The best $5 you've ever spent

"Open Days" program is a charity that gives us an inside peek into the gardens of the wealthy

 

When was the last time you could go on an outing for five bucks? Gone are the days of Toonie Tuesday at the movies; a regular night out at the movies (with snacks, of course) can cost upwards of $20 per person.

 

Get out and feel good about it

Open Days is a charitable program that allows us normal folk to check out the most extravagant private gardens of the rich, across 18 U.S. states. Forbes reported there are 315 gardens as part of the program, with still some open for the fall season. Even better, it’s only $5 to visit a garden and the money goes to the Garden Conservancy's preservation projects. The movement specifically helps private gardens transition into public ones.

Japanese maples in all their glory

The charity began back in 1995, raising $52,000 in its first year. Last year the charity generated almost a quarter of a million dollars. According to Forbes, the states of New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Massachusetts, North Carolina, Texas and Arizona will all have gardens open this fall. One garden in particular, owned by retired money manager Michael Steinhardt, will be hosting their Open Day on November 2nd. Keeping the garden open late was a strategic decision. The 57-acre garden is home to Japanese maples; according to Steinhardt, late fall is when you can catch the maples lighting up the sky in their “ultimate moment”.

For $5 A Peek Into The Private Gardens Of The Rich

 

Garden of Judy & Michael Steinhardt

The Steinhardts have been opening their Mt. Kisco, N.Y. garden to the public to benefit the Garden Conservancy since the charity's Open Days program started in 1995. It's one of 315 gardens open this year in 18 states. There's still time to catch fall tours; the year closes with a late season tour on Nov. 2 at the Steinhardts' now 57-acre garden.

 

 

Clapboard Ridge Garden

Frederick Landman and Seen Lippert invite you to enjoy their formal garden in Greenwich, Conn. on Sept. 22. A collaboration with Charlottesville, Va. landscape architect Charles Stick, it includes an orangerie (for lemon trees), topiaries, a sacred grove woodland, and a grotto.



 

 Maple Grove

Tucked in the historic district of Boylston, Mass., this garden delights with woody and herbaceous plants under an understory of mature sugar maples. It's open on Oct. 12.

Helen's Haven

Garden writer Helen Yoest, a field editor for Better Homes & Gardens, invites you to her half acre paradise in Raleigh, N.C. on Sept. 21. Don't miss the garden art, including a Thomas Sayre sculpture.

 

 

The Garden At Federal Twist

This garden of big perennials and prairie grasses is the viewshed from a wall of glass windows of a mid-Century Modern house in Stockton, N.J. It's open on Oct. 19.

Sycamore Hill Farm & Gardens

There are 36 sites of interest including an acre-sized aborvitae maze, koi-filled ponds, and a children's woods in this 30-acres of farmland turned gardens in Marcellus, N.Y. It's open on Sept. 22. Admission is $10: half goes to the Garden Conservancy and half to the Baltimore Woods Nature Center in Marcellus.

 

Garden of Kathi and John O'Riordan

The O'Riordans are opening their Fort Worth, Texas garden on Oct. 13. Weathered steel retaining walls and Silvermist stone slabs as steps are some of the elements that complement the plantings of Texas natives and adaptive plants, designed by landscape architect Patrick L. Lloyd-Boyd.

From: Goldengirlfinance.com & Forbes.com/ Posted by Mags