Viewfinder: Middletown 'Masters' Open Their Gardens to Public This Weekend

On Saturday and Sunday this weekend, 32 private and public gardens across Rhode Island will open to the public for the fifth annual Rhode Island’s only statewide garden tour that showcases gardens cultivated by experts trained through the University of Rhode Island.

Local residents need not travel too far to see them, as five of those featured gardens are located in Newport and Middletown.

In Middletown, viewers may tour beautiful gardens at historic Prescott Farm—located off West Main Road just south of the Portsmouth town line—as well as at the Byrne Family's private home on Mitchells Lane, which is also listed as a certified wildlife habitat with the National Wildlife Federation and is participating in the tour for the first time this year.

Tour our image gallery above to hear from the Gardening Masters themselves and to get a sneak preview of this weekend's tour.

For more information

• This weekend's tour will happen rain or shine.
• Guidebooks, which serve as admission for both days and include garden descriptions and directions, must be purchased in advance. In Middletown, they may be purchased at Sweet Berry Farm, Chaves Gardens and Moore Blooms or through the URI Master Gardener website www.urimga.org.  
• Proceeds from the event will benefit programs of the URI Master Gardener Association.
• For more information, call the URI Mallon Outreach Center at 401-874-2900; Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. or visit the URI Master Gardners website.
• Prescott Farm master gardeners Lucy Huggins and Jim Garman offer gardening information, advice and tips to the public free of charge each Sunday at the farm from 10 a.m. to noon. (with the exception of this Sunday, July 18 due to the Gardening Masters Tour).