Placitas is known for its spectacular views and diverse high desert landscapes. Apart from the historic Village of Placitas and the Las Huertas Canyon Creek areas, most of Placitas is not considered conducive to gardening or agriculture. So, when you talk to outsiders about the Placitas Garden Tour, their response is to exclaim, “There’s no gardens in Placitas.” Well, those people do not know the will of Placitas gardeners, many who have transplanted from the Midwest and eastern regions of our country. These are people that have embraced the high desert climate, worked in harmony with Placitas surrounding natural resources, and have had the will and patience to work with difficult soils and tenacious wildlife that want to share in the bounty of new plant growth.

The Placitas Garden Tour used to state, “Discover the Hidden Gardens of Placitas.” There are many intriguing gardens hiding behind defensible courtyard walls. There are also many gardens that do not have a clear boundary with the surrounding nature and yet their owners have achieved sustainably beautiful gardens.  

On Sunday September 13, 2026, the Placitas Garden Tour will be celebrating ten years of inspiring gardens. The Placitas Garden Tour organized its first tour the week before Mother’s Day in 2016. An early May snowstorm had barely melted the day before, but the selected gardens showed off Iris and newly blooming roses, an award-winning native landscape, and a unique home landscape of topiary pruned junipers reminiscent of California Big Sur pines. In 2018 the garden tour featured the Anasazi Winery acequia and orchards prior to the untimely death of its owner Jim Fish. After 2018 the Placitas Garden Tour transitioned to an early-mid September annual garden tour, due to competition with the spring Corrales and Albuquerque garden tours and competition for volunteers with many May events in Placitas.  Since 2019 there has been an annual post Labor Day Sunday garden tour in Placitas. The exception was 2020, due to the pandemic shutdown. September has become the second growing season benefiting from late summer monsoon rains and a cool down in high summer temperatures attributed to shorter daylight. September is also the start of harvest season. The gardens featured in the Placitas Garden Tour have ranged from small to large, permaculture agrarian to modern and sleek, and everything in-between. The past gardens have featured some wild and unique hardscapes such as a life-sized Stone Henge monument, unusual stone fountains and ponds, labyrinths of all sizes, and impossibly steep terraced gardens.     

The Placitas Garden Tour will be presenting its tenth annual garden tour on Sunday September 13, 2026, from 9:00 – 4:00 pm. Six diverse gardens will be showcased on this tour with artists creating in the gardens. For more information on the 2026 Placitas Garden Tour go to www.PlacitasGardenTour.com. The Placitas Garden Tour is an all-volunteer non-profit dedicated to hosting an annual tour of gardens in Placitas. Proceeds from the tour sales benefit the participating volunteer organizations such as the Placitas Community Library, the Sandoval Extension Master Gardeners and other volunteer groups such as the Jardineros de Placitas. Volunteers help with the tour logistics and help the garden owners manage the tour guest flow and answer garden questions.

At ten years the Placitas Garden Tour is still educating on best practices for high desert gardening by exhibiting Placitas gardens and providing a forum for conservation and horticultural education. Gardening is a rewarding hobby, particularly if you know how to select the right plant for the right place, build healthy soils, conserve water usage and provide habitat for pollinators and other wildlife.  

The Placitas Garden Tour is extremely grateful to the generous and hard-working garden owners who are willing to share their gardens and stories with the public.  Please enjoy some images from the 2026 Placitas gardens.