If you are the kind of person who likes to peek into other people’s gardens but you’re always out of town or too busy when the formal garden tours are on, you might like to check out Open Gardens Toronto, which is, as they say, “more of a program than a tour;” a program of “gardeners talking to gardeners.”

The idea is that gardens all over the city are open during evenings and weekends throughout the summer. Toronto gardeners can open up their gardens, and anyone can visit the Open Gardens during specified times. (They are looking for gardens for 2010 now.) Dates are evenings and weekends, and vary. There is a small fee per garden, or you can get a season pass.

The entrance fees for the gardens go to the Canadian Women’s Foundation. (CWF) Canada’s only national public foundation dedicated to improving the lives of women and girls.

This year the fees are:

$4.00 for each garden visit.
$25.00 for unlimited visits to all the gardens on the program.

The $25.00 passport can be purchased in any of the gardens by cash or cheque only. As there are 24 gardens to be visited in both the summer and fall, the passport at $25.00 is good value.

[Update: It seems that 2011 was the last year for this event.]