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ALBANY, Ga. (WALB) - The Friends of the Albany Museum of Art (AMA) is inviting nature lovers top a tour of the private gardens.

The tour will be on April 12, and feature five locations in Northwest Albany.

“This is our third tour,” said Friends of the AMA member Kirk Rouse. “When we started our tours, we had in mind to circle Albany with different parts of the city and county. We started in the central part of the city, and last year we concentrated on the Historic Rawson Circle District and highlighted camellias. This year, we’re going into the suburbs in Northwest Albany.”

The Friends of the AMA Spring Stroll: Gardens of Northwest Albany will begin at 11 a.m. at Doublegate Country Club.

“It’s a good location because all of the gardens are within a mile or two of Doublegate,” Rouse said. “We have five of what I call ‘intracity’ gardens. Each will provide a different view of what they can do in their backyards.”

The morning will start with a program by Albany landscaper Tim Yates, whose garden was featured in the inaugural Spring Stroll.

“It’s going to be called Gardening in Southwest Georgia,” Rouse said. “Tim will give an overall presentation about gardening in our area. Plus, he’ll have a planter he’s put together, and he’ll talk about how everyone can do beautiful planters. He’ll give us a step-by-step of how he did that.”

Yates’ presentation will be followed by lunch and a silent auction for plants and garden apparatuses that will be on display. Then, participants will visit the five nearby gardens. A garden that Yates works with that will be on the Spring Stroll is at the residence of Kay Strom, who has a unique feature in her garden—a small chapel.

The Friends of the AMA is a volunteer organization that supports the mission of the Albany Museum of Art, which offers free admission to everyone and maintains a robust, year-round schedule of art exhibitions, educational programming and events. The Friends also produce annual AMA Treasures videos recognizing individuals and families who have been instrumental in the museum’s success, according to the release.

“We do this tour to highlight art outside the walls of the museum,” Rouse said. “We have such a wonderful growing season here in Southwest Georgia, but we just don’t get an opportunity to sit back and enjoy it, to see the beauty of everything we have. This benefits the museum by taking the museum outside the walls, but also by making people aware that we have the most wonderful museum in South Georgia for all to enjoy, and to enjoy for free. As Friends of the AMA, we hope this will help promote the mission of the Albany Museum of Art.”

Tickets for Friends of the AMA Spring Stroll: Gardens of Northwest Albany are $60 for AMA donors and $70 for non-donors. Tickets can be purchased online at this link.

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