Welcome to PPS’s Festival of Gardens| PPS Festival of Historic Houses

The Providence Preservation Society is delighted to announce our special Festival of Gardens taking place on June 12-13 and presented in partnership with The Garden Conservancy.

The Garden Conservancy is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to preserve, share, and celebrate America’s gardens and diverse gardening traditions for the education and inspiration of the public.

Our Festival of Gardens is now SOLD OUT. Due to capacity limits, unfortunately, there will be no day-of ticket sales.

All guests who pre-purchased tickets to our self-guided garden tours on Saturday, June 12 must bring their Eventbrite confirmation email (via printout or mobile device) to check-in at one of our three check-in centers, where they will receive a Festival guide map that will serve as their entrance pass to all gardens. Gardens will be open from 10am to 4pm.

Check-in Centers

89 Peace Street (map) — Peace and Plenty Garden
parking lot and restroom on-site
21 Meeting Street (map) — Shakespeare’s Head Garden
check-in located directly across the street in front of the Brick School House; restroom on-site, plus nearby free and metered street parking
66 Williams Street (map) — Corliss-Carrington House Garden
check-in entrance at rear of house, at 69 Power Street; limited nearby free street parking, plus a paid parking garage at 101 Thayer Street

All registered Saturday guests will also receive a comprehensive email mid-week via Eventbrite with a map of all garden sites, information on parking, nearby restaurants, and more. This year’s eight open gardens are located in four neighborhoods across Providence, so driving will be required to visit all sites on the tour.

Please note that face-masks will be required inside all open gardens. Due to capacity limits, guests may experience short wait-times for entry to some gardens.

Guests who purchased tickets for the private, guided garden tours on Sunday, June 13 will receive detailed information via email from the Garden Conservancy.

Missing out on the Festival weekend? Space is still available for our pre-Festival virtual public programs!

We look forward to seeing you at the Festival of Gardens!

Eight Featured Gardens

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. 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, as well as the Colonial Revival garden at Shakespeare’s Head, one of PPS’s historic properties on Meeting Street.

Festival Sponsors

The 2021 Festival is generously sponsored by:

Partners in Preservation