White House Garden Tours only occur twice a year, and the annual fall event will take place this weekend. Tours are happening on Saturday, October 8 and Sunday, October 9 from 10 AM to 4:30 PM, moving through spaces like the Rose Garden and the Kitchen Garden.
Free tickets are distributed at the White House Visitor Center on the day of the tours. These are timed-entry passes, specifying when each visitor can enter the South Lawn. Dispensed on a first-come, first-served basis, there’s only one pass per person—so groups will have to arrive together to snag tickets.
The tour includes perusals of the Rose Garden, the Jacqueline Kennedy Garden, and the Kitchen Garden. Former First Lady Melania Trump renovated the Rose Garden in 2020—not without controversy—bringing in more rose bushes and removing the crabapple trees. The Jacqueline Kennedy Garden is an homage to another former first lady, blooming with chrysanthemum and flowering kale in the fall. Visitors can also check out the Kitchen Garden, a 2,800-square-foot vegetable plot planted by Michelle Obama in 2009.
In addition to the flora, there are also ornamental trees that have been planted by former presidents. A map of the garden offers details about which presidents and first ladies planted specific trees, including a White Oak planted by Herbert Hoover in 1931. The National Park Service will have individuals stationed throughout the gardens to answer questions about the foliage.
