Must-visit gardens, nurseries, greenhouses and flower festivals in and around Ottawa

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Updated August 11, 2022.

Public gardens and greenhouses, garden centres and nurseries, plant shops and flower festivals—Ottawa, Eastern Ontario, the Outaouais, Montreal and points beyond are rich with fantastic destinations for green thumbs. Whether you’re the type who starts looking for seed catalogues in your mailbox the day after Christmas or simply someone who enjoys admiring the verdant results of other gardeners’ labours, you’ll find lots of inspiration for Ottawa garden road trips in this post. Enjoy!

Note: Gardens and farms that also sell plants or agricultural products—such as landscaping companies, nurseries and herb growers—are listed under “garden centres” in the latter section of this post. I didn’t forget them!

Ottawa gardens and greenhouses

These are just a few of my favourites among Ottawa’s various outdoor and indoor gardens. There are many others, so I’ll keep adding to this post as I get out to visit and photograph more of them.

Maplelawn Garden

You may well have driven right past the walled Maplelawn Garden on Richmond Road and never even realized it—because, well, it’s walled and all. Next time you’re in Westboro, leave some time to pop into this gorgeous gem. It was part of the property of the adjacent Maplelawn house, which was built in the 1830s and is now a Keg restaurant. The Friends of Maplelawn Garden and the National Capital Commission have restored the garden to reflect its original 19th-century style, and you can visit for free. (Tip: Park on nearby streets, not in the Keg’s parking lot.)

Central Experimental Farm

The Central Experimental Farm is actually home to four separate sites of interest to keen gardeners: the Fletcher Wildlife Garden, the Ornamental Gardens, the Dominion Arboretum and the Tropical Greenhouse.

Fletcher Wildlife Garden

The Ottawa Field-Naturalists’ Club created the Fletcher Wildlife Garden to help gardeners learn about plants native to the Ottawa region that attract and nurture all sorts of critters, such as butterflies, birds, frogs, chipmunks and honeybees. Demonstration areas include an amphibian pond, a woodlot and a meadow.

Ornamental Gardens

Spread across 3.2 hectares (8 acres), the Ornamental Gardens include a rose garden, a perennial garden, a sunken garden and a rock garden. You’ll find lilacs bred in Ottawa by Isabella Preston, winter-hardy roses nurtured by farm researchers, some 100 varieties of irises, dozens of types of hedges and much more. If you visit on a weekend from spring through fall, you’ll almost certainly run into roving wedding parties searching for the ideal photo spot.

Dominion Arboretum

Walk south from the Dows Lake Pavilion and you’ll soon be in the Dominion Arboretum, a 26-hectare (64 acre) parkland tucked into the space between the Rideau Canal and Prince of Wales Drive. Founded in 1889 to test the winter hardiness of a wide range of trees and shrubs, it’s now home to some 4,000 specimens (although you might have to look closely and bring your reading glasses to read some of the informational plaques). I love the Arboretum best in spring, when many of the trees and bushes are in flower, but it’s lovely at any time of year—even in winter.

Tropical Greenhouse

Speaking of winter: The Experimental Farm’s Tropical Greenhouse, dating back to 1928, is a warming oasis on frosty days. Pop in to admire cacti, succulents and other warm-weather plants.

Commissioners Park

Commissioners Park, which hugs the edge of the Queen Elizabeth Driveway along the north and east edges of Dows Lake, attracts droves of visitors during the Canadian Tulip Festival each May. However, it blooms with all sorts of other lovely flowers throughout the summer and fall, too. There’s a parking lot just west of the intersection of Preston Street and the Driveway.

Rideau Hall

Naturally enough, people think first about the mansion that is home to Canada’s governor-general when they think of Rideau Hall. However, on the expansive grounds surrounding the vice-regal residence, you’ll find some 150 trees planted by visiting dignitaries, the Canadian Heritage Garden (where plaques, sculptures and flowers highlight Canada’s multicultural heritage) and more. On the Rideau Hall website, you can download a brochure outlining a self-guided tour of the grounds. Guided tours are also available in peak tourist season.

