The Animal Rescue Fund of the Hamptons, Inc. (ARF) announces its 28th Annual Garden Tour “Celebrating the Summer Solstice in Springs” to be held on Saturday, June 21 from 10am-4pm, rain or shine. One of the longest running garden tours on Long Island, the ARF Garden Tour will feature six magnificent gardens in the historic hamlet of Springs, East Hampton, New York.

The private gardens included on the tour are: the garden of Pamela Bicket and Zachary Cohen, the garden of Peter Bickford and Greg McCarthy, the garden of Annachiara Danieli, the garden of Deborah Nevins, the garden of Suky and Michael Novogratz and the garden of Edwina von Gal. Free refreshments will be served at the Bicket/Cohen garden.

Many of the gardens this year use native plants and environmentally sound practices without sacrificing design. Two of the six properties featured this year, are the personal gardens of some of the Nation’s leading landscape design firms, Deborah Nevins and Associates and Edwina von Gal & Co. Their ground breaking work around the world is taking landscape design to new levels. Magnificent and unusual flowers, shrubs and trees overlay the structure of Deborah Nevins garden. This is the first time Ms. Nevins has offered her garden on a public tour.

Edwina von Gal’s property is more landscape than garden, reflecting her ongoing experiment with low-maintenance, toxin free gardening with a high deer presence. Her house, a modernist icon by Hamilton Smith (Marcel Breuer’s partner) sits on stilts in a salt marsh, with a remarkable view of Accabonac Harbor. The garden of Pamela Bicket and Zachary Cohen emphasizes pattern and texture and beautifully manages transitions from woods to meadow to formal garden plot. The garden of Peter Bickford and Greg McCarthy compliments the rich history of the original farmhouse and incorporates traditional garden plants, including lilac, one of the hardy varieties brought to North America by the colonists who settled the area.

Designed by premiere landscape architects Oehme, van Sweden, the garden of Annachiara Danielli has gone from jungle to paradise. The house and garden of Sukey and Michael Novogratz are part of the original Devon Colony, a historic enclave that included residences of business titans like William Proctor, of Proctor & Gamble. The Novogratz garden was designed by Jane Lappin of Wainscott Farms.

The 28th Annual Garden Tour is self-guided and ticket holders can view the gardens in any order. In honor of ARF’s 40th Anniversary, two extra exceptional experiences are being offered for those purchasing upper level tickets of $175. These include a tour of the Judith and Gerson Leiber garden and museum, offering an unparalleled retrospective of her renowned handbags and his paintings over the last several decades. A post tour wine tasting and the opportunity to explore the spectacular waterfront home and stylish garden of Interior Designer and Columnist Marshall Watson and Paul Sparks will also be offered. The wine tasting will feature wines from award winning Joullian Vineyards owned by Marshall’s brother Ridge Watson. A bounty of local cheeses and produce will be served. This year’s event is chaired by Barbara Slifka and Mark Fichandler.

Tickets for the tour are $85 each and can be purchased by calling 631-537-0400 x219, online at www.arfhamptons.org, the ARF Adoption Center in Wainscott, the ARF Thrift Shop in Sagaponack and the following garden centers: Lynch’s Garden Center and Mecox Gardens in Southampton & East Hampton, East Hampton Gardens, The Bayberry in Amagansett, the Sag Harbor Florist and Marders in Bridgehampton. Tickets for the tour and wine tasting are $175 and must be purchased in advance by phone, online or at ARF.

All proceeds from the tour benefit the Animal Rescue Fund of the Hamptons, Inc. (ARF), the leading no-kill animal shelter on eastern Long Island. The ARF Adoption Center is located in Wainscott, NY and open every day from 11 am to 4pm. Since its founding in 1974, ARF has found loving homes for over 20,000 cats, kittens, dogs and puppies.