Each year on the third Saturday in May the Luther Burbank Rose Parade & Festival is held on the streets of Santa Rosa, Calif. If you aren't able to see the festivities that celebrate this famous inventor's life, be sure to drop by and see Luther Burbank Home & Gardens, open for tours from April through October.

Luther Burbank is known for over 800 food, flower and plant inventions, part of his quest to feed the world and rid it of hunger. Burbank was friends with other famous inventors, Thomas Edison and Henry Ford, who both visited him in his science lab and home in Santa Rosa, located in Sonoma County north of San Francisco. Burbank is buried in the gardens with an unmarked grave (per his request) that you may wander past during your visit. Flower gardens, a permanent exhibit about his life & inventions, and a gift store are the attractions at the Luther Burbank Home & Gardens.

Self guided tours are free; guided tours charge a fee. Special events include an elegant Midsummer Garden Tea with two dates in 2011 — Sunday, July 24 and Sunday, July 31. -lutherburbank.org

Note: While the City of Burbank, Calif. celebrates its centennial in 2011, it was NOT named for Luther Burbank. It was named for Dr. David Burbank, a Los Angeles real estate developer who purchased portions of several ranchos in 1867, occassionally selling off small parcels that eventually became the Los Angeles County city of Burbank.