Join us for a tour of four very special and diverse gardens in the Encinitas neighborhoods of Olivenhain and Leucadia. Visit some of the most original gardens around! The tour will be held rain or shine. Local nurseries and businesses will be offering special discounts to attendees – details will be on your tour map. One gardening couple describes their garden designed by Scott Spencer as one that, "brings privacy and enjoyment to its owners and many visitors. The plant-filled beds repeat a circular theme and are lushly planted with a wide variety of shrubs, trees, perennials, and bulbs from all over the world. There is always something flowering, and the huge variety of foliage, with its many textures and seasonal colors, are a wonderful feature."

Another gardener describes her 2-acre project as a 10-year odyssey, beginning with planting the traditional family apricot tree, fruit orchard, vegetable and rose gardens. The front yard xeriscape features succulents, palo verde trees, and Mexican blue palms. Around and behind the home the landscape turns tropical with water fountains, bamboo, and ferns. Garden art (by the homeowner) is everywhere, and there is a flower-covered lath house, fish pond, and aviary amid the many pathways to explore.

From the simplistic beauty of the rugged Mediterranean streetscape to the sizzle of the tropical copper leaf, Acalypha ‘Inferno’, the third garden offers something for everyone’s plant palette and collection of garden ideas. Beyond the pergola, outside fireplace, fountains, waterfall, and well-sculpted garden room areas, the garden has an array of unusual plant material and a collection of beautifully laced out mature tree and shrub specimens. Since June 2003 garden designer Ruth E. Wolfe has worked to edit and refurbish the garden with “off the beaten track” specimens that are well-suited to a water wise garden.

The fourth garden features a stunning streetside planting of mixed Mediterranean-climate specimens providing a riot of texture and color from foliage and flowers. The half-acre garden is low impact in terms of resource use and incorporates recycled materials, low water plants, compost, vermicompost, and more. This eclectic paradise includes different planting zones: Mediterranean, subtropical, vegetable garden, etc.