Encinitas Garden Festival & Tour Saturday, April 17. 2010 10 am to 4 pm

The Encinitas Garden Festival & Tour is an all-day celebration of community, gardening, and the horticultural heritage of Encinitas.

This year’s event continues a tradition that started in May of 2005 when more than 30 residents of downtown Encinitas opened their gardens for a sell-out event. In April 2006, 1200 people toured more than 20 fantastic gardens in north Leucadia. In May of 2008, 1000 people toured 22 gorgeous gardens in Olivenhain. In April of 2009, we visited 26 gardens in the Composer district of Cardiff-by-the-Sea.

The 2010 Garden Festival kicks off at the parking lot of San Dieguito Academy in Encinitas.  There, tour participants board double decker buses for a short ride to the Gardeners’ Marketplace in Leucadia's Orpheus Park.

From the Marketplace, participants will begin a self-guided walking tour that features more than 20 gardens of every size and style, a butterfly vivarium, greenhouses, a school garden, and even a fire station garden.

Back in the Marketplace, vendors will offer unusual plants, beautiful garden art, photography and much more.  Speakers and organizations will offer information on saving water in the garden, attracting birds and butterflies, gardening  with children and other topics.

The Encinitas Garden Festival & Tour is an all-volunteer event that started as an initiative of the City of Encinitas Cultural Tourism committee.