Tour Schedule December 2024 – April 2025

 

Public Guided Tours* IN-PERSON

*Public Guided Tours require pre-registration through our website.

Seasonal Garden Tours

Enhance your understanding and appreciation of the Garden with one of these specialized tours featuring seasonal aspects of the collection, offered monthly except January, July, August and December.

February Seasonal Garden Tour | February 18

March Seasonal Garden Tours | March 11 OR March 26  

April Seasonal Garden Tours | April 9 OR April 22 

 

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Talk and Tours

Conservation & Sustainability Talk & Tour | March 19 

Join Garden Guide Susie Austin for a talk about the many ways we practice sustainability here at the Garden including conserving water, planting native species and recycling. Then enjoy a walk around the Garden to see some of our current efforts at work and discuss how some of these could be adopted for use in your home garden.  

For the Love of Trees Talk & Tour | April 29  

Do you love trees and want to learn more about the role you can have in their survival? Come join Garden Guide, Lorrie Lincoln for a talk about the hidden life of trees and their importance in our ecosystem. Then enjoy a walk around the Garden to see our magnificent and beautiful tree collection. 

 

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Themed Tours

Enjoy a guided tour of the Garden through the lens of a particular themed topic! 

Behind-the-Scenes of Gardenfest Tour | December 6 OR December 20

Are you curious to know what really goes into creating Gardenfest at Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden and especially how the themed light forms are created? Join Garden Guide, Bob Lincoln on an excursion to the basement of the Kelly Education Center to see how and where the magic happens. Take a guided tour around the Garden to see this year’s “basement buddy” creations and hear stories about how previous theme’s forms have been recycled and reused throughout the years.

NEW! Gardenfest Interiors: Featuring Nature | December 11

From wreaths to swags to tree decorations, you’ll find amazing examples of how you can use preserved flowers, leaves and fruit to create a “natural holiday décor.” Every year, the interior designs change, so every display will be a surprise.

The Conservatory: Beyond its Timeless Beauty | January 23 OR February 1  

Our conservatory is under major expansion, and will close in March.  Take this opportunity, with Garden Guide Julia Cothron, to explore favorite groups of plants including palms, bromeliads, ferns, orchids, anthuriums and desert plants. See spectacular blooms that emerge in the winter. Learn how the plants were obtained and curated to develop the current botanical collection and where you might find them in the expanded conservatory. Be inspired to grow your own exotic plants, and acquire tips for orchid care. 

Garden Entrance & Glen Stream Tour | March 6 

 In honor of the 3rd anniversary of the Glen Stream restoration project, join Garden Guide Lorrie Lincoln for a tour of the area around the parking lots, the Garden entrance and a walk through the Glen Stream. A few years ago, this stream had been overrun by invasive plants and subject to pollution runoff which contributed to erosion and poor water quality. The Glen Stream Restoration project is a landscape solution to slow the water, mitigate the stormwater runoff and allow the water to be absorbed in a way that benefits the soil and encourages plant, insect and animal diversity to return. With completion of the restoration done 3 years ago, come see how things are progressing via our newly-created pathway. Please wear appropriate shoes as the path can be uneven and muddy at times. 

NEW! Hysteranthous Tree & Shrub Tour | March 18 

Some of the most striking trees and shrubs we admire each spring flower before leaves appear on their branches.  The biological term for this trait is hysteranthous and examples throughout the Garden include the redbud tree, witch hazel, tulip magnolia, apricot, cherry blossom tree, paper bush, japonica, and forsythia.  Join Garden Guide Jeanne Hechler to learn more about these early blooming deciduous trees and shrubs and enjoy their beauty on a tour of the garden.

 Spring Migration Tour | April 5 

Enjoy a pleasant walk in the garden with Garden Guides Buz and Barb Sawyer and learn about how birds use our 80 acres to rest, refuel and continue the journey north to their breeding grounds. Discover what birds will be passing through or arriving in Richmond for the summer. Spring migration can be an exciting opportunity to observe our avian friends in the oasis of the garden. Bring binoculars if you have them. 

