Hours both Saturday and Sunday (June 22 and 23, 2013) are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is $10 person, with children under 12 free. Proceeds benefit the Education for the Arts program at Wells Fargo Center for the Arts, providing live performances for 30,000 children a year.

Celebrate lavender and its many beautiful and aromatic uses while the five-acre lavender farm is in full bloom, Road Trips Gardeners.

Find lavender goodies, savor lavender cuisine, drink wine by Chateau St. Jean, Kenwood, and B.R. Cohn, and enjoy live music by Nate Lopez.

If you’re considering adding lavender to your garden, plan to be there at 2 p.m. either day, when Gary Rosenberg, owner of Sonoma Lavender, will discuss lavender varieties, propagation, cultivation, maintenance, harvesting and drying.

(Photo by Rebecca Gosselin, courtesy of Sonoma Lavender Barn)

Yes, it’s a garden show. And a flower show. And (sort of) a topiary show — or, rather, a plant sculpture show. Some 250 horticultural artists from around the globe are involved in creating its displays.

It is an international mosaiculture competition AND an exhibition of horticultural art and a chance for the representatives from parks, gardens and green spaces around the world to exchange ideas. All works presented must represent something of the participant’s culture while responding to a predefined theme (this year: “Land of Hope”) and complying with the principles of sustainable development.

Winners are determined by an international jury composed of key figures in the field. Visitors to the event are also invited to vote for their favorite work.

Mosaiculture is a refined horticultural art that involves creating and mounting living artworks made primarily from plants with colorful foliage (generally annuals and occasionally perennials). The colorful two- and three-dimensional drawings, designs, sculptures and reliefs thus created employ a wide variety of flora.

This multifaceted and complex discipline, an ornamental art, draws on numerous practices: on sculpture for its structure and volume, on painting for its palette, and on horticulture in its use of plants in a living, constantly changing environment. Mosaiculture should be distinguished from topiary, which features mostly shrubs pruned to create different shapes.

Guess you’ll just have to drive to Montréal this summer and check it out.

(Photo courtesy of Mosaïcultures Internationales Montréal)

Hidden among the apple orchards of Western Sonoma County, the gardens cover nine acres of overgrown vines and thickets, flowering pathways and meadows.

Hours on June 23 are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.; admission is free and no reservations are necessary. This is a great time to see the gardens, which are only open for guided tours by appointment from April 1 through October 31 each year.

The beginnings of what maybe the oldest butterfly garden in the country can be traced to the 1920s when Della Hallberg, an avid gardener, planted a California native vine called Aristolochia californica. These plantings of the Dutchman’s Pipe would provide an abundance of larval plant food for the beautiful black and teal Pipevine Swallowtail.

Today, her daughter Louise still lives in the family home and has enhanced the original gardens to provide habitat and food for over 40 butterfly species.

(Photo courtesy of Hallberg Butterfly Gardens)

According to Wikipedia, Allium is a monocot genus of flowering plants, informally referred to as the onion genus. The generic name Allium is the Latin word for garlic.

(Photo ©2013 by Susan McKee)

If you need to buy a ticket on the day of the tour, go to the Munjoy Hill Neighborhood Association, 92 Congress Street, Portland, Maine (map).

Bonus: The Hidden Gardens of Munjoy Hill Tour is held in conjunction with the Society of the East End Arts Open Studio Tour, which is free.

For more garden tours in Maine this summer, see Garden Tours blossom throughout Maine.

(Image courtesy of Eastern Promenade)

Freeman Medal Winner: Cercis Canadensis (Eastern redbud, Judas tree — pictured at left)

Redbud, nominated by a member of the Mount Desert Garden Club, is a special sentinel for spring. Flowers, in shades of pale to deep pink and purple, bloom before leaf growth from March to May throughout USDA Zones 4-9. After blooming, leaves begin to grow and gradually turn dark green. The redbud attracts butterflies, hummingbirds and honeybees and Native Americans boiled its bark for tea to treat whooping cough and dysentery. Redbud occurs natural as scattered trees or small populations and is an understory species in open woods. It is happiest on south facing slopes on most, loamy or sandy soils. Pruning helps develop a strong structure and a deep taproot grows quickly under conducive conditions.

Honorable Mention: Nyssa sylvatica (Black tupelo, Black gum, Sourgum)

Nyssa sylvatica is known for its spectacular fall color and is a beacon for hungry migrating birds. Nominated by provisional members of the Millbrook Garden Club, it can grow to 75 feet and is able to thrive on difficult sites throughout USDA Zones 4-9. Black tupelo’s myriad benefits to wildlife make it a tree worthy of greater use in American landscapes.

Special Recognition: Torreya taxifolia (Stinking cedar, Gopherwood)

Torreya taxifolia is a stately evergreen tree that gains its unusual common name from the pungent odor it produces when any leaves or cones of the tree are bruised. Torreya was one of the first species to be listed on the Federal Endangered Species list due to a catastrophic population decline in the 1950’s following a widespread fungal infestation. The Nashville Garden Club, a member club of the Garden Club of America, and the Howe Garden at Cheekwood, have undertaken a restoration project of the tree through sexual and asexual reproduction. It grows in USDA Zones 6-9.

The Freeman Medal is the only award given by the Garden Club of America to a plant. Beginning in 1995, the award has been given to a choice native plant which is under-utilized but which possess superior ornamental and ecological attributes. The goal of the award is to encourage distribution of these plants furthering their use in the landscape. The Medal honors Montine McDaniel Freeman, a member of the New Orleans Town Gardeners, and was given in her memory by her son and daughter-in-law, Louis and Judy Freeman.

(Photo of Cercis Canadensis by Will Cook, Duke University, courtesy of Garden Club of America)

This lush lilac bush was in full bloom this week outside the south door of the Toronto Convention Center. It scented the air far beyond its confines.

(Photo ©2013 by Susan McKee)

Now through July 28, 2013, members of the Old York Garden Club are opening their gardens to visitors from noon to 4 p.m. on Sundays. Admission is $4, payable at the garden (and, yes, the visits take place rain or shine).

For details, go online.

For more garden tours in Maine this summer, see Garden Tours blossom throughout Maine.

(Photo courtesy of Old York Garden Club)

The Summer Garden Walk steps off at 10 a.m. July 26, 2013, at the Columbus Botanical Garden, 3603 Weems Road, Columbus, Georgia (map).

Norman Winter, Garden executive director, will lead the tour of the Garden and the Joann Holt Walking Trail. He’ll provide seasonal gardening tips as well as advice and suggestions on how you can create a garden with year-round interest.

In the event of inclement weather, the program will be held inside the Farmhouse.

Note that pre-registration is required; cost is $5.

These white, blue, purple and yellow beauties were found in the Lewisville neighborhood of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, in late May.

In 2005 in the United States, viola cultivars (including pansies) were one of the top three bedding plant crops and 111 million dollars worth of flats of viola were produced for the bedding flower market.

Read more about Violas on Wikipedia.