Garden Tour Season is Upon Us!

TheGarden Tours are coming soon! Here are the ones we’ve been notified of as of our deadline, providing plenty of opportunities to check out the area’s most interesting gardens and gather some tips to implement in your own landscape!

May 21st

9am-4pm—St. Louis Native Plant Garden Tour. The popular St. Louis Native Plant Garden Tour is produced annually by St. Louis Audubon Society and Wild Ones St. Louis Chapter. Gardens are in and around University City. This self-guided tour includes a wide variety of habitats, native landscaping styles and yard sizes. This is an educational tour, so there will be a lot of information posted in gardens and shared by the homeowners and by volunteer docents throughout the day. Tickets are $20. To register go to stlaudubon.org. Presented by Bring Conservation Home and STL Wild Ones.

June 2nd-3rd

Fri. 4-8pm, Sat. 9am-1pm—Gardens in Bloom Tour. Visit gardens in St. Clair County, IL. Tickets $12. Children 12 and under are free. Order tickets online at event.gives/gardensinbloom2023 or at the following locations: Sandy’s Back Porch (Belleville), Effinger’s Garden Center (Belleville), Creative Landscapes Garden Center (Fairview Heights), Terry’s Landscaping & Garden Center (Centreville), Ace Hardware (O’Fallon), Hometown Ace Hardware (Belleville), U. of IL Extension Office (Waterloo or Collinsville). Day of tour, tickets available at St. Michael’s Episcopal Church, 111 O’Fallon Troy Rd., O’Fallon.

June 3rd

10am-5pm—The Square in Bloom Garden Tour & Antique Fair. Get an exclusive look at some of the most unique gardens, yards, and outdoor spaces in St. Louis. Purchase tickets at Lafayettesquare.org.

June 3rd

10am-4pm—The Garden Conservancy Open Days. Explore St. Louis’ finest private gardens. The Garden Conservancy’s Open Day Garden Tour in St. Louis is a rain or shine event. Tickets and directions to the gardens are available on line at gardenconservancy.org/open days.

June 3rd-4th

10am—Annual Town and Country Garden Tour The Garden Tour includes both a walking tour of gardens in downtown Historic Hermann and a driving tour to gardens in the hills around Hermann. The $15 ticket price includes visits to at least four private gardens; these gardens are both in town and in the country and include a traditional four-square garden. Tickets will be sold online before the tour at Eventeny and at Topiaries (138 E. 4th) in downtown Hermann during the tour from 10-4 on Saturday and 10-3 on Sunday. Gardens close at 5PM on Saturday and 4PM on Sunday. A map to the gardens will be provided starting on Saturday June 3rd at the Topiaries ticket sale site. The Hermann Garden Club’s website www. hermanngardentours.com provides up-to-date events, ticket prices, links to the online ticket sale site, contact numbers, and photographs of past tour gardens. A special new event, The Garden Club High-End Estate Sale, will begin at 10am on Friday at the Rotunda in Upper City Park and continue until 6pm. There will be a preview from 3-6pm on Thursday; tickets for the preview are $10.

June 9th-10th

4-8pm Fri., 9am-1pm Sat.—Secret Garden Tour. The Garden Club of Lebanon, Illinois presents our Secret Garden Tour. Gardening ideas abound as you take a self-guided tour featuring 6 member gardens and 2 community gardens. Maps may be obtained 30 minutes prior to tour start at Lebanon Visitors’ Center 221 W. St. Louis St. Lebanon, IL. Admission is by donation and proceeds support our annual student scholarships. Go to gardencluboflebanon.org for additional information.

June 11th

Noon-4pm—New Town Garden Club Annual Garden Tour. Tour New Town home gardens that use small spaces for a big impact. Tickets are $10 in advance, $15 on the day of the event. Purchase tickets by contacting Terri Steffes at terristeffes1117@gmail.com with Venmo.

June 11th

11am-4pm— The Sustainable Backyard Tour. Explore eco-friendly spaces throughout the St. Louis region for FREE! Talk to organic gardeners, orchardists, vegetable growers, chickenkeepers, beekeepers and more! Pick up tips on stormwater management, renewable energy and water conservation among other vital topics. Register to attend, host, volunteer or sponsor at SustainableBackyard. org

June 23rd-24th

4-8pm Fri., 9am-1pm Sat.—22nd Annual Madison County Garden Tour. Visit beautiful gardens in Edwardsville and Glen Carbon, Illinois. The gardens may be toured at the leisure of the ticket holders. The tour is sponsored by Madison County Extension Foundation with the support of the University of Illinois Master Gardeners. More information at (618) 344-4230.

June 24th & 25th

9am-5pm—2023 Pond-O-Rama Tour. The 2023 tour will feature 23 private gardens owned and maintained by Society members. Tickets covering both days of the tour are $20 each (18 and older) and will be available at local retail shops and garden centers throughout the metropolitan area or on our website. A special 2023 Discount: Groups of 10 or more are only $10 each.

The gardens are located throughout the St. Louis metropolitan area. This self-guided tour is arranged each day by geographic location. This year there are many new members who are excited to share their new ponds and waterfalls.

The tour ticket booklet provides location addresses, descriptions and driving directions. For more information on where to purchase tickets by mail order from the Society’s website in May, www.slwgs. org, and at many of our retailers and garden centers.

June 25th

Noon-4pm—Bittersweet Garden Club 23rd Annual Garden Tour. Tour five beautifully landscaped gardens in the Jefferson City area and discover fresh ideas to apply to your own gardens. Tour tickets are $10 if bought in advance Tour tickets purchased the day of the tour at a featured garden are $12. Children under 12 years of age are free. More information can be viewed at www.bittersweetgardenclub.com.

Ican’t think of two more different shrubs than leadplant (Amorpha canescens) and Indigo bush (Amorpha fruticosa), yet they are practically siblings. Like my 6-foot, 6-inch-tall brother and me, we appear to be cut from different cloth, yet we are related.

In Missouri, leadplant grows in dry or rocky soils, often associated with dry prairies, open woodlands, and rocky glades. It is a 3-foot tall, finicky slow-poke. It may take five years for it to grow two to three feet. Though it performs best