If you’re a garden lover and haven’t heard of The Garden Conservancy Open Days, you’re in for a fabulous surprise.  Each year, The Garden Conservancy publishes a calendar of opportunities to visit private gardens across the United States, and many are located right in our neck of the woods.

According to The Garden Conservancy, the best way to learn about gardening, garden design, and the transformative power of gardens is to experience gardens in person. In fact, since 1995, some 3,000 private gardens have participated in the organization’s signature Open Days program, welcoming more than one million visitors across the country.

The seven-acre, Bedford Hills garden of Phillis Warden features perennial borders, three water gardens, a formal vegetable garden, wildflower garden, a fern garden, a marsh garden, a tree platform overlooking the marshlands, a woodland walk, a hidden garden, and a formal croquet court. It is open for visits on May 20, June 25, and July 30.

Another jaw-dropping Open Days property is Rocky Hills, the former Mount Kisco home of William and Henriette Suhr who began planting among their stonewalls some fifty years ago. The Garden Conservancy notes “most impressive in May and June are the forget-me-nots, which are allowed full freedom throughout the garden. Starting on the hillside meadow, clouds of perfect blue flowers appear among an ever expanding rock garden, through the hills and terraces, walls and paths, through fern woodlands, finding good company with self-sown primula along the natural brook that serves as the heart of the garden.” Rocky Hills is open on only May 20.

Gardens are generally open from 10 am until 4 pm, and tickets ($7 per garden) can be purchased online in advance. Don’t forget your camera, as both of these gardens allow photography.

Photos thanks to The Garden Conservancy.