"What the Garden Conservancy has launched is an institution. [Open Days] could do more for horticultural cross-fertilization than anything to hit the American garden since, well, the bumblebee."

Michael Pollan“The Garden Path,” Vogue, April 1997

THE GARDEN CONSERVANCY’S

OPEN DAYS PROGRAM

Get Involved!

Open Days brings together people and gardens to learn, share, inspire, and enjoy. For more than twenty years, the award-winning* outreach program has fostered meaningful connections by introducing more than one million visitors to thousands of private gardens around the country. In 2015, Digging Deeper was introduced—a series of intimate forays into the diverse world of gardens—yet another way we deliver top garden makers, gardening know-how, and inspiration to our visitors. Open Days continues to grow across the country, expanding into new regions with new gardens, lectures, symposia, hands-on activities, and children’s programming.

Help fuel the passion for gardens and gardening—become part of Open Days today!

Great gardens are essential to Open Days, and so are great people. The Open Days family is a diverse network of garden enthusiasts who share their time, their ideas, and their gardens to help create the country’s only national garden-visiting program. Participate in Open Days and celebrate gardens and gardening, foster the lively exchange of garden ideas, meet others who share your love of gardens, and directly support the important work of the Garden Conservancy.

It is generally agreed that the best way to learn how to do something is to do it. Certainly that is true of garden making…But there is [another] way…to increase your knowledge of plants, to sharpen your sense of design, and to find your own voice—garden visiting. Just as gallery hopping and touring museums educate your eyes, so too does spending time in other people’s gardens.

Marco Polo StufanoFounding Director of Horticulture, Wave Hill, 2001 Open Days Directory

On the surface the Open Days experience appears to be a chance for the guests to look at private gardens and gather ideas, in fact the learning goes both ways. Through the eyes…of my guests…this space that is so familiar to me becomes at once so delightfully unfamiliar. I get a chance at a fresh look, thanks to them.

In addition to our staff, Open Days is made possible by:

• Garden Hosts• Regional Representatives• Volunteers• Visitors

Garden Hosts• share their own inspiring gardens

that are excellent examples of their type—whatever garden style that may be

• open their gardens as part of Open Days once or several times a year

• help recruit volunteers for their Open Day

• interact with visitors and the press about their garden’s story

Regional Representatives• help Open Days staff coordinate local

open garden dates and participants

• help scout and select gardens

• serve as a point person for Garden Hosts, Volunteers, and staff

• help plan Digging Deeper and other special events

• identify potential partnerships with nonprofits, nurseries and retailers, and garden and design professionals

• help promote Open Days locally and regionally

I had the privilege to be Los Angeles Open Days Regional Representative for five years, working with garden owners, designers, landscape architects, garden-mad volunteers, and the Garden Conservancy staff. An enthusiastic journalist called our Open Day…”a love letter to Los Angeles.” We were thrilled.

Margaret RoachGardener & garden writer, 2004 Open Days Directory

Judy HortonGardener & garden designer, 2010 Open Days Directory

Photo: Hudson Valley Garden Association

* In 2015, Open Days was awarded a distinguished service medal from the Garden Writers Association of America.

Volunteers• greet visitors, take tickets and

direct parking

• support Open Days staff, Regional Representatives, and Garden Hosts

• post calendar listings in local and regional press

• serve as garden docents and local guides

Visitors:• explore an astonishing range of

private gardens that open their gates just for Open Days

• share special experiences and in-depth conversations with garden experts and artisans during our Digging Deeper events

• enjoy carefully curated pop-up nurseries and specialty shops in our gardens

• meet fellow garden enthusiasts and exchange ideas, observations and techniques

• enjoy the annual Open Days Directory—with nationwide listings of public gardens, nursery and

Contact us today to see how you, too, can be part of Open Days!

The Garden Conservancy’s Open Days Program888-842-2442 / opendays@gardenconservancy.org www.opendaysprogram.org

retail partners, and garden and design professional partners— as a year-round guide

• use the Open Days website for customized driving directions and ideas for places to eat and shop to enhance the Open Day experience

• add to their gardening know-ledge and skill on a variety of topics through Open Days lectures and events

• receive up-to-date communications on Open Days events and gardens in their regions

Of the Garden Conservancy’s many projects and programs, the Open Days provides the greatest opportunity for Americans to explore, enjoy, and learn from their garden heritage.

Richard G. Turner, Jr.Editor Emeritus, Pacific Horticulture, 2003 Open Days Directory