On Saturday, April 4 th, visit six private gardens in Vero Beach through The Garden Conservancy's Open Days Program, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Open Days are rain or shine, and no reservations are required. Call 1-888-842-2442 or visit
www.opendaysprogram.org for more information. Visitors may begin the tour at the McKee Botanical Garden, 350 Highway 1, Vero Beach for directions to the private gardens.
Located in the Ocean Towers townhouses and featuring three intimate courtyards, the gardens of
Doro Chaffee,
Sally Wyer, and
Judy & Reuben Palmer include fountains, climbing vines, and inviting gathering places. There will only be one $5 admission charge to all three of these gardens.
At the garden of
James & Sharon Baumgardt, garden rooms highlight mature live oaks and lush tropical plantings in the courtyard and pool veranda. The garden on
Ladybug Lane features a hedge-like stand of elephant ears, a variety of palms, an unusually large Simpson's Stopper tree.
Helena's Garden is a truly tropical mix of colorful bromeliads, palms, and grasses, dominated by a large royal Poinciana tree, on one-third of an acre. Admission to each of these three gardens is $5.
These Open Days are featured in the 2009
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 23 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 or MasterCard, 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 2009 Open Days Program is generously sponsored by W. Atlee Burpee & Co., including Burpee, America's most trusted name in gardening for 132 years, providing seeds, plants, gardening supplies and accessories for the home gardener, Heronswood Nursery, a purveyor of unusually great plants and by The Cook's Garden, seeds and plants for gourmet vegetables. The Open Days Program is also pleased to have
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.