The Westlake Village Garden Club will showcase five gardens at its 32nd annual Garden and Patio tour from 11:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sun., April 17 at various locations in Westlake Village, Thousand Oaks and Newbury Park.

Tickets and maps are $15 for adults, and children under 12 are free. Tickets are available at Armstrong Garden Center and Zenders Patio, Barbecue and Fireside in Thousand Oaks, Andi’s Hallmark in Thousand Oaks Pavilions Center, Artagraphix, Westlake Florist and Westlake Plaza Florist in Westlake Village, Nordic Nursery in Newbury Park and Sperling Nursery in Calabasas. Tickets may also be purchased at each garden the day of the tour.

"Proceeds from the tour will fund $1,000 college scholarships for local students in the fields of horticulture, environmental science or forestry," said Marilyn Reed, club president. Other tour beneficiaries include the Conejo Valley Botanic Garden, Carpinteria Wetlands, Pennies for Pines, Sempervirens Fund, Theodore Payne Foundation, Manna, Habitat for Humanity and Villa Esperanza.

Oak trees are the dominant feature of John Nelson’s garden in North Ranch, Westlake Village. One shades camellias, ferns and fuchsias in front. The branches of three oaks sprawl the width of the property in the three-tiered rear garden that unfolds from a flagstone patio to the arroyo. A waterfall drops to the infinity pool and water trickles over the half-circle of patio support. Beds of roses, coral bells, helichrysum, azaleas, impatiens, hydrangeas and geraniums add color.

Mediterranean plants—sage, olive, lavender—form the backbone of Anna MacTeen’s Tuscan-style garden in Thousand Oaks. Below a rosemary-covered retaining wall is a fountain set in pea gravel. Grass-enclosed squares accent the driveway and are repeated in the back patio. Boxwood-edged beds of roses, vegetables and a cutting garden are prominent. Stepping stones surrounded by baby’s tears and woolly thyme lead through a shady area of coral bells, camellias and campanula.

Karl and Angel Marie Linden-laub’s unconventional garden in Conejo Country Homes, Thousand Oaks, begins with a streetside meadow of grasses, lantana and mayten trees. Surprises await in the rear garden—a wooden bridge over a pond, a pavilion draped in wisteria and passion flowers, a Buddha statue guarding a 350-pound rose quartz stone. A cobalt blue structure houses an aquarium and waterfall beside a koi pond. A fruit orchard, specimen trees and raised vegetable beds complete this eclectic garden.

Brian and Cathie Bolas of Deer Ridge in Newbury Park describe their property as a cottage-style garden on a large scale. An island in the lawn features two English oaks. Roses, including many heirloom varieties, abound. A rose-covered pergola leads to a glass house overflowing with posts of orchids inside and cymbidiums outside. Perennials bloom throughout in tones of pink, blue, lavender and yellow. Strategically-placed benches encourage lingering in this garden.

Frank and Cheryl White’s garden in Newbury Park uses color, shape and texture to display a thousand varieties of specimen succulents. Santa Rosa flagstone walkways create sections with items as diverse as a "fence post" cactus and some that resemble silvery pincushions. A spiral of stones, centered by an "old man" cactus, is based on an Anasazi Indian design. Baskets and pots of succulents include strangely shaped "mutated" varieties. Plants in shades of lavender, blue and green cover the hillside.

For more information, call Hazel Kenzer, tour chairman, at (805) 371-7471.