Tour Schedule July – December 2025

Public Guided Tours* IN-PERSON

*Public Guided Tours no longer require pre-registration through our website beginning in September 2025. THESE TOURS WILL NOW BE OFFERED AS DROP-IN ONLY ON A FIRST-COME, FIRST-SERVED BASIS AND ARE LIMITED TO 15-30 PARTICIPANTS DEPENDING ON THE TOUR. While these tours are free to Members, non-members are required to pay regular admission fees at the Admissions desk prior to attending the tour. 

Seasonal Garden Tours

Enhance your understanding and appreciation of the Garden with one of these specialized tours featuring seasonal aspects of the collection, offered monthly except January, July, August and December.

September Seasonal Garden Tour | Sept 9  

October Seasonal Garden Tours | Oct 7 OR Oct 22 

November Seasonal Garden Tour | Nov 4  

Evening Seasonal Garden Tours

Enjoy an evening out in the Garden! Enhance your understanding and appreciation of featured seasonal aspects of the collection. Come dressed for the weather and walking in the Garden. 

September Evening Seasonal Garden Tour | Sept 4 

October Evening Seasonal Garden Tour | Oct 16 

Talk and Tours

Garden Entrance/Glen Stream Talk & Tour | Oct 29  

In honor of the 3rd anniversary of the Glen Stream restoration project, join Garden Guide Lorrie Lincoln for a tour of the area around the parking lots, the Garden entrance and a walk through the Glen Stream. A few years ago, this stream had been overrun by invasive plants and subject to pollution runoff which contributed to erosion and poor water quality. The Glen Stream Restoration project is a landscape solution to slow the water, mitigate the stormwater runoff and allow the water to be absorbed in a way that benefits the soil and encourages plant, insect and animal diversity to return. With completion of the restoration done 3 years ago, come see how things are progressing via our newly-created pathway. Please wear appropriate shoes as the path can be uneven and muddy at times.  

Themed Tours

Enjoy a guided tour of the Garden through the lens of a particular themed topic! 

NEW! Balmy Weather Brings the Conservatory’s Tropical Plants Outside Tour | July 18 OR August 22 

Although the Conservatory is closed temporarily, the Garden still has hundreds of plants that have been moved from greenhouses into the Garden. Add some favorite annuals and you have dazzling displays with a tropical vibe of color, blooms and unique pollination strategies. Join Garden Guide Julia Cothron to view “the Conservatory outside” and learn where you will see many of these plants year-round when the expanded Conservatory opens in 2026. 

NEW! Grace Arents: The Invisible Philanthropist Tour | Sept 17 

Join Garden Guide Susie Austin for a dive into the life of our benefactor Grace Arents and the ways she transformed Richmond and a rare opportunity to tour the first floor interior of Bloemendaal House, her residence for many years. Her visionary interests in health/wellness, education and the environment had impacts across the city, even today! 

More Than a Witch’s Brew: Beneficial Uses of Plants Tour | Sept 27 

Despite Shakespeare’s guesome language – wool of bat and gall of goat – there are some familiar, and even beneficial, plants in his recipe. Join Garden Guide Julia Cothron to learn about these plants as well as others used in medicine, tires, insect repellants and as unusual sources of food or clothing. 

Lake Sydnor Garden Tour | Sept 30   

Join Garden Guides Nancy Penick and Susie Austin to learn about the gardens adjacent to Sydnor Lake, featured plantings, and explore the diversity of each garden landscape. Walk among mature trees including a magnificent sycamore. The tour will be an easy walk around the lake including visiting lake docks to enjoy the view across the water.  

Hidden Life of Trees Tour | Oct 4 

Let’s walk through the Garden and explore how trees interact to help each other, migrate in response to climate change, avoid extinction or reappear after having been declared extinct, as well as other stories that trees have to tell us. Join Garden Guide Ralph Ashton for an exploration of the beauty and diversity of the trees at Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden. 

