With all the recent rainfall, 2024 is shaping up to be a fabulous year for flowers, not only in the wild but also on Southern California’s personal lawns. Luckily for lawn enthusiasts, many of those doors will be wide open this spring as part of the annual fundraising culture known as lawn tours.
They come in all shapes and sizes, from the two-day opportunity provided by the Theodore Payne Foundation to appreciate more than 40 local plant landscapes throughout Los Angeles to more intimate occasions that come with just a few exquisite gardens, such as the Garden Conservancy’s open space tours in the Los Angeles San Fernando Valley and Pasadena.
These tours will run on weekends through May, so you’ll find somewhere to go, and admission costs are usually modest — often less than $40 per person and often even free, though in some cases, like the annual open event. space in Prisk Elementary School’s Native Plant Garden, donations to those noble reasons are greatly appreciated.
Grab a friend, a bottle of water, and a hat, put on some fancy walking shoes, and get ready to enjoy all the chic styles that follow a sleek California downpour and the harsh paints of artistic gardeners. If we’ve missed someone, please email jeanette. marantos@latimes. com to see if it’s an occasion we can include.
April 6 Southern California Mediterranean Garden Society Gardens Tour by a personal lawn at Mandeville Canyon in Brentwood, from 10 a. m. to 10 a. m. m. al noon. Designers Marilee Kuhlmann, Tom Rau, and Johanna Woollcott will be on hand to talk about the 2-acre project, which includes water harvesting, fire prevention, fruit trees, a vegetable lawn, water-saving local plants, and a succulent lawn. Tickets are $35 ($25 for members). mediterraneanlawnsociety. org/branches-us-cal-south. html
April 7 & 1 The Prisk Native Plant Garden Open House features a free field trip to the local plant lawn that is regularly closed to the public. at four o’clock in the afternoon on any given day at William F. Prisk, 2375 Fanwood Ave. , Long Beach. The lawn is the school, between East Los Arcos Street and Albury Avenue. facebook. com/prisklocallawn
April 13-14 The Theodore Payne Foundation Native Plant Garden Tour features 41 gardens around Los Angeles faithful to at least 50% local plants. Ticket holders will get a map for self-guided lawn tours on the west side of Los Angeles on April 13 and the east side on April 14, from 10 a. m. to 4 p. m. m. to 5 p. m. m. Both days. One price ticket allows you to visit all the gardens on any day and gives you the opportunity to stopover at the gardens for larger spaces and residences, adding Kuruvungna Village Springs, Casa Apocalyptica, Garden Butterfly, Washington Elementary Native Habitat Garden, and Gottlieb Native Garden. Tickets are $55 (children under 16 free) and those who purchased price tickets online will receive cards in the mail. However, please note that online sales ended on March 17. Starting March 26, pricing tickets (with cards) can only be purchased in person at the base workplace in Sun Valley, Tuesday through Saturday from 8:30 a. m. to 4:30 p. m. m. to 4:30 p. m. m. (The base is closed on Sundays and Mondays). There were only 500 price tickets left as of March 17. eventbrite. com
The Frank Lloyd Wright Garden Symposium and the L. A. Garden Conservancy’s Garden Tours involve a symposium from 10 a. m. to 10 a. m. M. A Four P. M. On April 13, he tested how Wright and other early 20th-century architects responded to Southern California’s landscape and climate, followed on April 1 through guided tours. excursions to Wright’s Hollyhock House and Garden in East Hollywood from 10 a. m. m. at noon and a trip to Rudolph Schindler’s house and garden in West Hollywood from 10 a. m. to 10 a. m. at noon or 2 p. m. At four o’clock in the afternoon Tours of the gardens are $30 and are reserved only for attendees of the symposium on April 13. Tickets for the symposium at the Wilshire Ebell Theatre are $175 ($150 for members, $50 for students). lawnconservancy. org
April 1 4 The Creative Arts Group’s Garden Art tour includes self-guided tours to five gardens in Pasadena and Sierra Madre from 10:30 a. m. to 10:30 a. m. M. A 4 p. m. Tickets are $40 or $45 if purchased on the day of the tour. It’s the largest annual fundraiser for the nonprofit group, offering programs, exhibitions and art categories for youth and adults. Executive director Gwen Robertson said the excursion strives to include at least one “stunned” property, as well as others that are more modest but still inspiring. landscapes created by local designers. Photographs, pets, and children under the age of 12 are not allowed on the tours. The Creative Arts Group gallery will be open at 108 N. Ave. in Sierra Madre for others who want to buy tickets in the middle and see the works of more than 25 artists locales. creativeartsgroup. org
April 21 The Morongo Basin Conservation Association’s desert landscape excursion is scheduled from 9 a. m. to 4 p. m. The occasion includes six self-consultation excursions to the waterscapes of the Morongo Basin in the Yucca Valley, Joshua Tree and Twentynine Palms, as well as excursions with counseling. through a consultant from the Mojave Desert Land Trust. Tickets are $15 ($10 for members) and can be purchased online. It also offers videos of “desert” landscapes from beyond excursions. mbconservation. org
