Photo by Jenny Kirk The Tracy Area Gardens and Quilts Tour drew people of all ages from around the area. Those pictured are checking out a quilt and a flower garden — one of many — at the home of Rose and Lynn Goltz in Tracy on Wednesday.

TRACY — While giving a tour of her flower gardens on Wednesday, Rose Goltz got really excited when she spotted a small flower that had finally bloomed. That level of passion was highlighted not only at the home of Rose and Lynn Goltz, but also at the residences of the other featured gardeners part of the 4th annual Tracy Area Gardens and Quilts Tour sponsored by Tracy Kiwanis and St. Mary’s CCW.

“I get tickled when I see a flower blooming,” Rose Goltz said. “I come out here every day. I work overnights, so a lot of times I come out here in the mornings after work to see what’s blooming.”

Goltz had multiple gardens, including a very popular gnome home.

“It’s been the talk for quite awhile,” she said. “We started it the end of May. It’s for everyone to enjoy. Anybody can grow flowers. I wanted to do something unique.”

The gnome home included several different gnomes and interesting environments to gaze at.

“We enjoy it,” Goltz said. “It has lights that go on at night. It has two solar lights — one on the balcony and one down below.”

Most of the items used in the garden were either repurposed, purchased on sale or donated.

“I got this guy at a garage sale one time,” Goltz said. “I probably paid a buck or two. I bought these guys at half price last year at Runnings because I knew I was going to do a gnome home.”

The succulents she acquired from her brother, Roger.

“I was borrowing a book from his wife and she said my brother told me to take them or they were going to go out with the leaves,” Goltz said. “So I took them. I had them in the house all winter and they just love it out here.”

The rocks that hold the mulch in place were given to Goltz by a special friend.

“He’s very close to my heart because I had a brother who died when he was 7 and he was his classmate,” she said.

One of the gnomes was especially fitting because he was peeking out of a sewer. Goltz said the recent flash flooding the occurred on July 3 caused big sewer problems.

“We had 38 inches of it in our basement,” she said. “We had another addition (a log train) that we were going to do, but then the flooding happened.”

Fortunately, friends and family chipped in at the last minute and finished up the project.

“We got the logs from a guy in Cottonwood that our friends knew,” Goltz said. “He cut them the size I wanted. Then he cut all the wheels. We just had to do the roofs and chainsaw the inside. But my husband was 24-7 in the basement working. So I just said forget it for now. But they finished it while we were gone.”

In the back of the log tree train was a napping gnome.

“It was the first gnome I ever made,” Goltz said. “I went to a ceramic class. I made that in ’72. And now it looks like he’s meant to be in that spot.”

In another garden, Goltz went with a St. Francis theme.

“He’s the patron saint of animals, so there’s a beaver, fawn, skunk and fox,” she said. “I also made a watermelon wedge from one the trees we lost last year in the street project.”

Wind chimes hanging from a twisted willow tree accentuate another garden. Some of the chimes belonged to her parents.

“I just love it,” Goltz said. “The chimes shouldn’t bother anyone either because they’re gentle chimes. It’s kind of soothing. When I work back here, I just love hearing them.”

Quilts were also hanging around in different locations in the yard.

“These here were made by Lynn’s mom (Janice Goltz),” Goltz said. “She and her sister would do counting cross stitch all year. They also did hand-quilting.”

Cheryl Lenertz said she enjoying visiting the different locations.

“They were all so different,” she said. “Everybody seemed to have a different type of creation. I’ve enjoyed the tours every year. It’s a fun outing with the girls and it reminds you a lot about different heritages and where people learned how to do these things. My mom loved impatients, so I always have to have them.”

The best part, Lenertz said, was “being able to create a memory of your own.”

Wheels Across the Prairie and Greenwood Nursery were also part of the experience. Several different employees were available to give tours and answer questions at Greenwood Nursery.

“I had a lot of people ask me questions, especially about the recent flooding we had,” Missy Jones said. “Everything back there was under water. They had to pull every tree out of the water.”

Matt Jones said the 2,500-plus trees behind the Greenwood Nursery store are in “a pot in pot system.”

“We have a pot in the ground and then we have a pot with a tree inside that,” he said. “We put the tree in the pot so it doesn’t blow over.”

Missy Jones added that it’s easier to water that way because they have a high-quality irrigation system. The flooding threatened to kill the trees.

People on the tour also got to see what goes on in the 9-½ greenhouses on the site. In one, people learned how the flat filler works.

“It’s a big machine that fills up 4-½ inch pots on a flat,” Missy Jones said. “It saves a lot of time. My grandpa (Al Farber) used to have that job when he retired. He used to have to fill all of them by hand.”

Joe and Kathy VanMoer, who were featured gardeners for the very first tour, were among those who took a Greenwood Nursery tour to see the container fields. Kathy VanMoer is also a committee member.

“I think this year’s tour is going pretty good,” she said. “The gardeners go through a lot of work and then the quilters really add to it as well.”