The Garden Conservancy hosting Open Days 2026

Sleepy Cat Farm in Connecticut.

Private gardens, typically off-limits to the public, will open to the public on specific days during the Garden Conservancy Open Days 2026 garden visiting program.

Since 1995, Open Days has offered 1.5 million people a chance to look behind the hedges, with visits to 4,500 gardens in 40 states.

For the 2026 growing season beginning this spring and running through November, more than 350 private gardens will be open across 26 states — from urban rooftops and organic farms to innovative suburban backyards and historic estates.

More than 100 gardens will be open for the first time in 2026.  

“Open Days events offer a rare opportunity to visit private gardens, connect with nature, appreciate artistry and find inspiration from the passion projects of dedicated gardeners,” said James Brayton Hall, president and CEO of the Garden Conservancy. “The excitement comes from discovering hidden gems and sharing the beauty of these private sanctuaries with fellow garden lovers.”

Highlighted private gardens included in the program this year are listed below, with descriptions provided by the Garden Conservancy:

California

• Built in 1931, Villa Vecchia (open March 21) in Palm Springs is a rare two-story California Spanish-style house. The original tamarisk trees served as natural wind and sun barriers when the home stood isolated in the desert. Owned by professional landscapers, the property has undergone a multiyear transformation, resulting in gardens that feature diverse exotics, natives, succulents and rare plants such as bombax, cycads, boojum, cactus, aloes and palms. Stone from nearby deserts shapes the garden's layout. Highlights include a casita wall adorned with over 300 ceramic plates.
• Mi Sueno del Sur Garden (open April 19) in Pasadena, part of a 1916 Spanish Revival home, was revitalized after years of neglect by its current owners and noted landscape designer Mark Bartos. Inspired by European gardens and the Getty Villa in Malibu, the redesigned space features Mediterranean plants like olive trees, citrus, bay laurels and Italian cypress, along with large bronze and steel sculptures. A restored reflecting pool anchors the front yard, while the garden creates a magical atmosphere at sunset.
• La Fleur Lochinvar Garden (open April 25) in San Rafael is a serene retreat designed with succulents, cacti, grasses and citrus, serving as the visual centerpiece of a mid-century and Scandinavian-style home. Visible through long sliding glass doors, the garden blurs indoor and outdoor spaces with its blend of greens, silvers and blues against a backdrop of pine and the hills of China Camp State Park. The backyard features three main zones: a private cedar hot tub and deck surrounded by succulents and Euphorbia tilucalli ‘Sticks on Fire’; a central area with grass bordered by citrus, olives, acacia, aloe and more succulents; and a raised-bed kitchen and flower garden filled with zinnias, dahlias, vegetables and herbs.

Connecticut 

• One of the most popular gardens during Open Days is the 13-and-a-half-acre Sleepy Cat Farm (open June 7 and Aug. 29) in Greenwich. Visitors can view a carefully orchestrated series of discoveries, including a long reflecting pool, a pebble mosaic terrace and fountain, an extensive greenhouse and an elegant stage set for sculpture and boxwood topiary.
• The Avon Flower House (open Aug. 1) in Avon features rare conifers, ornamentals and vibrant annuals displayed on tall pedestals. The 3-acre property is planted and maintained by its owners, who also shape the trees into playful topiaries. Visitors can tour the historic 1810 home, now showcasing antique collections and art.
• Ann and Haig's Garden (open May 31) in New Canaan displays over 120 fern varieties within a 4-acre landscape. The property also has dogwoods, viburnums, rhododendrons, Japanese maples, hydrangeas, specimen trees and oaks. Woodland gardens feature groundcovers for contrast, while the pool area offers summer blooms, and a long woodchip path winds throughout.
• Nomadica (open Sept. 19) in Weston is a working garden, blending beauty, biodiversity and experimentation on half an acre. The site features production beds of flowers, vegetables, fruits and gourds, alongside perennials, a native mini-meadow and a stream. Two beehives and chickens contribute to an ecosystem that links the garden and kitchen. Each space highlights curiosity about plants, appreciation for seasonal change and the impact of ecological design on small plots.

