PPS' Festival of Gardens to Spotlight Providence’s Green Spaces

PPS' Festival of Gardens to Spotlight Providence’s Green Spaces

The Providence Preservation Society (PPS) is hosting a special Festival of Gardens taking place on June 12-13 presented in partnership with The Garden Conservancy.

Those attending will have exclusive access to a selection of private gardens at historic homes, a community garden that celebrates the city’s diversity, and a Colonial Revival garden stewarded by PPS. 

Located in four city neighborhoods from the East Side to Elmwood, the eight featured gardens will exhibit a variety of plantings and contemporary interpretations of historic garden design. Six of the featured properties are private residential gardens located at historic houses.

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Guests will experience flowering perennials surrounding a 21st-century garden folly, a whimsical structure popular in 18th century English and French landscape design; a 1970s interpretation of an 18th-century boxwood parterre garden, an ornamental form featuring geometric designs that originated in 15th century France; and mid-century modern outdoor sculpture by internationally recognized artists with RISD connections. Green-thumbed homeowners have transformed their city backyards into urban sanctuaries by using water features, pergolas, and courtyards to accent rhododendrons, mossy vignettes, and old and notable trees.

Not just beautiful, many of the gardens are also functional – vegetable beds, fruit trees, herbs, a hops trellis, and beehives await tour attendees. Guests are also invited to tour a community garden established in the 1980s and farmed by local families and neighborhood organizations using organic practices to raise traditional crops from around the world; rooted in community, free produce is available to neighbors experiencing food insecurity. The tour also features the Colonial Revival garden at the 1772 Shakespeare’s Head Building, one of PPS’s historic properties on Meeting Street.

The self-guided garden tours will take place on Saturday, June 12. 

Guided private garden tours hosted by The Garden Conservancy will take place on Sunday, June 13. Ticket sales will begin soon at www.providencehousetour.com

In light of COVID-19 restrictions, a limited number of tour tickets will be available. All attendees must wear masks and follow social distancing guidelines. The events are entirely outdoors. Due to garden capacity limits, guests may experience short wait-times for entry at some tour locations.