{"id":2818,"date":"2017-05-14T17:46:02","date_gmt":"2017-05-14T17:46:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ongardening.com\/?p=2818"},"modified":"2019-03-07T05:38:47","modified_gmt":"2019-03-07T05:38:47","slug":"the-garden-conservancys-open-days","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ongardening.com\/?p=2818","title":{"rendered":"The Garden Conservancy’s Open Days"},"content":{"rendered":"

The garden tour is a favorite activity of many garden societies, gardeners, and some garden owners.<\/p>\n

Garden societies use tours to advance their goals to promote gardening and gardeners use them to gain practical ideas and inspiration. Garden owners want to share their success in the joint pursuits of horticulture and landscape design, and perhaps also their accomplishments in garden art and furnishings.<\/p>\n

Volunteers are needed to support smooth and effective logistics, and garden tourists pay a small fee for the opportunity to explore the gardens. Such fees raise funds for the sponsoring group and cover expenses, e.g., publicity signage, plant lists, and refreshments.<\/p>\n

These events generally are instances of homegrown Americana, but one group, the national non-profit Garden Conservancy, has significantly advanced the art of garden touring. The Conservancy is an organization that shares over 300 outstanding gardens each year through the annual Open Days program, which it describes as America\u2019s only national garden-visiting program. It offers \u201ca wide variety of gardens\u2026 representing the incredible range and definition of what a garden can be: expansive estates and small backyard oases, manicured hedges and wild country gardens, plant collections and outdoor art, edible gardens and gardens that support wildlife.\u201c<\/p>\n

The Conservancy\u2019s annual directory demonstrates the national scope of the Open Days program. The book lists gardens by date and location\u2014in most continental U.S. states plus Alaska and Hawaii. The directory is an efficient way to invite visits to one\u2019s local gardens<\/p>\n

For a given date and location, the directory lists one-day garden visits for a single garden or, as available, two, three or more nearby gardens.<\/p>\n

\"Conservancy<\/a><\/p>\n

Recently, I volunteered for Open Days, serving as greeter and ticket-taker for a well designed\u00a0and maintained garden\u00a0at a Palo Alto residence. The garden was designed about thirty years ago in Colonial Williamsburg style, and currently has an interpretation of the classic white garden theme, that Vita Sackville-West originated in the 1930s at the Sissinghurst Castle Garden, in the Weald of Kent, England. While the formal style of this garden is not my taste, I genuinely enjoyed seeing it and appreciated the gardener\u2019s skill and dedication. Numerous visitors also indicated their pleasure with examining the garden\u00a0and photographed highlights.<\/p>\n

\"Conservancy<\/a><\/p>\n

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This garden was one of a cluster of five gardens on the day\u2019s Open Days tour for the Palo Alto\u2013Atherton area.<\/p>\n

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The Open Days program has an opportunity in September to broaden your garden visions by visiting a cluster of gardens in the San Jose area. Here are brief descriptions (excerpted from the Directory) of these gardens:<\/p>\n