Beechwood Cemetery

As well as being the final resting place of many illustrious Canadians, Beechwood Cemetery—on the eastern edge of New Edinburgh and Vanier—is also a peaceful garden in its own right. And, because many people don’t realize this, it’s rarely crowded.

Eastern Ontario gardens

The spots below are just the tip of the proverbial iceberg when it comes to Eastern Ontario gardens. I’m hoping to expand this section shortly!

Manidoo Ogitigan, Kingston

Manidoo Ogitigan (The Spirit Garden) is a relatively new installation in Kingston’s Lake Ontario Park, created by Indigenous artist and landscape architect Terence Radford. It is part of the Alderville First Nation Commemoration Project, which recognizes the long history of the Mississauga Ojibwe in the Kingston region and other parts of Eastern Ontario. The artwork reflects the history of wampum belts and the symbolism of the medicine wheel, and incorporates culturally significant food and medicinal plants in a formal layout.

Shakespeare’s Gardens, Prescott

The Shakespeare’s Gardens site, near the outdoor amphitheatre that’s home to the annual St. Lawrence Shakespeare Festival, is a small collection of flowerbeds studded with statues and quotations related to the Bard’s works.

Water Conservation Garden, Kingston

Utilities Kingston’s Water Conservation Garden is a garden with a purpose: to show visitors how they can create drought-resistant, water-sipping gardens (hence the name). The award-winning site showcases more than 100 types of plants, grouped into 30 gardens. Free guided tours are offered in summer.

Waba Cottage Museum and Gardens, White Lake

On the shore of White Lake in the village of the same name, Waba Cottage Museum and Gardens features 11 themed gardens, as well as a collection of heritage buildings related to the history of the Township of McNab/Braeside. They include the former manor of Archibald McNab, the 19th-century Scottish laird who convinced a bunch of his compatriots to settle in the area, then drove them so crazy they rebelled and forced him to flee back to Europe.

Bill Robb Barriefield Rock Garden, Barriefield

A tip of the hat to reader Tami White, who alerted me to this rock garden just east of Kingston that was founded in 1990. Not only was I not aware of the Bill Robb Barriefield Rock Garden, but I hadn’t even heard of the village of Barriefield. However, they they both look charming.

Matheson House garden, Perth

Matheson House, a stone mansion built in 1840 that now houses the Perth Museum, is home to a small but pretty enclosed garden that usually blooms with irises, roses, peonies and other colourful flowers.

Almonte Old Town Hall Garden

Beside the Almonte Old Town Hall and next to the Riverwalk along the Mississippi River, you’ll find a garden created by women’s rights advocate Fern Martin.

Gananoque Horticultural Garden

I did know about this one, but reader Tami White reminded me about it. The Gananoque Horticultural Society maintains this lovely garden at the corner of King and Main streets in Gananoque, filling it with a delightful selection of annuals and perennials.

Other Ontario gardens

Feel like a road trip a bit further afield? Here are a few garden destinations elsewhere in Ontario to consider.

Corby Park Rose Garden, Belleville

I learned of the Corby Park Rose Garden via a Twitter recommendation from Glanmore National Historic Site in Belleville. From the video above, it looks like a peaceful neighbourhood oasis surrounded by grand heritage homes. The Corby distillery family donated the land to the community in 1905, and the city and the distillery cooperated to renovate and re-open it in 1967 as a Centennial project. The video tells the story of another park upgrade in 2013, when a fountain designed with community input was unveiled.

ZimArt Rice Lake Gallery, Bailieboro

ZimArt Rice Lake Gallery is an outdoor sculpture park not far from Peterborough that showcases works by Zimbabwean sculptors. Zimbabwe is the only African country with much springstone, a mineral that shows striking streaks of green and rust when polished. Each year, curator Fran Fearnley chooses and displays hundreds of sculptures for sale, ranging from small pieces available for about $100 to much larger works that will set you back $20,000 or more. But it doesn’t cost you a cent to meander through her peaceful rural property and simply admire the artwork on display. The outdoor gallery also hosts workshops, concerts and other special events.

