South Coast Garden Tour will inspire gardeners & help schools, too

Once again the La Honda Educational Foundation & Pescadero Education Foundation are joining together to present the 3rd annual Gardens of the South Coast Garden Tour, Plant Sale, and Wine & Cheese Tasting on Saturday & Sunday, May 14 & 15.  The Garden Tour will begin at 10 am and continue to 4 pm both days, with the Wine & Cheese Tasting on Saturday, from 4 - 6 pm at Harley Farms on North Street in Pescadero.

Imagine, what a wonderful Mother’s day gift it would be…tickets to the Garden Tour (a week after Mother’s Day!)  Perhaps bring along a gourmet picnic lunch, a nice bottle of her favorite wine, and treat Mom to some of the best kept secret gardens she has ever experienced!  Finish up Saturday’s tour in Pescadero and enjoy the Wine and Cheese Tasting in the rustic old barn at Harley Goat Farm, included in the premium ticket price of only $35.  Maybe even attend an entertaining and informative lecture by Sunset Magazine’s expert gardener Jack McKinnon.  Just think, a day (or two) of quality time to enjoy and remember for a long time!

Featured on the tour are an array of 14 privately-owned and artfully designed gardens ranging from shady redwood knolls, sunny hillsides, and wonderful ocean-swept flower gardens along the coast of San Mateo County. A Garden Tour Booklet with locations and descriptions of each garden with gardening tips and other resources will be provided to all ticket holders for this self-paced tour, which will include gardens from La Honda & Loma Mar (Sunday tour); Pescadero and as far south as Ano Nuevo (Saturday tour).  Be prepared to enjoy a gorgeous couple of days of fresh air, flowers, aromatic and medicinal herbal gardens, and more.

Ticket prices range from $20 for a one-day Garden Tour pass; $35 for one-day premium pass, (includes one day Garden Tour plus Wine Tasting Reception Saturday); $35 for two-day Garden Tour pass; or $50 for two-day premium pass (includes 2 days Garden Tour plus Saturday’s Wine Tasting Reception).  A group discount of 20% is offered for Garden Clubs, students, realtors, or others who purchase lots of 20 or more regular Garden Tour tickets in a single order; no premium ticket discounts.

All proceeds will benefit La Honda-Pescadero Unified Schools to prevent overcrowding in the classrooms as well as help fund music and other educational enrichment programs that the district no longer has a budget for.  We feel fortunate to enjoy the exquisite beauty of this rural coastside community, though with it comes a smaller tax base and a lot less commercial support than what may be available to schools in more metropolitan areas.  Our small schools depend on community pledge drives, donations and fundraisers such as this to supplement the shortfalls of the State and local school district budgets. 

To order tickets in advance, please call 650-747-9514 or visit http://www.pescaderoschools.org/gardentour.html for more information. 

Tickets will also be available on the day of event near the La Honda and Pescadero Post Offices.

Advertisers may call 650-879-9033 before 4/1/05 to place an ad in the Garden Tour Booklet.