TEA HOUSE GARDEN
Hardy Plants from Asia
This garden displays a small collection of plants from across the Asian continent, many of which are common garden plants. With a canopy of mature shade trees overhead, hostas and hellebores blanket the ground level while rhododendrons and lilacs make up the shrubby understory. From March to October there is always something blooming. In the center of the garden is the Arboretum’s tea house.
The Kroeze Memorial Tea House is named for the late Arie Kroeze of Iowa City, owner of Pleasant Valley Nursery and Golf Course, and President of the Iowa Arboretum Board of Directors between 1995 and 2002.
The planting around the tea house was renovated in the summer of 2017. A brick walkway and a flagstone-style pathway was installed on the either side of the tea house by the Iowa Nursery and Landscape Association’s Day of Service in 2018; completing the space for a restful stop along the 0.8 mile outer loop trail.
Additional plantings of dozens of hostas were added to the shady areas surrounding the tea house in 2022 in anticipation of hosting the national convention of the American Hosta Society in 2023.
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