Royal Botanical Gardens, Burlington/Hamilton

A top destination for keen gardeners across Ontario and beyond, the Royal Botanical Gardens—a garden so huge that it actually straddles two cities, Hamilton and Burlington—is well worth a special trip. My favourite destination is the Katie Osborne Lilac Collection in the RBG’s Arboretum; one of the world’s largest collections of lilacs, it blooms from mid-May to mid-June, peaking in late May. Other attractions include 27 kilometres of nature trails (some offering lovely views of Lake Ontario), 900 hectares (2,225 acres) of nature sanctuaries, a Rock Garden dating back to 1932, the 0.8-hectare (2 acre) Rose Garden, and greenhouse displays of cacti, orchids, Mediterranean plants and other specialty plantings.

Allan Gardens Conservatory, Toronto

The roots (pardon the pun) of the Allan Gardens Conservatory go back over a century and a half. In 1858, Toronto politician George Allan offered a small plot of land to the Toronto Horticultural Society, suggesting it as a nice spot for a garden. It would be 21 years before the society opened its first Horticultural Pavilion on the site. Today, Allan Gardens is a large complex of public greenhouses, including the Palm House and the Children’s Conservatory, and offers a welcome taste of summer even in the depths of winter. (As of June 2022, some of the garden was undergoing renovations, and those areas are temporarily closed.)

Outaouais gardens

Heading to Gatineau or another destination in West Quebec? Here are some great gardens to check out en route.

Zen Garden, Canadian Museum of History, Gatineau

This is one of my favourite secret spots in Gatineau. On a roof of the curatorial wing of the Canadian Museum of History in the Hull sector, there’s a peaceful Zen garden. Designed by landscape designer and Buddhist monk Shunmyo Toshiaki Masuno, it features native plants, as well as rocks from Almonte. It all reflects the theme of Wakei No Niwa (loosely translated as knowledge and respect for Canada and Japan’s history and culture). Prince and Princess Takamado of Japan officially opened the garden in September 1995. Mysteriously (or perhaps not, given its function as a meditative place), it is not well marked. To find it, head to the museum’s upper terrace—marked by a row of flagpoles—then look for a small staircase that leads up to the hidden garden.

Parc écologique Dalton, Gatineau

The video above tells the story of Park écologique Dalton (also known as Parc de la Ferme-Dalton) in Gatineau. Built by keen volunteers, the site includes a sugar shack, vegetable and flower gardens, recreational trails, covered bridges, an orchard, and more—all designed to give visitors a taste of the region’s agricultural and rural history.

Mackenzie King Estate, Gatineau Park, Chelsea

If you visit the Mackenzie King Estate in Gatineau Park to learn about the former prime minister (this was his summer home), have a snack in the tea room or explore the nearby trails, don’t forget to leave some time to enjoy the formal gardens, too. The nearby “ruins”—various bits of architectural rubble that the quirky PM collected and displayed here—are a fun place for photography. And the National Capital Commission, which manages the site, often organizes special events in the gardens.

Fairbairn House Heritage Centre, Wakefield

Fairbairn House Heritage Centre in Wakefield is a lively historical museum and cultural centre inside one of the community’s oldest structures, originally built in the 1860s. On the grounds, you’ll find a 19th-century style walled garden; surrounding Hendrick Park has picnic tables and nature trails. The house is close to Wakefield’s landmark covered bridge, too.

Other Quebec gardens

Montreal and points beyond have lots to offer the keen gardener, too.

Jardin botanique (Botanical Garden), Montreal

With 75 hectares, 10 greenhouses and 30 themed gardens, the Jardin botanique (Botanical Garden) in Montreal has something to intrigue just about any gardener at any time of year. (The Arboretum, the Latin American-style indoor Hacienda and the outdoor Chinese Garden are among my many favourites.) You can easily combine your trip with a visit to the nearby Biodôme, Insectarium or Planetarium (the four sites, together, make up the Espace Pour la Vie complex).

