's Day is observed on January 1, the first day of the year on the modern Gregorian calendar as well as the Julian calendar used in ancient Rome...
.
Reiman Gardens consists of a dozen distinct garden areas, an indoor conservatory and an indoor butterfly "wing", butterfly emergence cases, a gift shop, and several supporting greenhouses. ISU students and their classes are admitted free of charge, as are the Gardens' members, known as CoHorts. An admission fee is charged to the public. Reiman Gardens is free for clients of United Way of Story County agencies.
Construction
Iowa State University has had a horticulture garden since 1914; Reiman Gardens is the third location for these gardens. Today's gardens began in 1993 with a gift from Bobbi and Roy ReimanRoy Reiman
Roy Reiman is the founder of Reiman Publications based in Greendale, Wisconsin, which is best known for its country-oriented magazines, books, and other home products. Roy Reiman is credited with building the country’s largest, private, subscription-based publishing company...
. Construction began in 1994 and the Gardens' initial 5 acres (20,234.3 m²) were officially dedicated on September 16, 1995. The landscape design was created by Rodney Robinson Landscape Architects. The Mahlstede Horticulture Learning Center was the original building in the Gardens; the original maintenance building was torn down when the new conservatory was built and a new maintenance building was built in the parking lot. The Gardens opened its 30000 square feet (2,787.1 m²) conservatory complex in November 2002. The new building made the Gardens a year-round facility with an indoor plant conservatory (5,000 square feet), a glass house filled with tropical plants and exotic butterflies (2,500 square feet), an auditorium for classes and events, gift shop, an events hallway, greenhouses dedicated to the indoor glass house needs, a headhouse, staff offices, and two large areas housing all the heating and cooling and greenhouse systems equipment.
Architects Smith Metzger designed the Christina Reiman Butterfly Wing, the Mahlestead Learning Center, Conservatory Complex and Hunziker Garden Home.
Annual Themes
Reiman Gardens uses a process called Dimensional Design to create its annual theme. Using a holistic approach, Dimensional Design requires a team effort from all departments. Thus, the Gardens' staff develops educational programs, interpretation, communications, events and amenities that support one theme, which in turn, also supports the Gardens' mission.The theme encourages guests to view the garden and its mission from a different perspective each time they visit. By working annually, all displays have interconnected sub-themes that support the annual theme
What is the planning time-line?
- Theme year planning is done three to five years in advance.
- Conceptual planning (creating sub-themes) is started started two years in advance.
- Detailed design are prepared one year in advance.
Why Plan this Way?
- Gives structure to displays and programs
- Keeps displays and programs focused
- Generates innovative ideas
- Encourages repeat visits with something new to see every year
- Creates great sponsorship opportunities
- Strengthens the staff into a team
Reiman Gardens' Theme Years:
- 2003 - Year of the Butterfly
- 2004 - Seasons of Agriculture
- 2005 - Global Garden (Garden traditions from around the world)
- 2006 - Art of Gardening (Gardening as art and art in the garden)
- 2007 - Excellence in Bloom (Celebrating Iowa State University's 150th anniversary)
- 2008 - The Novel Garden (Gardens inspired by literature)
- 2009 - The Landscape Before Time (Plants and insects from pre-historic times)
- 2010 - Celebration of the Garden Ornamentation (celebrating the quirky garden decorations)
- 2011 - Insects! (gardens inspired by those misunderstood and under-appreciated insects)
- 2012 - Some Assembly Required
Facilities
Primary facilities at Reiman Gardens currently include:- Christina Reiman Butterfly Wing - a 2500 square feet (232.3 m²) indoor tropical gardenTropical gardenA tropical garden features tropical plants and requires good rainfall or a decent irrigation or sprinkler system for watering. These gardens typically need fertilizer and heavy mulching....
containing exotic and native butterfliesButterflyA butterfly is a mainly day-flying insect of the order Lepidoptera, which includes the butterflies and moths. Like other holometabolous insects, the butterfly's life cycle consists of four parts: egg, larva, pupa and adult. Most species are diurnal. Butterflies have large, often brightly coloured...
from six continents. This is named for Roy Reiman's mother, Christina.
