The famed Concord spokesman for individualism and self-reliance, Ralph Waldo Emerson, once wrote: When I go into a good garden, I think, if it were mine, I should never go out of it. This year the Concord Museum is celebrating 24 years of going into good gardens on the annual Garden Tour.

The Museum’s Guild of Volunteers has organized this pre-eminent garden tour, an unequalled opportunity both to share in the delights of beautiful and historic private gardens in the Concord area and to support the Museum’s Education Programs which annually serve 7,000 students from all over Massachusetts and the nation.

The Museum’s Garden Tour has become a New England tradition for garden lovers from near and far. The Garden Tour will take place on two days, Friday and Saturday, May 31 and June 1, rain or shine. Each of the eight private gardens reflects the individual interests and passions of the owners and their families and will inspire both new gardeners designing their first perennial bed and accomplished landscapers with acres of garden rooms.

The tour of Concord-area gardens is self-guided and self-paced, beginning each day at 9:00 a.m. and continuing until 4:00 p.m. Garden-goers should arrive at the Museum, located on the Cambridge Turnpike at Lexington Road in Concord, to pick up their maps prior to starting out. Tickets are good for either or both days, but each garden may only be visited once.

For ticket information and prices, visit www.concordmuseum.org or call the Concord Museum at 978-369-9763, ext. 216.