The Garden Conservancy Announces Spring Garden Tours

The Garden Conservancy’s Open Days Program for 2010 begins on Sunday, April 25 in Westchester County, at the White Garden, 199 Elmwood Road, Lewisboro, open 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Additional Westchester County Open Days include a total of eighteen private gardens and take place on the following dates: May 2 in Mount Kisco, May 8 in Chappaqua and Mount Kisco, May 23 in Bedford Hills, May 29 in Mount Kisco, June 5 in Briarcliff Manor, Bedford, and Tarrytown, June 6 in North Salem, June 20 in Bedford Hills, Bedford, and Yorktown, July 25 in Cortlandt Manor, Bedford Hills, and New Rochelle, September 12 in Lewisboro and Waccabuc, and October 30 in Mount Kisco. Admission to each private garden is $5, Open Days are rain or shine, and no reservations are required. Call 1-888-842-2442, or visit www.opendaysprogram.org for more information.

At the White Garden on April 25th, visitors will delight in the woodland plantings of more than 200,000 daffodils. Walking paths throughout the woods weave over a meandering brook and through a shady dell. Several glass houses can be seen, including a new state-of-the-art greenhouse that supports the gardens. Nearest the house the gardens are classically inspired, including a nymphaeum, pergola garden, labyrinth, and theater court, and additional hidden gardens include a perennial ellipse and “annual” garden, a conservatory “jungle” garden, and an Asian-inspired moss garden. Several water features accent the landscape, and native plantings dominate in areas outside the central gardens. Many sculptures enrich this landscape and swans guard the Temple of Apollo on an island in the main pond. The White Garden will also open to the public on Sunday, September 12th.

Additional area gardens open in 2010 include Lulu Farm in Bedford, a hilltop property that contains ten acres of garden and ninety acres of field and woodland intersected by old stone walls. Special features include a dwarf conifer garden, terraces of mixed herbaceous and woody plants, a formal herb garden, a woodland garden walk, a large vegetable garden, orchards, and a diverse selection of mature trees. In Yorktown, the garden of Barbara & John Schumacher boasts a large rose garden below the house with 400 roses. A perennial garden features hostas, tree peonies, and sweeps of Asiatic lilies, and other attractions include beautiful stonework, a fern garden and a generous and varied collection of hydrangeas.

These Open Days gardens are featured in the 2010 Open Days Directory; a soft-cover book that includes detailed driving directions and vivid descriptions written by their owners. The directory includes garden listings in 21 states and costs $21.95 including shipping. Visit www.opendaysprogram.org or call the Garden Conservancy toll-free at 1-888-842-2442 to order with a Visa, MasterCard or American Express, or send a check or money order to: the Garden Conservancy, P.O. Box 219, Cold Spring, NY 10516. Discount admission tickets are available as well through advanced mail order.

The 2010 Open Days Program is generously sponsored by Garden Design Magazine as its National Media Sponsor.

The Garden Conservancy introduced the Open Days Program in 1995 as a means of introducing the public to gardening, providing easy access to outstanding examples of design and horticultural practice, and proving that exceptional American gardens are still being created. The Open Days Program is America’s only national private garden-visiting program, and is made possible by the work of hundreds of volunteers nationwide. Visit the Garden Conservancy and its Open Days Program online at www.opendaysprogram.org.