The McCracken home is on the Tour of Yards.

Boerne’s Native Plant Society and the Cibolo Nature Center are working together to offer the fourth annual Tour of Yards, where on Saturday you can see many yards and gardens filled with native and well-adapted plants.

Four sites will be open to visitors only between 9 a.m. and 1 p.m., and six will be available only between noon and 4 p.m.

Morning yards are south of Boerne and spread out a bit in Fair Oaks Ranch, Country Bend Subdivision and near Leon Springs off of Boerne Stage Road.  The afternoon yards are in Boerne and Cordillera.

Complete descriptions, directions and maps for all tour yards are now on the CNC web site www.cibolo.org  

In Country Bend is the Wards’ yard, where the specialty is natives plants. Their front yard is semi-formal and an example of natural understory restoration. Backyard is has a wildlife-friendly pond and is an extensive collection of native wildflowers, shrubs and trees.

On the east side of Interstate10 in Fair Oaks Ranch, you will find two more stops that you won’t want to miss. The Youngloves’ backyard is within an attractive deer-proof fence. A crushed granite path winds through their little woods that attracts 74 species of birds.

The afternoon set of yards includes three in Boerne. The Rogers’ yard is in the Historic Arts District and contains a colorful cottage garden with natives and old-fashioned plantings. The O’Neals describe their yard as “shabby chic” and it has trees, shrubs and flowers that require little care and infrequent watering. They have planted tall shrubs for privacy and to muffle sounds from their busy street. Next door, the Carleys have many native and drought-tolerant plants including the bigtooth maple. 

This is a must see demonstration of what you can do on a grand scale in a limited space.