Craig Dunlap pictured Sunday, Sept. 13, in his Blaine Street yard located in Dysart’s Westview Estates. Craig and his wife Julie’s yard was given the ‘Blue Ribbon Flowers of the Month’ designation for September by the Dysart Garden Club as a final, stunning pick for 2026. PHOTO BY RUBY F. MCALLISTER

DYSART – While their days of selling golf cars are now firmly behind them, Craig and Julie Dunlap are still teeing up accolades in the community of Dysart with their green thumbs.

Earlier this month, the Dunlaps’ Blaine Street yard was chosen by the Dysart Garden Club as the season’s final ‘Flowers of the Month’ selection.

The retired couple are perhaps best known in the community as the now-retired former owners of the longstanding business Young’s Golf Cars, which they sold in 2024. But even before retirement, they were heavily invested in curating their home turf located in Dysart’s southwest corner. And like many an Iowa boy of a certain age these days, Craig says he learned much of what he knows about gardening from his grandmother, the late Leola (née Ewoldt) Dunlap.

“While her job was a nurse, she was in charge of all the flower beds at the nursing home,” Craig explained to the newspaper last Sunday evening when asked where his obvious knack for both growing stunning blooms and designing interesting floral plantings originates from. In addition to all the time he spent as a youngster following Leola around as she worked to beautify the nursing home’s outdoor spaces, Craig also credits the decade he and Julie spent living and working in Texas for his unique floral picks. His massive, striking elephant ears, canna lilies, and hibiscus (to name a few) are all staples in many southern gardens.

At street level, the Dunlaps’ yard appears to be mostly a well-manicured lawn, but a closer inspection shows the couple has clearly invested a lot of time and effort in curating the home’s perimeter. Nothing appears to have been planted haphazardly, with each flower or plant owning its space while lending balance to its neighbors.

Plantings of coordinating coleus line the backside of the Dunlaps’ home last Sunday evening. PHOTO BY RUBY F. MCALLISTER

Coleus is an obvious favorite of Craig’s, who is in charge of everything not under the backyard pergola or on the front stoop as those areas belong to Julie, he said. And while his plantings look stunning this year, last year was a bit of a different story due to rabbit carnage.

“I had to rebuy coleus so much last summer, I was banned from Lowe’s,” Craig shared with a laugh before adding, “True story!” In prior growing seasons, Craig said a neighborhood fox seemed to help keep tabs on the local bunny population.

“I’m looking to adopt a fox,” he joked with a grin.

Much of the impressive growth of his flowers is owed to fertilizing roughly three to four times a season, he told the newspaper. He’s also been working toward using only organic applications.

Obvious green thump aside, Craig said the secret to his and Julie’s gardening success isn’t particularly complicated and quite easily replicated.

A front yard bed featuring plantings of elephant ears, canna lilies, cockscomb, petunias and large-bloomed marigolds pictured Sunday evening at the Dunlaps’ home in the southwest corner of Dysart. PHOTO BY RUBY F. MCALLISTER

“If you just spend a half hour a day in your yard, you can pull this off. And you learn more and more as the years go by.”

As the calendar speeds toward the inevitability of autumn with each passing day, that’s a good tip for anyone already dreaming of next summer.

Craig Dunlap stands beside one of his largest elephant ear plants this past Sunday in Dysart. The striking plants can grow up to six feet tall, Craig told the newspaper, with the leaves measuring some 2 to 3 feet in length. PHOTO BY RUBY F. MCALLISTER

PHOTO BY RUBY F. MCALLISTER

PHOTO BY RUBY F. MCALLISTER

PHOTO BY RUBY F. MCALLISTER

PHOTO BY RUBY F. MCALLISTER

PHOTO BY RUBY F. MCALLISTER

PHOTO BY RUBY F. MCALLISTER

PHOTO BY RUBY F. MCALLISTER

PHOTO BY RUBY F. MCALLISTER

PHOTO BY RUBY F. MCALLISTER