Fall Migration Tour | Nov 1 

Join Garden Guides Buz and Barb Sawyer, both birdwatchers since childhood, for a walk in the Garden to learn about how birds use our 80 acres to rest, refuel, and continue the journey south for the winter. Fall migration can be an exciting happening in the Garden where we provide an oasis for our travel-weary avian friends. 

Behind-the-Scenes of Gardenfest Tour | Dec 3  

Are you curious to know what really goes into creating Gardenfest at Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden and especially how the themed light forms are created? Join Garden Guide, Bob Lincoln on an excursion to the basement of the Kelly Education Center to see how and where the magic happens. View pictures of the forms in various stages of development and hear how each year’s theme is interpreted through their layout within the Garden. Take a guided tour around the Garden to see this year’s “basement buddy” creations and hear stories about how previous theme’s forms have been recycled and reused throughout the years. 

Gardenfest Interiors Tour: Featuring Nature | Dec 9  

From wreaths to swags to tree decorations, you’ll find amazing examples of how you can use preserved flowers, leaves and fruit to create a “natural holiday décor.” Join Garden Guides Julia Cothron and Lili Aram-Bost to learn how volunteers collect items all year and preserve them using a variety of techniques. Every year, the interior designs change, so every display will be a surprise. 

Themed Friday Drop-In Tours IN-PERSON @ 1 PM

Join a Garden Guide for a 30-minute mini-tour featuring a variety of unique topics! No pre-registration required. While these tours are free to Members, non-members are required to pay regular admission fees at the Admissions desk prior to attending the tour. Meet in the Atrium of the Robins Visitors Center. Each tour will start at 1 pm. 

The Language of Flowers | Friday, September 5 

Want to learn a new language?  In this “crush course” on the language of flowers we’ll consider the power of flowers and plants to represent feelings and symbolic meanings.  From Greek mythology (Narcissus etc.), to Shakespeare’s floral encyclopedia (the bard used hundreds of botanicals in his works), to the Victorians’ craze with manuals to encode and decode messages sent by flowers—the language of flowers was the most elaborate tool of often secret communication.  As we stroll in the garden with Garden Guide Katia Dianina, we’ll reflect on different plants in bloom and their symbolic meanings.   

Mini-Seasonal Tour | Friday, September 12 

Join Garden Guide Harriet Yake for a mini-version of our seasonal tour that will enhance your understanding and appreciation of the Garden. 

Discovering the Beauty of Fall | Friday, September 19 

Come tour the Garden with Garden Guide Kathy Barksdale to learn how to enhance your fall garden with beautiful bulbs, fall blooming hardy perennials and shrubs. 

“Fall’s A-Coming”- Seasonal Changes as Summer Transitions to Autumn ” | Friday, September 26 

The Healing Garden | Friday, October 3 

Pharmacists were originally gardeners! Garden Guide Julia Cothron will help us learn about new plantings and their use as medicines over time. 

Nuts, Cones, Berries and Seed Pods | Friday, October 10 

Enjoy a fall garden walk with Garden Guide Jeanne Hechler and learn about some of the unusual trees and plants with nuts, cones, berries, and seed pods.

Garden Mood Booster | Friday, October 17  

A walk through the garden provides many opportunities to boost your mood! There is a great deal of research to show that nature not only impacts our physical well-being but also our mental and emotional wellness! Please join Garden Guide Gail Taylor on a walk through the Garden to experience how garden plants and paths can enhance your behavioral health well-being one step, feel and smell at a time! 

Autumnal Bounty and Beauty | Friday, October 24   

Join Garden Guide Lisa Hamilton for a tour to celebrate the autumnal color and texture that provides aesthetic enjoyment while also servicing wildlife with berries, seeds, and nuts. 

Ravens & Vultures & Owls – Oh My! | Friday, October 31  

Are these birds spooky or just misunderstood? This Halloween, join birdwatchers and Garden Guides Barb and Buz Sawyer in exploring areas of the Garden where you might – or might not – encounter these frequently vilified creatures.  Recognize their calls, and learn about their diet and behavior and, along the way, visit some of the “spookier” plants in the Garden.