2016 Garden Trips Ready to Unwrap

October 20th, 2015

From the palace gardens of Paris to the balmy, winter-shortening tropical gardens of central Florida to Holland, Michigan’s, famous Tulip Festival, you’ll have plenty of plant-ogling choices to make in 2016.

Lowee’s Group Tours and I are putting the finishing touches on our annual series of garden tours, and next year’s lineup is both prolific and diverse.

This year we’re unveiling the whole lineup with pictures, descriptions and details at a “Travel Appreciation and 2016 Kickoff Party” on Sun., Nov. 15, from 2 to 4 p.m. at the West Hanover Twp. Recreation Center, 628 Walnut Ave., Harrisburg.

You’re all invited to come and see what’s on tap. No obligation, no charge, and there will be door prizes and free snacks.

If you’re interested, RSVP Chrissie Kelly at Lowee’s so we have an idea of how many to expect. Call her at 717-657-9658 or email ckelly@lowees.com. If you RSVP, you’ll get an extra entry ticket for door prizes.

The West Hanover Rec Center is located just off Linglestown Road near Central Dauphin High School.

Here’s a quick sneak peak at the 2016 lineup…

Feb. 2-9: We’ll jet to central Florida for a 7-night, 8-day, break-up-winter trip to see six superb Florida gardens, plus a behind-the-scenes tour of Epcot’s Land Pavilion hydroponic gardens, a day trip (including boat cruise) to see Florida native plants and wildlife, and the best strawberry sundaes you’ve ever had.

March 7, 9, 10, 11: We’re doing four day trips to the 2016 Philadelphia Flower Show. Next year’s theme ties into the 100^th anniversary of the National Park Service, so expect to see impressive display gardens of waterfalls, woodlands, blooming meadows and rustic lodges. This is one of the world’s greatest gardening spectacles, and many people go every year (including me). FYI: Most of these sell out.

Sat., April 23: Check out the historic homes and city gardens on Alexandria, Va.’s 2016 Home and Garden Tour, then tour George Washington’s Mt. Vernon estate in the afternoon. We’ve been to this one three times, and people keep wanting to go back. New homes are opened each year.

May 7-15: Holland, Michigan’s, annual Tulip Festival is the highlight destination of this 8-night, 9-day bus trip. We’ll spend two days enjoying that and the many bulbous sites around Holland, plus a day on quaint, no-cars-allowed Mackinac Island and tours of numerous gardens, including the Toledo Botanical Garden, gardens on the campuses of Michigan State University and the University of Michigan (including MSU’s famous children’s garden), the Frederik Meijer Gardens in Grand Rapids, and the new Pittsburgh Botanic Garden on the way home. We’ll also see the Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, and a picturesque winery overlooking Michigan’s Grand Traverse Bay.

Fri., July 1: This year’s tour of local gardens went over so well that we’re repeating the idea next year with a day trip through five more outstanding East Shore gardens, including a hydrangea haven, a peaceful homestead with lake and labyrinth, a “no-get-away, get-away garden” with a writer’s cottage overlooking a backyard pond, and the cutting-edge plants in a horticulturist’s yard. These are all private, home gardens, and you won’t see them any other way. Lunch and tasting at a local winery is included.

July 29-31: Garden Walk Buffalo is absolutely the best place I’ve ever seen to get ideas for your own home gardens. Believe it or not, this snowy city by the lake is home to America’s biggest garden tour with some 400 gardens open for the gawking. We’ll spend 2 days at Garden Walk (the entire time the gardens are open), and I’ll point out the must-see places to help you maximize your visit. We’ll tour Cornell University’s Plantations Botanic Gardens on the way up (plus, yes, a Finger Lakes winery), and do a catamaran cruise on Lake Erie Saturday evening.

Fri., Aug. 19: Since people seem to like seeing private home gardens so much, we’ve put together a day trip to three home gardens in the State College/Bellefonte area, including a 2-acre meadow garden, a charming landscape built around a restored log barn (which we’ll also see), and a country get-away with an acre of themed gardens. We’ll also see the Master Gardener-built Snetsinger Butterfly Garden and stop at State College’s Tait Farms garden center and market.

Sept. 19-26: This is the “big” trip of the year – an overseas gardeners vacation to great gardens and attractions in and around Paris, France. Operated by Collette Tours, this 8-day trip features visits to Monet’s Giverny, the palace gardens at Versailles, the Louvre Museum, Notre Dame Cathedral and France’s Champagne country as well as dinner in the Eiffel Tower, an evening cruise on the Seine River, and the choice of a free day in Paris or a day trip to the stunning gardens at the Chateau de Villandry. Collette’s Matthew D’Eramo will be on hand at the Nov. 15 trip day to go over details.

Fri., Oct. 28: We’ll blend a superb private garden with one of our region’s top public gardens on this day trip, timed to see what fall-foliage beauty is possible in our own landscapes. We’ll see Brandywine Cottage in the morning (home of “The Layered Garden” author David Culp and Michael Alderfer), then have lunch and browse the cutting-edge garden center Terrain at Styer’s (owned by the hip Urban Outfitters clothing chain), then spend the afternoon at Chanticleer Gardens, which many people rank second best Pa. garden, behind only Longwood.

Fri., Dec. 2: We’ll close out the 2016 series with a holiday-themed day trip to Behnke Nursery in the morning (a family-owned garden center and one of D.C.’s best), then a visit to the U.S. Botanic Garden adorned for Christmas with its trains and D.C. landmarks made out of plant parts, then an after-dinner tour of the outdoor holiday light show at Brookside Gardens.

Some of the details are already posted on George’s Talks and Trips page, and all will be up there just as soon as the pricing and timing are nailed down for each.