Sharing What We Grow: Experience Memphis Gardens 2026

This is your invitation to Experience Memphis Gardens (EMG).  This event is a city-wide celebration of gardening excellence, neighborhood pride, and community connection.  The 2026 season runs May 1–June 14, with gardens open on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays. Tickets for the season are completely FREE to the public.  You can participate as both a visitor and a host gardener.

Garden visitors pick up a free lanyard at a participating sponsor location.  The lanyard is your ticket for the entire six week event.  Then just visit the participating gardens selected for the day’s tour to be inspired, learn from fellow gardeners, and, to be honest, steal the best ideas.  Whether you are an experienced gardener or a novice, something will inspire you in every garden.  Some garden visitors come for the sheer experience of discovering the city they live in by visiting neighborhoods they have never been to before.  Others may not even be gardeners but enjoy being in nature, and the artistry and imagination of unique gardens created by passionate people and those whose experience and inspiration are outside of the horticultural world.

Garden hosts love their gardens, believe gardens are to be shared, and are willing to just open their gardens for the enjoyment of others.  There is no vetting of the gardens. No requirement for plant labels or for weeds to be pulled.  This is a relaxed, fun time for the host.  The idea is to just share their passion.  EMG showcases a broad spectrum of garden styles.  Personal gardens that vary from formal, highly curated, estate sized gardens to wild and wonderful tangles of wildflowers or a tiny patio garden where all the plants are in pots.  School and community gardens, public parks, and business landscapes all participate.  The gardeners themselves vary in experience from new to avid to professional gardeners.

Participating neighborhoods across the city include (alphabetically): Bartlett, Berclair, Buntyn, Central Gardens, Collierville, Colonial Acres, Cooper-Young, Downtown, East Memphis, Evergreen, Fox Meadows, Germantown, Harbortown, Hein Park, Hickory Hill, Hyde Park, Idlewild, Lenox, Oakhaven, Oakland, Somerville, Vollintine-Evergreen, Whitehaven, with additional neighborhoods joining as gardens sign up. Many neighborhoods are planning all-day events with art vendors, musicians, and food trucks, and select Friday evening tours offer a relaxed way for visitors to stop by after work and recharge.

A special featured component of the tour is “Through our Garden Gates,” the Master Gardener Tour, Saturday, June 6th, created specifically to recognize and highlight Master Gardeners and the research-based, thoughtful practices they bring to their gardens.  A celebration of local horticulture, this tour in Midtown, features garden experts from local plant societies, the Ask a Master Gardener experts, as well as labeled plants and plant lists.  Garden docents are also on hand to answer questions about the garden’s history and specific plants found in the garden.

Thinking of being a host garden but unsure?  Don’t worry, because you’re already doing the work. Opening your space for up to six hours is a simple, rewarding way to share years of care, learning, and creativity. Few experiences compare to hearing the oohs and aahs of visitors or knowing your garden inspired someone to go home and improve their own landscape. That inspiration supports higher property values, cleaner and more beautiful neighborhoods, and stronger community pride and connection. Too often, beautiful gardens are lost when homes change hands—share yours now so it can be appreciated, photographed, and remembered for all to enjoy!

The Experience Memphis Gardens Committee has a clear goal: to grow garden tourism in Memphis on the scale of the Buffalo Garden Walk, which attracts more than 65,000 visitors and generates an estimated $5 million in economic impact. Garden tourism brings engaged, curious visitors who support local businesses and leave with a deeper appreciation for our city and its neighborhoods. It is an economic catalyst for residents & businesses to enhance their outdoor spaces, which benefits all of us.

The garden host sign-up deadline is March 1, and early registration offers the best choice of tour dates. Master Gardeners can sign up here: https://form.jotform.com/252564041478156. For the most current information, updates, and announcements, please refer to the website.

FREE lanyard tickets will be available at select sponsor locations. Visitor registration is required at experiencememphisgardens.org.