The Garden Conservancy Pasadena Open House Tour invites you to explore three private garden complexes in historic homes: Schumacher Garden Retreat and Bennett-DeBeixedon Garden in Pasadena and Absacal Family Garden in Altadena. Tickets are $10 per lawn and are available online only. Children under the age of 12 are admitted loose with an adult who acompañe. lawnconservancy. org them
April 27 & 28 Redlands Horticultural and Improvement Society Gardens Tour: Pollinator Paradise: Gardens in Bloom includes six personal pollinator gardens and Redlands Grove School Student Garden. Self-guided tours will run from 10 a. m. to 4 p. m. m. Both days. The company will also host a plant sale at thirteen52 Prospect Drive on Saturday from nine to nine a. m. only. M. A 3 p. m. Business cards are delivered with tickets, priced at $15 (children under thirteen are free) and can be purchased with cash or check. at Grove School and choose retailers locales. redlandsgardenclub. org
Riverside Community Flower Show
The 31st Floral Park Homes and Gardens Tour in North Santa Ana offers tours to historic homes and gardens from the 1920s to 1950s from 10 a. m. to 10 p. m. M. A 4 p. m. both days. The tour also includes a vintage car showcase, dishes from local restaurants, and food shopping opportunities. Revenue is earned through network grants and non-profit organizations. Tickets for the tour are $45 if purchased online by April 22 and $50 on the day of the event. . floralparkhomeexcursion. com
For registration:
2:15 pm March 20, 2024 In a previous edition of this story, Michael Solberg’s call was misspelled as Solverb in the caption of a photo.
April 28 The Garden Conservancy San Fernando Valley open house tour will feature three elaborate personal lawns in historic homes: the hillside lawn at Wrightwood Estates and the Sustainable Storybook Garden at Studio City and Longridge in Sherman Oaks. Tickets are $10 per lawn and are available online only. Children under the age of 12 are admitted loose with an adult who acompañe. lawnconservancy. org them
May 4 & 5 The Mary Lou Heard Memorial Garden Tour offers self-guided tours of 38 gardens from Long Beach to San Clemente from 10 a. m. to 10 p. m. M. A 5 p. m. both days. A list of gardens and their addresses can be found on the Mary Lou Heard Foundation website, but plan ahead, as some are only open to visitors who stop for a day. The scale is flexible, but donation bottles will be placed in the gardens of the Bergerie. , a crisis centre for women and youth in Orange that has long benefited from the annual scale of the discovery ats. entendusgardentour. com
May 4, Los Angeles Flower Farm Tour, a free, self-guided tour of nine small flower farms in the greater Los Angeles area, from 10 a. m. to 10 p. m. M. A 3 p. m. A card will be sent to others who register online to make a stop at Frogtown Flora. Allie Cat Flowers, Golden Heron, Drive Through Flora, Bloomtown Flower Co. , Mamabotanica, Pia Flora Design, Flowerbox Studios, and Rose Lane Farms. Farm owners will promote new bouquets, self-picked flowers, and other similar products. pieces on the day of the tour. Therefore, visitors are encouraged to bring a bucket of water to keep their new flowers at their en. partiful. com scale
The Laguna Beach Garden Club Gate 19 and Gardens Tour begins at the Laguna Beach County Water District’s Bruce Scherer Waterwise and Fire-Safe Gardens, 306 3rd St. in Laguna Beach, with special buses transporting holders of tickets to visit several gardens in the region. You can buy Mexican food and handmade margaritas; Also look for loose homemade cakes. Artists will paint canvases in various gardens and visitors dressed in a “festive lawn hat” will participate in the field trip hat contest. Raise funds for school lawns, local scholarships and networking projects, like the Water District’s new bee mural, painted by artist Matt Willey as part of his work The Good of the Hive, which aims to raise awareness about the importance of the pollinators. Garden tours run from 10 a. m. to 5 p. m. m. to 4 p. m. m. , with last access at 2 p. m. m. Children are not allowed. Timed access tickets purchased before April 28 charge $60 or $80 for access between 10 a. m. and 5 p. m. and 2 p. m. , plus tickets for food and drinks. lagunabeachlawnclub. org
May 5 Blooms With a View Spring Garden Tour, sponsored through Inspired Garden Artistry, is holding its 11th biennial and vendor fair at nine home gardens in View Park and Ladera Heights from noon to five p. m. m. La fair will be held on the south front of Ladera Park. , 47five0 W. 62nd St. , in the View Park-Windsor Hills community of South Los Angeles. The tour includes a waterfall, rose garden, fruit trees, a zen garden, and an outdoor art exhibit. Studio with a 37 foot mosaic storybook wall. Tickets can be purchased online through April 15 for $30; $3 five if purchased after April 15 or the day of the event in park. inpirégardenartistry. com
Livingston Memorial Visiting Nurses Association 2024.
