(Radio Iowa) – They say we should take the time to smell the flowers, and that can be taken literally in eastern Iowa this weekend with the Colonies in Bloom event in the Amana Colonies. Jon Childers, spokesman for the Amana Heritage Museum, says the annual self-guided tour is a must-see, must-smell experience for backyard gardeners and all admirers of beautiful botanicals. “The goal of our event is to share the gardening and flower gardening heritage of the Amana Colonies,” Childers says. “Every year, we have anywhere from seven to maybe 12 gardens. Some of these are flower gardens, some of these are vegetable gardens, and some of these are both.” The gardens on this year’s tour are spread across five of the seven villages and feature stunning colors and aromatic fragrances. As the history of the Amana Colonies predates the state of Iowa, Childers says you’re sure to see things on the tour you likely won’t see elsewhere.

“We have heirloom vegetables that people will be able to see at certain gardens, but we do have modern flowers or rare flowers that people will be able to see,” Childers says. “There’s one particular home in Upper South Amana this year where they have a lot of the native flowers. They’re really sort of into that, what natively grows in Iowa.” The self-guided tours run from 9 A-M to 3 P-M on Saturday, and they’ll be followed by a Garden Party at the Amana Heritage Museum.

“We’re going to have a party out in our yard. We’re going to have some food and drink available. We will have the museum open,” he says. “We will show our orientation video where people will be able to learn about our 300-year history here in the Amanas. We’re going to have a little bit of entertainment and some yard games and good conversation after a day of looking at the gardens.”

While multi-acre vegetable gardens were a staple in the early days of the colonies, hobby gardening didn’t become popular in the Amanas until the communal system was dissolved in 1932. Maps for Colonies in Bloom are available at the Amana Heritage Museum, the Amana Colonies Visitors Center, and at each participating garden.