[Charity Nebbe] Tucked away on the western edge of downtown Des Moines, is one of the most influential gardens in America.

[Oma Blaise Ford] It's kind of like a hidden secret.

I think.

I'm not sure everybody knows what an amazing little spot of serenity we have right here in the middle of Des Moines.

[Nebbe] This is the better Homes and Gardens test garden.

Plants grown here are seen by millions of people in the pages of the beloved magazine.

The Test Garden was established in 1998 to evaluate new plant varieties and gardening techniques, before recommending them to readers.

The half acre lot was previously home to a car detailing business and a dry cleaner.

Today, the garden is filled with hundreds of different kinds of plants.

[Ford] It is this incredible living, growing lab for us.

We are testing plants in the test garden.

We have beautifully designed vignettes in the test garden that we can use directly for stories, or we can try out new products.

Our test garden manager, Sandra, is truly the expert on this.

She's been there since the beginning.

[Sandra Gerdes] Before it gets any hotter, I want to make sure that everybody gets a drink.

[Nebbe] Sandra Gerdes grew up on a farm in North Iowa.

After spending several years working at Walt Disney World in the hydroponic greenhouse at Epcot, she was lured back to her home state to establish and manage the garden.

[Gerdes] I thought it would be a Peace Corps worker or a working extension somewhere because, I mean, I did want to help people.

I've always wanted to help people and agriculture is my background.

So here we've got lemon balm, and I'm actually just cutting off some of the flowers so that it will keep producing because most herbs need to deadhead before they go to flower.

My goal and our goal, my team's goal is to find good plants.

It's as simple as our name.

Better homes and gardens.

We want you to have a better garden.

Our role is to evaluate plants or garden techniques.

Maybe it's a pruning technique.

Maybe it's a fertilizing technique.

What's the best plant?

What's the best way to to grow a plant?

You know, should this plant go in the front of the board in the middle of the border?

In the back of the border?

How tall does it get?

[Nebbe] Sandra collaborates with editors to determine what kinds of plants to grow for stories in the upcoming year.

While not every plant featured in the magazine is grown in the test garden, its proximity to the Better Homes and Gardens headquarters makes it an ideal location for curating articles.

[voice] And how beautiful that is.

[Ford] We might have a story on shade gardening, and we have this beautiful part of the garden that's under a tree canopy, filled with hostas and other things that do well in the shade, and we can use that space for photography to illustrate those ideas.

We also work very closely with Sandra to design container gardening ideas, which are not things that are planted in the ground long term, but things that we do on a seasonal basis so that we can give our readers new ideas for combinations and how to do it right.

[Nebbe} From there, Sandra works with seed companies, plant breeders, or nurseries to order and test new varieties of plants, be it hydrangeas, tomatoes or coleus, some of which aren't yet available at garden centers.

If they perform well, the plants eventually make it into the magazine for readers to consider growing, or at least use as inspiration.

The test garden has more than 20 distinct areas, including a space for prairie perennials, a deck area, and a pond.

The garden is always evolving, and each season brings new growth and blooms.

Gardeners, nature lovers or those who are simply looking for a change in scenery for their lunch break, can enjoy the garden every summer.

The test garden is open to the public from noon to two every Friday from May through September.