Jardins de Métis (Reford Gardens), Grand-Métis

On the south shore of the St. Lawrence River between Rimouski and Matane, the Jardins de Métis (Reford Gardens) are almost 800 kilometres from Ottawa—meaning they’re not exactly a destination for a spur-of-the-moment getaway. So why make the trip? Well, for one thing, it took pioneering gardener Elsie Reford 32 years to create this oasis, one of the most northerly public gardens in North America. She began in 1926, when there wasn’t a nursery within hundreds of miles, and she carried on through the Depression and the Second World War until 1958. Today, you’ll find some 3,000 species of plants in 15 themed gardens, along with a shop, a café, art exhibitions, concerts and more.

Upstate New York gardens

This list is short, sweet and based solely on Internet research, as I haven’t had the opportunity to visit any of these gardens in person (yet). With luck, that will change soon, as they all sound lovely! Check out the links and see whether you agree.

• Sycamore Hill Gardens, Marcellus: This 16-hectare (40 acre) expanse of hedges, statuary, formal gardens, koi ponds and more isn’t usually open to the public, as it’s part of the farm (and home) of very avid gardeners George and Karen Hanford. However, I’m including it here because the Hanfords open it several times a year to visitors for special events, which might be something to plan a road trip around. The gardens are about 22 kilometres southwest of downtown Syracuse, not far from the pretty lakefront town of Skaneateles (see photo above).
• Dr. E.M. Mills Rose Garden, Syracuse: In the category of “small but mighty” is this garden near the Syracuse University campus, which manages to pack roughly 3,000 rose bushes into a fairly compact space.
• Sonnenberg Gardens and Mansion State Historic Park, Canandaigua: The gardens on this 20-hectare (50 acre) Finger Lakes site date back largely to the early decades of the 20th century, when widowed philanthropist Mary Clark Thompson created them on the extensive grounds of her mansion. Features include Japanese, pansy, children’s, rock, rose and Italian gardens, as well as greenhouses, a café and a gift shop.
• Highland Park, Rochester: The core of this park was created by famed landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted in the late 1800s. Expanded several times since, it’s now home to collections of lilacs, Japanese maples, rhododendrons, pansies, azaleas, magnolias, and many other varieties of plants and trees, while the Lamberton Conservatory shelters all sorts of delicate tropical plants.
• Linwood Gardens, Linwood: Located about 55 kilometres southwest of Rochester, these private gardens are known for their collection of tree peonies and are open to the public on select days (particularly during the Tree Peony Festival of Flowers in May).
• Cornell Botanic Gardens, Ithaca: Managed by Cornell University, this large garden includes an arboretum and a wide variety of trees and plants, including herbs, rhododendrons, crabapples, ground covers, wildflowers and plants of the Americas. Of note to wildlife lovers: There’s a special section devoted to pollinator-friendly flowers.

Garden centres and shops in Ottawa, Eastern Ontario and the Outaouais

I will confess right up front: I am not a green thumb. Whatever the opposite of a green thumb is, well, that’s me. Every spring, I buy a few lovely hanging baskets—often from the Parkdale Market—and optimistically put them on my porch and in my garden. They do quite well for a few weeks…until I forget to water or feed them. That usually happens when I head out on a road trip for a few days, and my daily schedule gets thrown off. (Ironically, pandemic travel restrictions in 2020 meant my garden never looked better.)

As a result, many of the recommendations below are from readers, who kindly responded to my requests on social media to tell me about their favourite garden centres in Eastern Ontario and the Outaouais. If their enthusiasm is any indication, these spots will appeal to many gardeners. Enjoy!

