To tour the house where horticulturist Luther Burbank lived in Santa Rosa, you're nearly out of time this year. The Luther Burbank Home & Gardens lists Saturday, Oct. 31 as the end of the 2026 tour season. The gardens themselves stay open to the public every day.
Hours and prices
From November through March the gardens are open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., and from April through October until 7 p.m. Entry to the gardens and museum is free, and donations are welcome. Guided tours, which run April through October, cost $12, or $10 for students and seniors, and children under 12 go free. Tours, the museum and the gift shop are open Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Sunday from 1 to 4 p.m. Only street parking is available. Pets aren't allowed in the gardens, but service animals are.
The next big event is the Holiday Open House on Dec. 5 and 6.
Who Burbank was
Burbank (1849-1926), a Massachusetts native, lived in Santa Rosa for more than 50 years and did most of his life's work at this site. Wikipedia credits him with introducing more than 250 new varieties of fruit, including many plums that are still widely grown.
He lived in the Greek Revival house from 1884 to 1906, then moved across Tupper Street to a house that no longer stands. After his death in 1926, his widow, Elizabeth, moved back into the house and stayed there until she died in 1977.
What's in the garden
The gardens hold many of Burbank's own plant introductions, with collections of cactus, fruit trees, ornamental grasses, medicinal herbs, roses and walnuts, most of them labeled. Burbank designed and built the greenhouse in 1889. His grave is nearby, under a cedar of Lebanon.
The site is a city park at Santa Rosa and Sonoma avenues. Part of it was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1964, and it is also California Historical Landmark No. 234. For families, the organization offers a scavenger hunt: Luther appears in 30 spots around the grounds, and anyone who finds 20 gets a small prize.
More Santa Rosa: the Charles M. Schulz Museum.