Garden calendar

Garden Tour: Today, 1-4 p.m. tour, 3:30-5:30 p.m. cocktail reception, Church and East Bay streets, downtown. Self-guided Emily Whaley Memorial Garden Tour's theme is "Charleston Gardens by the Sea." Each of the 10 featured gardens will illustrate techniques for coping with the challenges of the sea: wind, salt spray, sun and aridity. $60. Tickets can be purchased beginning at 11 a.m. at 120 Meeting St.

CHS Lecture: 6:30 p.m. Monday, Charleston Museum Auditorium, 360 Meeting St., Charleston Horticultural Society lecture by Jane Bath on landscape design. Bath has designed more than 4,000 landscapes in the Atlanta area, including residential, commercial, retail and public gardens. She is the author of "The Landscape Design Answer Book: More Than 300 Specific Design Solutions for Your Landscape." Free for CHS members, $10 for nonmembers. Details: 579-9922.

Magnolia Garden Club: Meeting 11:30 a.m. Thursday, Community Room at Berkeley Electric Cooperative, 3351 Maybank Highway, Johns Island. Topic: "Orchids, Orchids," with speaker Kevin Jones, president of the Coastal Carolina Orchid Society.

Bird Walk: 10 a.m.-noon Friday, Folly Beach County Park. Audubon South Carolina and the Charleston County Parks and Recreation Commission will lead the walk on the beach. Participants will have a chance to see many of South Carolina's shorebird species, including the federally threatened piping plover. Audubon's Director of Bird Conservation Jeff Mollenhauer and the commission's Interpretive Naturalist Keith McCullough will lead the walk. This is the first in a series of monthly walks, with future walks held the second Friday of every month. Cost: $7 to enter the county park, but the walk is free. Registration (required): www.ccprc.com or 795-4FUN (4386).

Rose Society Oyster Roast: 1:30-4:30 p.m. March 16, Bowen's Island. Sponsored by Charleston Lowcountry Rose Society. $15 adults, $7.50 children. Call 795-4130 for.

Garden Club of Charleston Walking Tour: 2-5 p.m. March 28-29. The club's 73rd annual walking tour of homes and gardens includes some of the finest homes and gardens in the Historic District and will feature flowers arranged by members of the Garden Club of Charleston. Refreshments served in one of the gardens. Proceeds benefit club projects, including the gardens at the Manigault House, the Heyward-Washington House, the Gateway Walk and the Healing Garden at MUSC. Tickets: $35, available in advance by calling 530-5164 or at www.thegardenclubofcharleston.com. Tickets also at Visitor Information Center day of tours.

Kiawah Island Art and House Tour: 2-6 p.m. April 11, Kiawah Island. Tour features five homes that showcase private art collections. Sponsored by the group "Gibbes, etc." to support the Gibbes Museum of Art. Tickets: $55, which also includes admission to the Gibbes Museum of Art. Details: www.gibbesetc.org or 243-0423.

Notices must include event/organization, topic, time, address, cost and contact. Include name and daytime phone number. E-mail homes@postandcourier.com or post to Ann Mitchell, The Post and Courier, 134 Columbus St., Charleston, SC 2940