Join us for an outing to see the beautiful azaleas hosted by the River Oaks Garden Club on Friday, March 8, 2024. Tickets are $20 per person and can be purchased through Club Express. LAW will be subsidizing part of the $30 cost. We will have private cars lined up for transportation. Meet at 9:45 am at Yacht Club and will return by 5:00 p.m. Deadline to sign up is February 28th. Guests not allowed due to limited tickets available.
The Garden Tour Stops for 2024
FOUR PRIVATE GARDENS IN RIVER OAKS
Throughout the history of the Azalea Trail, select homeowners have generously offered an intimate viewing of their beautiful private home gardens which are carefully curated. 2024 Azalea Trail goers will be able to tour four River Oaks private home gardens with unique and breathtaking designs. Each home garden offers an abundance of inspiration with countless enticing planting combinations, creative concepts, and emerging trends as well as stunning floral displays. Exact location addresses will be shared on purchased ticket details and order confirmation emails.
BAYOU BEND COLLECTION & GARDENS AT 6003 MEMORIAL DRIVE
Bayou Bend Collection and Gardens, a branch of The Museum of Fine Arts Houston, is an oasis of nature and beauty located just five minutes from downtown Houston and was one of the first homes built in the new subdivision of River Oaks. Ima Hogg and her brothers, Will and Mike Hogg, chose this 14-acre site for their home in 1926. The stately John F. Staub mansion is filled with Miss Hogg’s extensive collection of American antiques and art. Bayou Bend is surrounded by natural woodlands and historical formal gardens, which have been supervised and maintained by ROGC since 1961. The gardens feature multiple varieties of azaleas and camellias as well as dogwoods, redbuds, and an award-winning sycamore. A highlight of the trail is the large bed at the southern entrance. This year the bed will feature 6000 tulip bulbs (Diamond White, Olliocules, and White Proud) and 1500 daffodils (Thalia) planted by members of the ROGC. The Lora Jean Kilroy Visitor and Education Center, which opened in 2010, is a LEED silver-certified building surrounded by an urban garden with native plants.
RIENZI, MFAH HOUSE MUSEUM FOR EUROPEAN DECORATIVE ARTS AND GARDENS AT 1406 KIRBY DRIVE
Situated on four acres in the heart of River Oaks, Rienzi, the former home of philanthropists Carroll Sterling Masterson and Harris Masterson III, has long been known for its fine collection of European decorative arts, including paintings, furnishings, porcelain, and extensive holdings of miniatures, and its lush gardens and woodland setting. John F. Staub designed the original house in 1952 which he referred to as “Palladian with contemporary.” In 1971, the Mastersons commissioned Hugo Neuhaus to design the opulent ballroom addition. Rienzi was used and enjoyed by the Masterson family until 1997 when the property and its contents were given to The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. Ralph Ellis Gunn was entrusted to design the landscape which includes a combination of formal gardens and native plants. Visitors will see numerous young trees planted throughout the estate, thanks to gifts from The Garden Club of Houston, ROGC, and the Sterling-Turner Foundation. Since 1998, Rienzi’s gardens have been maintained by The Garden Club of Houston.