- Conservatory Complex - a 5000 square feet (464.5 m²) conservatoryConservatory (greenhouse)A conservatory is a room having glass roof and walls, typically attached to a house on only one side, used as a greenhouse or a sunroom...
of tropical plants and seasonal plant displays that change several times annually; a gift shop, restroom facilities and other guest amenities including free use of wheelchairs and an electric chair donated by the Town and County Kiwanis Club.
- Hunziker Garden Home - Named in honor of Marge Hunziker, the building dedication was a gift from her husband Erb and their six sons. This prairie-style building was designed by Architects Smith Metzger to represent a home and serve as a backdrop for the Town and Country Gardens surrounding it. Inside the building is a large workroom that serves as a program workspace, meeting facility, a storage room, and restrooms.
- Dunlap Courtyard Garden - annual plantings and catalpaCatalpaCatalpa, commonly called catalpa or catawba, is a genus of flowering plants in the trumpet vine family, Bignoniaceae, native to warm temperate regions of North America, the Caribbean, and East Asia....
trees.
- Roy and Mary Amos Smith Hardwood Forest - maples, oaks and other trees that will over time form a dense grove in the Northeastern corner of the Gardens.
- Mahlstede Horticulture Learning Center - Named for ISU horticultural professor John P. Mahlstede, this building houses staff and The Speer Room, where many classes and events are held. It is thought to be one of the most beautiful rooms in Iowa with sweeping views of the Gardens pictured from glass walls that extend from ceiling to floor.
- Rose Gardens - over 2,000 roseRoseA rose is a woody perennial of the genus Rosa, within the family Rosaceae. There are over 100 species. They form a group of erect shrubs, and climbing or trailing plants, with stems that are often armed with sharp prickles. Flowers are large and showy, in colours ranging from white through yellows...
plants, representing 254 different varieties. This garden received the All-America Rose Selections (AARS) President's Award, given annually to a single public garden. Iowa State University's own Buck Roses, that are disease resistant and winter hardy, are displayed and a central part of Reiman Gardens. There are also 300 varieties of heirloom, hybrid tea, and shrub roses on display. For 2007, the Gardens' staff has designed one of the country's first sustainable rose gardens installed in the spring and dedicated in the summer of 2007.
- Class of 1955 Hillside Garden - This area has been named for the ISU Class of 1955 and planting plans call for this area to be planted upon completion of a new master plan. The footprint of this garden gives sweeping views of the entire outside areas as this garden climbs up against Beach Avenue.
- Joey and Jesse’s Herb Garden - a geometric garden of herbHerbExcept in botanical usage, an herb is "any plant with leaves, seeds, or flowers used for flavoring, food, medicine, or perfume" or "a part of such a plant as used in cooking"...
s in raised beds, with tulipTulipThe tulip is a perennial, bulbous plant with showy flowers in the genus Tulipa, which comprises 109 species and belongs to the family Liliaceae. The genus's native range extends from as far west as Southern Europe, North Africa, Anatolia, and Iran to the Northwest of China. The tulip's centre of...
s in spring and a summer display that changes each year.
- Lake Helen - over 12 species of hybrid Victoria waterliliesNymphaeaceaeNymphaeaceae is a family of flowering plants. Members of this family are commonly called water lilies and live in freshwater areas in temperate and tropical climates around the world. The family contains eight genera. There are about 70 species of water lilies around the world. The genus...
and two EuryalesEuryale feroxEuryale ferox is the only species in the genus Euryale. It is a flowering plant classified in the water lily family, Nymphaeaceae, although it is occasionally regarded as a distinct family Euryalaceae...
.
