Bringing Back the Natives Garden Tour

Planning Your Day


General Tips

  1. Carpool. Our carpool system lets you easily fill every seat of your car. Not only can you help us make our Tour more earth-friendly and reduce parking problems at our hosts' homes, but you can meet neighbors to share skills or interests; find neighbors who want to share seeds, cuttings, or have workparties; visit gardens that explore water conservation techniques... and many more choices. Take a look.
  2. Wear comfortable shoes and a hat, and be prepared to walk a block or two to get into the busy gardens. Walk or bike to gardens if you can.
  3. Prior to the tour, decide which gardens you would like to visit. Four to six gardens are a comfortable number to see in one day. Then consult an on-line mapping website, such as maps.yahoo.com or www.mapquest.com, to plan your route from garden-to-garden. (The maps in the printed garden guide you will receive in the mail contain only freeway-to-garden directions.)
  4. Print out the plant lists for the gardens you wish to visit and bring those plant lists with you. This will enable you to note plants you find particularly appealing. Plant lists are found at each garden page. Plant lists will not be available at the gardens.
  5. Each adult entering a garden must provide a garden entry ticket. (Children 16 and under will not need tickets.) The garden guide contains 20 tickets. Most people will visit four to six gardens, and will have tickets left over. Should you realize that you need more tickets, you will need to register more members of your group. On the day of the tour, if you realize you need additional tickets, you can visit one of the walk-in registration sites to obtain another garden guide. Please ensure you have an adequate number of tickets for each adult in your group.
  6. Native plant reference books will be sold at six of the gardens. Bring small bills in case you wish to make purchases. Expect low stock at the end of the day. The list of gardens selling or giving away items is included in the “Gardens at a Glance” table at the back of the guide, or on the individual gardens' pages.
  7. More than 60 talks will be given throughout the day. See the Garden Talks list at the back of the guide or at the individual gardens pages for details.
  8. Remember that the garden hosts, greeters, and garden assistants are all volunteers. Please be courteous and remember to thank them.