Learn more about this year's Placitas Garden Tour

PLACITAS — Explore some not-so-secret gardens at the annual Placitas Garden Tour on Sunday, Sept. 7.

“Our mission is to present an annual garden tour with beautiful gardens and diverse gardens in Placitas for the enjoyment and education of the public,” Sandra Liakus, Placitas Garden Tour chair, said.

The tour has taken place for the last eight years, with a break in 2020. This year’s tour features five gardens throughout Placitas, with an additional stop at the Placitas Community Library. Local artists will give live demonstrations of their work at each stop.

Sue Ortiz helps find and place the artists who are featured at the gardens.

“It is a big, big event in our community. It’s an opportunity for people to see them do the actual work,” Ortiz said. “We have exhibits every month, but they don’t see how the artists really create their art.”

Some gardens have been featured before, such as “The Oasis Garden II,” whose owners, Barbara Reeback and Del Packwood, were showcased in 2016 during the inaugural event. New to the tour this year is “Bienvenido al Jardin de Viento” by owners Randy Martinez and Terry Timm.

“We have our legacy garden owners that, after three to five years, their gardens change and mature, and they’re ready to display again,” Liakus said.

Additional gardens to be featured are “The Blooming Sanctuary,” “Pollinator Fiesta” and “High Desert Paradise.” As the gardens have changed over the years, so have the artist mediums showcased throughout the tour.

“We did do landscapes for a long time. We did plein air, and then we switched over to include different mediums,” Ortiz said. “And then in the last few years, we’ve decided to go with mixed-media because there’s so many things that apply to art in the garden.”

Beyond showing the gardens and art, the tour also focuses on education, Liakus said.

“Several of our past garden tours were related to sustainability or how to garden in our high desert climate,” Liakus said.

This year, groups such as the New Mexico Beekeepers Association, Albuquerque Bonsai Club, and Bernalillo County Extension Master Composters, as well as Master Gardeners from Albuquerque and Sandoval County, will be in attendance for educational activities.

Ortiz said that some people come for the gardens and many come to see what the artists are doing, which includes mediums such as mosaics and sculpting.

The 2025 garden tour artists are David and Karen Croxton, Katie Thomas, Lisa Avila, Laura Robbins, William O’Brien and Tom Salazar.

Placitas tour combines gardens, art and education

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