A pretty garden is OK, but give me one you can eat. Same with garden tours, and that's what's so appealing about the upcoming Italian Garden Tour in Sewickley.

The Fern Hollow Nature Center in Sewickley Heights is organizing this tour from 6 to 9 p.m. July 30, starting at the center. Volunteer Mary Menniti and board member Marisa Tobias will talk about history and the elements that typify an Italian-American garden and their inherent eco-consciousness.

Attendees will be served Italian appetizers and homemade wine before heading out to tour four nearby gardens, owned by Tommasina and Tommaso Floro, Giovanni Macchione, Giuseppe Villella and Pasquale Mastronianni.

The Penguin Bookstore will host another tour of the gardens from 6 to 9 p.m. Aug. 12.

Admission is $20 or $10 for FHNC members (family memberships are $50). You must reserve by calling 412-741-6136; get more info by e-mailing fhnc@verizon.net or visiting fhnc.org.

FHNC Director Sam Capezzuto says that the single tour planned last year was so popular that they added a second one.

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