On May 11, Open Day in the West Floral Park and Jack Fisher Park neighborhoods features at least 8 field trips to two tree-lined neighborhoods of old homes in North Santa Ana, as well as live music, art exhibits, lawn talks and demonstrations. a vintage car show, free activities. Bottled water on the lawn, coffee and donuts to buy in the morning, and food and lawn vendors from 9 a. m. to 9 p. m. M. A 4 p. m. (Tours run from 9:30 a. m. to 3:30 p. m. m. with round-trip service between the two excursion circuits to minimise waiting times). Tickets begin March 19 online for $20, or $25 if purchased on the day of the event, at West Santa Clara Avenue and North Westwood Avenue in Santa Ana. openlawnday . com
May 16 The Newport Harbor Home
May 18 The 202four San Clemente Garden Club Garden Tour offers self-guided tours and presentations at five gardens in the San Clemente area, from 10 a. m. to 10 p. m. M. A Four P. M. Tickets can be purchased online prior to the event for $35 ($30 each if you purchase four or more). One-day tickets are $45 and will need to be purchased in person, at a location to be announced online on May 17. It comes from San Clemente Garden Club College’s Youth Gardening and Gardening Grants and gardening systems, as well as conservation and civic beautification organizing projects in St. Clement’s. Clement. saclementegardenclub. com
The Tustin Area Historical Society’s 25th Tustin Old Town Houses & Gardens Tour includes tours of the 10 BC community-era houses and gardens and gardens. 4 p. m. , as well as May dances, artist paintings, music, horse-drawn carriages and vendors promoting gardens. Tickets can be purchased online or at the Tustin Area Museum in Tustin for $40 in advance, $45 on the day of the evento. tustinhistory. com
Virginia Robinson Gardens’ 35th Spring Rhapsody Gardens tour includes 3 of the historic property’s personal gardens that are not open to the public, as well as excursions to the space adorned with flower arrangements, live music, a lunch on the Great Lawn , a Silent Auction and on-site market, from 10 a. m. to 4 p. m. m. at four p. m. in Beverly Hills. Purchase tickets online for $350, as well as valet parking for $50. robinsongardens. org
May 19 The Rossmoor Woman’s Club’s 19th Garden offers self-guided tours of five personal gardens at Orange County’s Rossmoor-Los Alamitos Domain, just north of Seal Beach, from 10 a. m. to 10 p. m. M. A Four P. M. The occasion also includes tours of two elementary school gardens. grown through academics and their mentors from the Orange County Master Gardeners program. Tickets are $20 and can be purchased online in April or, on the day of the tour, at the club’s open-air market, which offers music, food, crafts and plant sales in Arbor. Village, 10651 Los Alamitos Blvd. in Los Alamitos. Net comes from touring, local charities, and scholarships for Los Alamitos. rossmoorwomansclub. org high school academics
The 18th California Heights Homes & Gardens Tour includes guided tours of seven gardens and five historic homes, plus a 191-floor four-floor bungalow landscaped with local California plants, herbs, fruit trees, and vegetables; a 1925 Mission Revival house landscaped with coastal holm oaks and manzanita, and a 1931 Spanish Mediterranean space with citrus and local plants. Tours run from 11 a. m. to 4 p. m. Tickets are $35 in advance and $40 on the day of the event and can be purchased online. On the day of the tour, please check in at f/8 Studios, 376four Orange Ave. in Long Beach to get a carte. calheights. org
Updates
10:32 a. m. , March 22, 2024: This story has been updated to post the California Heights House and Garden Tour in Long Beach.
3:53 PM March 19, 2024: Tickets for the Theodore Payne Foundation’s Native Plant Garden Tour are no longer available online. They can only be purchased as a user at the foundation’s workplace as of March 26.
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Jeanette Marantos is a feature reporter who focuses primarily on plants, gardening and the changing landscapes of Southern California for the Los Angeles Times. He also writes the monthly L. A. Times Plants newsletter, which includes a calendar of upcoming plant-related events. Submission of calendars or plant-related story concepts to jeanette. marantos@latimes. com for review.
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