Springtime in Virginia Tour | March 29 OR April 24

In early March, spring creeps in. Fruit trees and witch hazels bloom on bare limbs and early bulbs emerge among the leaves. By April, daffodils, tulips and bluebells color the ground while viburnum and redbuds paint the canopy above. The blazing colors of rhododendrons and azaleas fill the space between. With warming weather, peonies, iris and roses emerge. Join Garden Guide Julia Cothron to learn what makes “A Million Blooms” possible and how the Garden changes, including the brief appearance of ephemerals. Acquire information about perennials recommended for beginning gardeners with small spaces. 

 

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Family-Friendly Tours

Family-Friendly Tree Tour | April 2 

Bring your family and enjoy a walk through the Garden; exploring and visiting some of our most prominent trees. Using pictures and descriptions of leaves, go on a group scavenger hunt for the specific trees throughout the Garden. Get crafty and make leaf prints and climb the famous Mulberry tree in the Children’s Garden.

 

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NEW! Themed Friday Drop-In Tours IN-PERSON 

Join a Garden Guide for a 30-minute mini-tour featuring a variety of unique topics! No pre-registration required. Free to members or with paid admission. Meet in the Atrium of the Robins Visitors Center. Each tour will start at 1 pm. 

The Pioneer Tree | Friday, March 7

Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden is home to many ancient and unique tree species. Pioneer species are resilient species that are the first to colonize barren environments or to repopulate disrupted biodiverse ecosystems. Join our Garden Guide Barbara Curtis as we venture through our Conservatory and into the surrounding Garden in search of these resilient beauties. 

Adding Springtime Interest with Floral Artistry | Friday, March 14

Join our Garden Guide Lili Aram-Bost, a master floral designer and VMFA Fine Arts and Flowers contributor, as we seek out dried plants within the Garden that lend themselves for use in creative floral design artistry. 

Planting Bulbs for Maximum Blooms | Friday, March 21

Plant early, mid and late season bulbs to extend your blooming season! Let’s tour the Garden with our Garden Guide Kathy Barksdale to see the variety of bulbs we have on site and discuss a technique you can try at home for planting bulbs in tall garden pots. 

First Impressions | Friday, March 28

Upon your arrival to the Garden, you may notice the Garden has taken on a fresh, new look! Join Garden Guide, Anita Waters to learn more about the plants that welcome visitors at the main entrance to the Visitors Center as well as parking lot B. You’ll be inspired to create a first impression for your home entrance! 

Viburnums | Friday, April 4

What versatile shrub blooms in April/May, may be elegantly fragrant, widely varies in size, can be native, produces berries loved by birds, may turn colorful in the fall, and gives you a choice of hundreds of species and cultivars? Viburnums! Garden Guide Daryl Mathers will show us the blooming viburnums in the Garden and we’ll learn how to incorporate these beauties into the home garden.

Awakening Native Plants | Friday, April 11

Shyly peeking out from under the cover of leaves, Virginia’s native plants begin their show in early spring. Join Garden Guide Lisa Hamilton as we seek out and celebrate Virginia’s native plants, including the beloved Virginia bluebell, jack-in-the-pulpit, wild ginger, and more! 

Digging Deeper in Flagler | Friday, April 18

Learn more about the history of the Henry M. Flager Garden, completed in May 1993 and the first major project of the Garden’s masterplan. The tour, with Garden Guide Anita Waters, starts at the Ian Robertson Pavilion and strolls along the 500-foot lawn to the sculpture “Slow Dance”. 

Roses | Friday, April 25

Our Garden Guide, Daryl Mathers will discuss the many ways to successfully grow a summer of blooming roses using the Garden’s experience. Virginia’s non-cooperative weather makes this a challenge. Yet, as you will see in the Louise Cochrane Rose Garden, now and for months ahead, you can develop your garden into one full of roses and the complementary plants that assist in their health.