Fueling America’s passion for gardens, the Garden Conservancy’s Open Days program is a nationwide community of gardeners and garden enthusiasts teaching and inspiring each other.

From expert to novice, organizers think there is no better way to improve as a gardener than by experiencing a diverse range of gardens firsthand. Open Days provides opportunities to visit the country’s most exciting, creative, and innovative private gardens.

Open Days 2021 will feature Jean Sander’s botanical gardens on Saturday, June 5, from 10 am until 2 pm.

The gardens are at the historic Benjamin Curtiss House (circa 1748), and feature an alpine/rock garden, garden structures and sculptures, and a woodland/shade garden, all created on a formerly barren property Jean and Lincoln Sander purchased in 2002.

The property is on the corner of Glen Road and Walnut Tree Hill Road; parking and access is on Glen Road.

Sander’s garden is one of two in Connecticut that will be open on Saturday. The other is Japanese Gardens at Cedar Hill in Roxbury.

Five Fairfield County gardens will be open on Sunday. Visit gardenconservancy.org for details on all of the gardens, registration, and ticket availability.

The Garden Conservancy strongly recommends registration in advance; admission is $10. A portion of each entry fee for the Sander garden will go to Newtown Historical Society. Visitors will be asked to wear masks and maintain appropriate distancing.

Since 1995, Open Days has welcomed more than 1.35 million visitors into thousands of inspired private landscapes — from urban rooftops to organic farms, historic estates to innovative suburban lots — in 41 states. Open Days is made possible thanks to the hard work and generous support of hundreds of volunteers who help to showcase regional horticultural and stylistic expressions in a national context, celebrating the rich diversity of American gardens.

For more information about visiting the Sander garden, call 203-364-1833. For information about the Garden Conservancy Open Days, visiting guidelines for most locations, and the full 2021 schedule, visit gardenconservancy.org/open-days.