Open Gardens
Touring the gardens of other NPA members and sharing ideas with fellow gardeners is one of the favorite pastimes of NPA members, and a popular benefit of membership in our unique organization. We are fortunate that we have many members graciously willing to share their gardens with other members, which is what makes this program such a huge success each year.
About the gardens
We generally have anywhere from 70 to 100 gardens or more open each year, providing opportunities for garden tours almost every weekend, beginning in May and continuing into October. Most are private gardens not usually open to the public. They are located throughout Western Washington and occasionally into Eastern Washington as well.
Gardens of all styles and sizes are included, ranging from intimate urban retreats to sprawling country gardens. (Photo at right: Jacob and Teresa Kohn, Seattle) Any NPA member is welcome to open their garden to share with other members – whatever the style of garden, whether large or small, new or well established, sophisticated or eclectic.
Hosts find it to be a fun and rewarding experience to welcome fellow gardeners who appreciate the work that goes into making a garden and enjoy sharing ideas and commiserating over shared challenges.
If you would like information about opening your garden next year, please send an email to the Open Gardens team-- we would love to hear from you!
About the Open Gardens directory
The Open Gardens directory is given only to NPA members. It is mailed in April, and gardens open beginning in May. In the directory, each NPA garden is grouped into a suggested self-guided tour. Each listing includes the garden’s description, along with driving directions, dates and hours it is open. The book features photographs of most of the gardens.
Be sure to look for your NPA membership card, which will be inside the front cover of the directory.
Check our Discount Offers for nurseries and garden-related businesses that offer a discount on purchases when you show your NPA card. The list is published in the back of your Open Gardens book.
Another important section of the directory is the NPA Business Spotlight, which showcases garden businesses owned by NPA members.
2016 Open Gardens Tours
This is an overview of our 2016 garden tours and open days at destinations not usually open to the public. All details can be found in your 2016 NPA Open Gardens directory, which is available only to NPA members. Remember that, aside from the tours listed here, you can visit even more gardens: Check the "Gardens by Appointment" and "Self-Guided Tours" sections of your Open Gardens directory for details. And be sure to look in on our member nurseries in the areas you are touring.
May
6 & 7 Season Opener – Plant lust in Kitsap County.
7 Spring Beauty on a Lake – Enjoy a garden in full spring bloom in a wonderful lake setting.
7 South Sound Tour – Plant shopping in the south end.
12-14 Far Reaches Open – Start as early as Thursday and enjoy a day in Port Townsend.
14 South Sound: A Second Chance – An encore by south end nurseries.
14 & 15 May Flowers: Spring in Seattle – It’ll be best to brown-bag it for this one, as you won’t have time for lunch. EIGHT spring gardens await!
20 & 21, and 27 Windcliff Open
28 & 29 Four New in Kirkland and Bellevue – A tour of four gardens that are making their debut this year!
![]()G_BrennemanHarris.jpg)
From left to right: Lael’s Moon Garden, Rochester; Joan Eklof, Redmond; Rebecca Brenneman
and Laird Harris, Seattle
June
9 - 11 Far Reaches Open
10 & 11 Windcliff Open
11 Seattle Gardens: A Joint Venture – Start at Seattle’s Mount Baker Neighborhood and end the day across town in West Seattle.
11 & 12 An Outing to Orting --- Enjoy two prime destinations in Orting.
11 & 12 Fab Four in June – Two tried-and-true and two new in the north end.
17 & 18 Windcliff Open
18 Enchanting Vashon – Need we say more?
19 Two Beauties: Magnolia and Queen Anne – Beauties indeed, don’t miss them!
24 Windcliff Open
24 & 25 Sundquist: Frolicking Ferns & Flowering Friends – Enjoy Windcliff and Sundquist together on the 24th.
25 Urban Jewels – A super threesome in Seattle.
25 & 26 Along the Foothills – Four wonderful gardens from Redmond to Snoqualmie!
Left to right: Antique Rose Farm, Snohomish; Jacob and Teresa Kohn, Seattle, Mary and Whit
Carhart, Vashon
July
1 & 2 Windcliff Open
2 & 3 High Five! – Head up north to tour five great gardens, from Marysville to South Everett.
8 Windcliff Open
9 & 10 Triple Delight – Three gardens in Edmonds and Lynnwood await your visit!
9 & 10 In and Around Gig Harbor – A full day of touring: Seven summer gardens to enjoy, from Fox Island to Port Orchard. NOTE: This tour could easily be reversed by taking the Seattle-to-Bremerton ferry.
15 & 16 Windcliff Open
16 Fine Gardening: A South End Trio – Enjoy three wonderful destinations, one tried-and-true and two new gardens.
16 Winsome Whidbey: The July Tour – Experience Whidbey Island by way of six beautiful gardens.
21 - 23 Far Reaches Open
23 & 24 Eastside Treasures – Indeed, a treasury of three gardens you don’t want to miss!
29 & 30 Windcliff Open
Left to right: Lucinda and Jerome Capers, Fox Island; Jeanne and Robin Cronce, Port Orchard;
Janice and Steve Tallman, Everett
August
4 - 6 Far Reaches Open
5 & 6 and 12 & 13 Windcliff Open
13 Two Beauties: An Encore – Two gardeners share their creations again – you don’t want to miss these!
19 Windcliff Open
20 Winsome Whidbey: The August Tour – Summer heat with an island breeze: Visit Whidbey and tour three great gardens.
26 Windcliff Open
27 Capital Gardens: Six in South Sound – “Capital” gardens in every sense of the word – a full day’s tour of six gardens, five of them new.
Left to right: Mary Fisher (Cultus Bay Nursery), Clinton; Wendy Lagozzino, Seattle; Annette Barca, Coupeville
September and October
2 & 3 and 9 Windcliff Open
10 & 11 Fall Splendor in Orting – Two not-to-miss gardens in their fall glory.
15 - 17 Far Reaches Open
16 & 17 Sundquist: Fall Gone Crazy!
23 & 30 Windcliff Open
October Open Garden
7 & 8 Windcliff Open – Closing our 2016 season: spectacular Windcliff.
Photos: Donna Bogumill and Tom Bond, Olympia
