North Jersey Wine-Rutgers Gardens 44th Annual Open House Festival and Wine Tasting

The Open House will feature lively and informative tours of the Rutgers Gardens and The Donald B. Lacey Display Garden and the opportunity to sample the wines of five New Jersey wineries.

The wineries, Auburn Road Vineyards and Chestnut Run Farms, both of Pilesgrove,

Bellview Winery of Landisville, Heritage Winery of Richwood and Plagidos Winery of Hammonton, will host the wine tasting and sales from 11 am until 3 pm. in the Sun and Shade Garden. Admission for the tasting is $5 at the gate and includes the opportunity to try more than 50 wines grown in vineyards in New Jersey.

Persons attending the festival will have the opportunity to visit The Donald B. Lacey Garden and its wide array of spectacular plantings of annuals, tropicals and perennial flowers as well as herbs and vegetables, grown and tended by volunteer gardeners. The theme for this year’s open house is “Color My World”. The Gardens features “All American,” award-winning plant selections and many new and unusual varieties of annuals, tropicals, vegetables and herbs.

This year’s festival will also include a Garden Market featuring local produce vendors and artisans as well as garden seminars including “Ponds 101” presented by Grounds Keeper, Inc., “Root Invigoration” by Bartlet Tree Experts, “Composting” by the Monmouth County Master Gardeners and the popular “Ask the Expert” Clinic.