Michigan

• The Turkel House (open June 27) in Detroit is the largest example of Frank Lloyd Wright’s final architectural style, Usonian Automatic, designed in 1955. After completing an award-winning restoration of the house, the owners turned their attention to the garden. The landscape architect took as his starting point Wright’s belief that the garden is the most important room of the house. The design, totaling approximately 1.5 acres, contains four separate areas: meadow, woods, sculpture courtyard and a terrace.

New Mexico

• Robin Magowan’s Rock Garden (open May 30) in Santa Fe is a crevice garden on a scenic mountainside, hosting over a thousand alpine species from granitic soils worldwide. Visitors can explore two mason-built staircases lined with dwarf plants set among rocks. The house is surrounded by tiered gardens and preserved piñon trees, leading past studios to an outcrop with expansive views. Larger alpine transition plants thrive here despite minimal water.

New York

• Surrounding a 1928 beachfront house, the Alexandra Munroe & Robert Rosenkranz Gardens in East Hampton (open June 27) blend formal and naturalistic landscaping. Visitors will find meadows with diverse perennials and grasses, cutting and cottage gardens, a yew-enclosed rose bed, woodland trails featuring Asian plants, and a parterre with a croquet lawn. The kitchen terrace connects to spacious vegetable and cutting gardens.
• Set on a bluff above Gardiner's Bay in East Hampton, the Garden of Marshall Watson (open June 27) offers two main areas: one open to ocean winds and deer, and another partly enclosed. Now transitioning to organic practices, the garden includes holly hedges, rhododendrons, a potager, wisteria-draped carriage house, a neoclassic gazebo, an organic vegetable patch, formal gravel paths lined with boxwood and agapanthus, espaliered fruit trees, topiary lilacs, a reflecting pool, Versailles planters with roses and figs, and a sea garden of deer-resistant plants.
• Begun in 1992, Entwood Garden (open June 27) in Bridgehampton provides a park-like environment with hidden recreational areas. Two large, naturalized koi ponds are bordered by the fairway of a par-3 golf hole, an arboretum and densely planted garden areas. In contrast to Entwood Garden’s incremental design and implementation, Entwood Glade was planned to integrate restored 17th- and 18th-century structures and extensive recreational facilities into a pastoral setting.

Pennsylvania

• Havenwood House & Gardens (opening June 6) in Grove City features a 1-acre British-inspired garden developed over 12 years. The garden is divided into distinct rooms to support diverse plants, with highlights such as yew arches, hornbeam hedges, a formal pool, boxwood parterre, meadow birch garden, pergola walk with wisteria, fruit tunnel, rambling rose, wildlife pond and bogs showcasing candelabra primula.
  

Wisconsin

• The Sievert Garden (opening July 25) in Waukesha is a 1-acre property shaped almost entirely by its owner. The grounds feature diverse shade gardens with over 800 hostas, abundant local mosses on various surfaces, a water garden with three elements, Japanese-style and cactus/succulent gardens, a sunken and hillside garden, three stumperies, and a Williamsburg-inspired formal garden. Salvaged bricks and cobblestones form the paths and planters.
  

Planning a visit to Garden Conservancy Open Days 2026

Open Days gardens for 2026 are listed on the Garden Conservancy’s website. Tickets are released online approximately two months in advance of an Open Day, around the first of the month.

Registration is $10 per person, or $5 for members of The Garden Conservancy. Children 12 and under are free when accompanied by a parent or guardian. All registrations must be processed online through The Garden Conservancy’s website. Visit gardenconservancy.org/open-days.

Since 1995, the Garden Conservancy’s Open Days program has opened garden gates to thousands of private gardens across the country. Founded by Director Emerita Page Dickey and friend and fellow gardener Pepe Maynard, the Open Days program has showcased over 4,500 gardens in 40 states and has welcomed over 1.5 million visitors since its inception. 

One of the most important changes over the years at Open Days has been the adoption of native plants and organic practices. In 2022, Open Days launched Nibbled Leaf, a nature-friendly gardening initiative, developed in partnership with the Perfect Earth Project.

When a Nibbled Leaf icon appears next to a garden entry, the garden is being maintained with all living creatures in mind. Over two-thirds of Open Days Gardens in 2026 have the Nibbled Leaf icon listed on the Garden Conservancy website.

The nonprofit Garden Conservancy is based in Garrison, New York, and works nationally to protect gardens of horticultural, historical and design significance. Since its founding in 1989, it has helped ensure the survival of more than 100 public gardens.