Blooming flowers and Easter decorations are among the attractions at the Easter Showcase in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. (photo/Cindy Hadish)

CEDAR RAPIDS — Following a two-year hiatus, the popular Easter Showcase is scheduled to return to the Noelridge Greenhouse on Saturday, April 16, and Sunday, April 17, 2022.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the event — where visitors can view tropical plants, cacti, seedlings and other plants that grow in the greenhouse — was not held last year or in 2020.

See photos from a past Easter Showcase

Read on for more about this year’s Easter Showcase from the city of Cedar Rapids:

The Noelridge Greenhouse Easter Showcase is back this year on Saturday, April 16 and Sunday, April 17 from 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. at Noelridge Greenhouse, 4900 Council Street NE.

As in previous years, admission is free and the first 500 children, ages 12 and under, will receive a free plant.

A harbinger of spring, the annual Easter Showcase at Noelridge Greenhouse has been held since 1973, except for the last two years due to the pandemic.

The first Easter Showcase was a one-day open house that gave visitors the chance to see bulbs and young plants, and to enjoy the permanent collection of foliage plants, cacti, and succulents in a tropical environment. This very popular event became a two-day show in 1989 to accommodate more people.

The showcase is a wonderful opportunity for families to escape the uncertain weather of early spring in Iowa and enjoy the sight of blooming spring flowers – tulips, daffodils, hyacinths – in beautiful garden displays, and for greenhouse staff and volunteers to show off the more than 60,000 plants they are growing to place in flower gardens throughout the City.

Those attending the showcase this year will also see fairy gardens for sale and display by Friends of Noelridge, advice on raising and sales of orchids by the Eastern Iowa Orchid Society, and information about hostas from the Harshbarger Hosta Society. House plants, birdhouses, and pressed flower greeting cards will be available for sale, too. Bring your wallet and take home a little bit of spring!

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