The Noe Valley Garden Tour 2016 is set and ready to go!

Friends of Noe Valley presents the 11^th annual Noe Valley Garden Tour on Saturday, May 21st. The 2016 tour has nine private gardens that will be open from 10am-4pm. The gardens are all owner designed and the owners will be on hand to talk about their plants, show “before” pictures, and answer your questions. This year the gardens are clustered in the southern end of Noe Valley. Show-stopping gardens include:

• a very educational native plant garden with over 40 varieties of native plants,
• a spectacular Victorian English garden like those seen on Downton Abbey,
• a terraced garden on a slope with intricate stone work created by the owner,
• the 30th Street Senior Center volunteer garden with vegetables, trees and plants where you will be greeted by two local Master Gardeners who will talk about what they do,
• a modern Mediterranean garden with a water feature, numerous succulents, and contained bamboo,
• a well established sidewalk garden – one of Noe Valley’s very nicest,
• a south facing front yard garden with a variety of fruit trees, flowers and shrubs,
• two outdoor room gardens that extend indoor living space, are perfect for entertaining and each showing the owners individual flair.

In addition to viewing the nine gardens, Suzanne Bontempo of Our Water Our World will be talking about natural pest controls that keep our water system cleaner and safer. These practices can help to create a healthy, beautiful, vibrant yard while conserving water, reducing yard waste, and preventing pollution of our air and local rivers. Suzanne’s program will be held at the 30th Street Senior Center.

Your ticket comes with a map and guide. A donation from the proceeds of the tour is made each year to a neighborhood beautification project. This year the donation will be made to Fairmount Elementary School for soil, new vegetable starts, compost, potting soil, and class gardening materials to use in their school garden. Students attend outdoor science class and have many other opportunities to experience all the garden has to offer.

Tickets will be sold on Saturday mornings throughout the month of May, including the day of the Garden Tour, at the Noe Valley Farmers Market on 24th Street – just look for the friendly Friends of Noe Valley ticket agents. Merchants selling tickets include Cliché Noe Gifts, Just For Fun, Olive This Olive That, Omnivore Books on Food, Folio Books, and Small Frys. Tickets can also be purchased ONLINE at friendsofnoevalley.com. Ticket prices are $18 General, $15 Seniors, and Children are free.

In case you’re feeling lucky, raffle tickets will also be on sale. The lucky winner of the raffle will receive a $300 gift certificate to Sloat Garden Center with 4 man-hours of landscape labor by Manuel Franco Landscaping. A big thank you goes to Stephanie Johnson of Pacific Union Realty for generously donating this prize!  Raffle tickets are $5 each, 3 for $10 or 8 for $20. You do not need to attend the Garden Tour to purchase raffle tickets. Look for raffle tickets at the Farmers Market on Saturdays and at the merchants selling Tour tickets.

We are still looking for volunteers to be Garden Greeters on one of three shifts: 10am-12pm, 12pm-2pm, and 2pm-4pm. Garden Greeters welcome visitors, answer questions, check for tickets and sell tickets as need be. All Garden Greeters receive a FREE ticket. In addition, there is a Volunteer Reception for all Garden Greeters on Thursday, May 19th. Please reach out to Lisa Erdos at lisa.erdos@att.net if you would like to be a volunteer Garden Greeter. She’s waiting to hear from you!

Friends of Noe Valley would like to thank the following sponsors for their generous support:

See you on May 21st!