Events Below are highlights and tips from my favorite garden tours and events.  Please check these websites for current event details and dates.     San Francisco Garden Show Held in the Cow Palace, you’ll find the best of landscape design ideas on show. These include amazing garden themes, water features, live plants and almost anything you can imagine for the full effect. You can also browse for plants, trees and orchids on sale in other areas, and just have fun chatting with vendors to do a little problem-solving. Many organic solutions are on sale here.     Going Native Garden Tour This free community-based tour features California native plants. Each tour features about 45 gardens, most of them private home gardens, which are open on tour day for viewing by the public in a do-it-yourself, open house format.  Register beforehand online.     Sunset Celebration Weekend If you're a garden enthusiast, you'll definitely want to join the fun at this signature annual event. Sunset transforms their gardens to welcome the public - right at their Menlo Park headquarters. Highlights include a tour of this year's Summer Retreat Cottage, the ever popular "test kitchen", and stage presentations along with wine and microbrew tastings. Spring Tour of Palo Alto Gardens Stroll through inspired landscapes sponsored by Gamble Garden’s 23rd Annual Spring Tour. You’ll enjoy views into five neighborhood gardens near Gamble Gardens that represent the creativity of gardeners and designers in this area.   Filoli Estate - Woodside If you’ve never been, you simply have to visit the Filoli Estate and gardens, right off of Canada Road near San Carlos (officially in Woodside). Filoli caters to many artists and photographers and runs seminars and landscape painting workshops. Here’s the best news: they have a lovely garden shop with items like sundials, unique verdigris planters, chimes and other unique gifts!! They have a range of events throughout the year, so view their calendar. Filoli's Mother’s Day Flower Show and Brunch is not to be missed. All the magnificent rose gardens are in bloom and they have a room devoted to bouquets so you can jot down more roses to grow. My advice is to get tickets EARLY. Bring the entire family and enjoy the gardens. Yerba Buena Gardens – San Francisco The Yerba Buena Gardens Festival (May – October) encompasses 100 artistic, cultural and community events. And the best news is – this is FREE to the public!     Gamble Gardens - Palo Alto Gamble Gardens spans a three-acre public garden, which you can visit during daylight hours.  Strolling the property you'll see a home and carriage house along with demonstration gardens.  Check out their gardening classes and library.  You may want to pack a picnic lunch!