Main Event: Free Garden Tour
- As always, the Bringing Back the Natives Garden Tour is free!
- 10:00–5:00 on Sunday, May 4, 2008. (Please DO NOT visit these gardens on Saturday, May 3, as the hosts will be busy preparing for the big event on the following day. The free tour takes place ONLY on Sunday, May 4, 2008.)
- This is a self-guided tour of 60 fabulous gardens that provide habitat for wildlife, are pesticide-free, conserve water, and contain 30% or more native plants.
- The garden guide you will receive in the mail after registering contains tickets twenty tickets (located at the back of the guide). Every adult (age 16 and older) must provide a ticket at the greeting table before entering a garden. Most people see 4 – 6 gardens; one guide for two people provides plenty of tickets.
- Registration is required in order to receive a guidebook, which contains garden addresses, maps and directions. The Tour is expected to fill, so register early to avoid being disappointed.
- Native plants will be sold (or provided in exchange for donations that support the tour) at a variety locations. Several native plant nurseries—some not normally open to the public—will be open on the week-end of the tour. Native plant reference books and posters will also be available for sale at some gardens. See the matrix at the back of the garden guide for details.
- More than 60 free talks will be given throughout the day. The garden guide contains the schedule.
- Win a free landscape consultation from a noted native plant landscape designer by completing an evaluation on the day of the Tour!
- Preview the gardens to see photos, view extensive garden descriptions, and download plant lists.
- Handicapped accessible gardens can be found by looking at the last column in the "Gardens at a Glance" matrix at the back of the Tour Guide.
- Fresh-off-the grill barbecued lunches may be purchased at the Nursery Marketplace in Alameda. See the garden guide for the directions and address.
- Children’s programs or activities will be offered at: the U. C. Botanical Garden (Berkeley); Temescal Farm Garden (Emeryville); Peralta Hacienda Historical Park (Oakland); the Alameda Butterfly Habitat Garden (Alameda); Rick Alatorre’s garden (Richmond) and the El Sobrante Library (El Sobrante). Please see these garden descriptions for details.
- Volunteers are needed! Volunteers can visit tour gardens this spring at a series of Garden Soirees—events held in March and April and organized expressly for volunteers and hosts. By volunteering for half a day on Sunday, May 4, 2008 and attending Soirees, you will see many more gardens than you would by just participating in the tour. Learn more