- Fr. Supple Courtyard and the CoHorts' Dancing Chimes Plaza - adjoining the herb garden to the Bald cypress Alee, this plaza has personalized pavers that lead to Dance ChimesDance ChimesThe Dance Chimes is a foot-operated chime-like musical instrument that consists of 9 bronze tiles, with mechanical sound elements under each.-Description:...
that are tuned pentatonically and played by dancing upon each of the nine bronze tiles.
- Margaret E. Penkhus Campanile Garden - a 50 feet (15.2 m) steel structure with an electronic carillonCarillonA carillon is a musical instrument that is typically housed in a free-standing bell tower, or the belfry of a church or other municipal building. The instrument consists of at least 23 cast bronze, cup-shaped bells, which are played serially to play a melody, or sounded together to play a chord...
. This area has a spring tulip display and changes each year to reflect the Gardens' theme.
- Patty Jischke Children's Garden - Iowa farmstead theme, including a stock tank, scarecrowScarecrowA scarecrow is, essentially, a decoy, though traditionally, a human figure dressed in old clothes and placed in fields by farmers to discourage birds such as crows or sparrows from disturbing and feeding on recently cast seed and growing crops.-History:In Kojiki, the oldest surviving book in Japan...
garden, covered bridge, corn crib pavilion. Jonathan and Brenden's Knolls, and a stream garden.
- South Field - Each year, this area changes to reflect the Gardens' annual theme. In the past, there have been fourteen 14’ by 14’ quilt patterns grown from bedding plants including vincaVincaVinca is a genus of six species in the family Apocynaceae, native to Europe, northwest Africa and southwest Asia. The English name periwinkle is shared with the related genus Catharanthus .-Description:Vinca plants are subshrubs or herbaceous, and have slender trailing stems 1–2 m long...
, coleusColeusSolenostemon is a genus of perennial plants, native to tropical Africa, Asia, Australia, the East Indies, the Malay Archipelago, and the Philippines...
, curryCurryCurry is a generic description used throughout Western culture to describe a variety of dishes from Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Sri Lankan, Thai or other Southeast Asian cuisines...
, bugleweedBugleweedThe name bugleweed can refer to two unrelated plants:* Bugle , taxonomically Ajuga* Lycopus, the genus to which the gypsywort belongs...
, sweet potatoSweet potatoThe sweet potato is a dicotyledonous plant that belongs to the family Convolvulaceae. Its large, starchy, sweet-tasting, tuberous roots are an important root vegetable. The young leaves and shoots are sometimes eaten as greens. Of the approximately 50 genera and more than 1,000 species of...
es, and ornamental pepperCapsicumCapsicum is a genus of flowering plants in the nightshade family, Solanaceae. Its species are native to the Americas where they have been cultivated for thousands of years, but they are now also cultivated worldwide, used as spices, vegetables, and medicines - and have become are a key element in...
s. The 2006 display featured the Special Olympics Cauldron; in 2005 there was a 9 feet (2.7 m) topiary globe planted to describe the "Global Garden" theme.
- Stafford Garden - sycamoreAmerican sycamorePlatanus occidentalis, also known as American Sycamore, American plane, Occidental plane, and Buttonwood, is one of the species of Platanus native to North America...
trees (planted circa 1920s), with wooden boardwalk and wetland bogBogA bog, quagmire or mire is a wetland that accumulates acidic peat, a deposit of dead plant material—often mosses or, in Arctic climates, lichens....
garden. This area is planned to hold many species of native Iowa grasses and plants.
- Town and Country Garden - 12 demonstration gardens for common gardening uses. This area is anchored by the Hunziker Garden Home. The surrounding gardens include the Ross Formal Lawn Garden, the Outdoor Living Room, The Front Yard Garden, The Sunny Side Yard, The Naturalist Garden, The Reflection Garden, The CoHorts' Pattern Garden, The Walled Courtyard, The Paving Court, The Home Production Garden, Shade Garden, and the Prairie Vista Garden.
See also
- List of botanical gardens in the United States
- http://www.reimangardens.iastate.edu --Official university website.