A new tour in Natchez on May 4 and 5 is taking shape under the leadership of Grow Natchez Gardens Inc.

The Symphony of Gardens Tour will feature 13 private gardens, with the added feature of musical entertainment at the end of each day — a salute to the Natchez Festival of Music, one of the sponsors and beneficiaries of the tour.

Spring gardens in Natchez elicit well-deserved praise from visitors — azaleas, irises, dogwood trees and other blooming plants familiar in the landscape.

Indeed, when avid gardener Karen Dardick moved from California to Natchez, she loved the city in springtime.

“I saw how beautiful Natchez was in the spring, but then it stopped,” she said. “I wondered if we could get people excited about gardens the year around.”

Dardick soon found she was not the only gardener who wondered about a new way to look at Natchez gardens.

She found a comrade in gardening in Dr. Robert Barnes, for one.

“Karen and I talked about it, how Natchez gardens are aimed for Pilgrimage only,” he said, referring to the tour season that begins in early March and concludes in early to mid- April.

“We’re interested in inspiring people to change their thoughts about gardens in Natchez,” Barnes said.

“We love camellias and azaleas, but we want to highlight other plants that grow well here,” he said.

Dardick, Barnes and others of like mind have joined in the effort to educate and entertain those interested in touring gardens or in finding new ideas about plants and landscaping.

Barnes said the Deep South challenges gardeners to find plants that will endure the hot summers.

“We’re trying to use plants selected by the Mississippi Extension Service, Mississippi Medallion Plants that have been tried and tested for this climate. It’s a new concept.”

Many old designs remained at the stately mansions of Natchez, Barnes said. They had been lost until recent years when new owners rediscovered them.

Those kinds of landscaping techniques, along with new landscaping ideas, will be highlights of the Symphony of Gardens Tour. And that interests people who like gardens and gardening, Dardick said.

“Gardens that demonstrate different design concepts excite people about what they can do in gardening. Natchez is ready for that,” she said.

Sara Blackburn of the Natchez Festival of Music said the garden tour is a good example of cooperation for a common good.

“This is a wonderful example of how we can work together for all of Natchez,” she said. The garden tour and music festival complement each other.

The music adds another level to the garden tour, Dardick said. “The tour celebrates beauty, beauty of gardens and beauty of music.”

Gardens on the tour include the grounds at historic Rosalie and at historic Monmouth Plantation as well as at Cottage Gardens, Rosehaven and other courtyard and urban gardens.

On May 4, Master Gardeners of Adams County will host a plant sale. Furthermore, a flower show celebrating 75 years of Natchez Pilgrimage will be held on May 5.

Supporting organizations include, in addition to the Festival of Music, Natchez Garden Club, Pilgrimage Garden Club, Natchez Convention and Visitors Bureau and, through generous donations, Britton & Koontz Bank, Concordia Bank and United Mississippi Bank.

Tickets will be available in advance and at the gates. Prices range from $8 to $30 per person and may be purchased in advance online at natchezpilgrimage.com.

Other members of Grow Natchez Gardens, in addition to Dardick, Barnes and Blackburn, include Gail Healy, Lucy Miller, John Bergeron, Robin Punches, Lani Riches, Dee Shields and Martha Jay Owens.