Join your friends and neighbors for the 20th Annual South End Garden Tour on Saturday, June 21, 2014. This year’s rain-or-shine, self-guided Tour will kick off at the South End Branch of the Boston Public Library at 685 Tremont Street from 10 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

The Tour features many beautiful, private and public gardens in the South End – from pocket-sized patio spaces to rooftop terraces to neighborhood parks and community gardens. All of the gardens show the creativity of the owners and gardeners, and the joy they receive from developing and caring for a city garden. The Tour, a major neighborhood event, attracts garden lovers from all over the city as well as the suburbs, who are often surprised and amazed to find such creative use of outdoor urban space.

One of the biggest attractions of the South End Garden Tour is its variety of gardens. Because the South End encompasses such a large area, the Tour visits a different area of the neighborhood every year. It’s never the same Tour twice.

South End artists will be creating paintings in the Tour gardens and other designated locations within the Tour area. The painting will be available for purchase at the reception immediately following the Tour. A reception/art sale will be held at City Year headquarters, 287 Columbus Avenue, Boston MA 02116 (corner of Clarendon Street).  Proceeds of the Tour exclusively benefit the South End & Lower Roxbury Gardens, through Boston Natural Areas Network, a non-profit organization supporting community gardens and urban green spaces. South End & Lower Roxbury Gardens was established to protect community gardens and pocket parks in this historic Boston neighborhood.

The 2014 South End Garden Tour starts at the South End Branch of the Boston Public Library, located at 685 Tremont Street, where Tour attendees can purchase tickets and will receive a Tour booklet. The booklet contains a detailed map and descriptions of each garden.  The 2014 Tour takes place within the following streets: from the Southwest Corridor to Tremont St. to Northampton St. to West Newton St. Tickets are available on the day of the Tour at the Tour’s starting point for $25.00. For discounted tickets in advance, visit www.southendgardentour.org/ticket/.