Earlier this summer, I went to Atlantic Canada for the first time, visiting New Brunswick and PEI on vacation. Driving from Ottawa made the New Brunswick town of Edmundston an ideal stopping point for a night. While I was there, I wanted to visit the New Brunswick Botanical Garden, which is just outside of town. I visited near the end of June during the garden’s opening weekend, when the admission fee was half price, and in addition to the gardens, I also went for brunch at the cafe Flora that is in the main building on the grounds. The cafe was cozy and quite good.
The day that I went, it was a fairly cool and cloudy day with the threat of rain, but it was still enjoyable to wander around the grounds and see all of the different plants. The gardening zone of the botanical gardens is basically the same zone that I plant for in Ottawa.
The botanical gardens emphasize the use of native plants in their gardens, so it was a great place for me to get inspiration for new plants to include in my gardens at home. The organization of the botanical garden is well thought out and easy to navigate. There are many different types of gardens created around different themes, such as alpine or shade, and there are also plant specific gardens, such as roses and rhododendrons.The main walking path weaves through all of the different garden spaces, with side paths that go through some of the gardens for a closer look.
The first thing that visitors see when starting out from the main building is a beautiful waterfall that was created out of the height of the alpine garden.It created a very relaxing atmosphere to start the garden walk. The highlights for me were the shade garden since this is where I struggle with the most in my own garden, and I was able to get some ideas. I also really enjoyed the alpine garden; it was really well done. The rose garden was one that I was looking forward to, but they were not out in bloom yet. I could easily see this one being one of my favourite gardens when it is in full bloom.
Visiting the botanical gardens was a really nice way to start the day, and I really enjoyed myself. I will be going back there in the future, hopefully when the plants are at their fullest, and they also have an artist that is in residence for part of the week during July and August that I want to see as well.
The Heron and Rose 