Ontario

• Ritchie Feed and Seed (multiple locations): Reader Amy Bundy says this Ottawa chain—founded way back in 1927—is “great for outdoor plants and knowledgeable staff.” (I agree; I’ve always had good luck there.) You’ll find locations in Gloucester (near Innes Road and Highway 417), Stittsville, Richmond, Winchester and Brockville.
• Aquatopia Water Garden Conservatory, Carp: Aquatopia is almost impossible to pigeonhole: It’s a landscaping company (specialties include ponds and other water features, as well as living walls), a wedding and event venue, a public conservatory and tropical plant retailer.
• South March Garden Centre, Kanata: Reader Stephanie Ryan gives this one high praise for its good selection and reasonable prices.
• Make It Green, Stittsville: This organic gardening centre sells a full range of plants, including herbs, annuals, perennials and trees, as well as seeds, soil, pond equipment, tools and more. “It’s the prettiest little oasis,” writes reader Monica Timbal. “I always feel rejuvenated after going there.”
• Budd Gardens, Blackburn Hamlet: You can’t get much more established than Budd; they’ve been selling perennials since 1911. You’ll find berry plants, herbs, veggie plants, ornamental grasses and more—in particular, one of the region’s largest selections of hostas.
• Green’s Creek Organic Nursery, Gloucester: Reader Laurie Koensgen is a fan of this garden centre. You’ll find some 80 kinds of organic herb and veggie seedlings here, along with plants that yield edible flowers.
• Les Serres Robert Plante Greenhouses, Orleans: If you’ve shopped for hanging baskets in the ByWard Market over the last few decades, you’ve likely seen some of the famously lush baskets from Robert Plante. But drop by their Navan Road greenhouses and you’ll also find a huge range of house plants, cacti, fruit bushes, annuals, trees—you name it.

• Beyond the House, Russell: This recommendation came via Twitter from reader Blanka Vallillee, who noted that this garden centre has “beautiful stock, friendly and helpful staff, [and a] lovely boutique.”
• Amy’s Little Plant Shop, Rockland: As well as shopping for plants, plant stands, cut flowers and locally handmade items, you can sign up for plant-related workshops and events at this shop.
• Rideau Woodland Ramble, Burritts Rapids: I have been to this gorgeous spot, where you can wander through various landscaped gardens designed to showcase plants suited to various types of soil, temperature and terrain. You’ll find Japanese maples and azaleas in acidic soil, for instance, and various types of ornamental grasses around a pond. Hostas, conifers, rhododendrons and more are also on display. Like what you see? There’s an extensive garden centre.
• The Garden Market, Smiths Falls: Reader Linda Cummings gives this grocery store high marks for its garden centre: “Great selection and knowledgeable staff.”
• Gemmell’s Garden Centre, Smiths Falls and Brockville: This full-service garden centre company, which dates back to 1932, offers gardening workshops and other special events.
• Whitehouse Nursery and Display Gardens, Almonte: When it opened in 1987, this popular nursery focused on perennials, but it has since expanded its offerings to also include annuals, conifers, vines, daylilies and lots of other green things. Several readers mentioned that the display gardens are beautiful.
• Ramsay Creek Gardening, Carleton Place: Reader Lesley Baird highlighted this spot, partway between Carleton Place and Almonte. You’ll find hanging baskets, wreaths, annuals, perennials, veggie plants and more.
• Kiwi Gardens, Perth: Multiple readers gave this spot a shoutout. The 4-hectare (10 acre) nursery and display garden is known for its perennials, succulents and annuals, as well as the artworks peppered along its scenic paths.
• Milliken Landscaping Garden Centre, McNab-Braeside: A reader alerted me to this award-winning organic garden centre, which sells everything from herbs and houseplants to trees and soil.
• The Mountain Market, Arnprior: Another recommendation from the same reader, this spot offers fresh-cut bouquets and fresh-picked veggies.

• Garden Path Homemade Soap, Vankleek Hill: Owner Tara MacWhirter makes some 50 different products from the aromatic plants she raises on her heritage farm (which is also an official way station for monarch butterflies). The biodegradable soaps come in scents such as black raspberry-vanilla and lemongrass-oatmeal. You can also find soy candles, lip balm, bath bombs and other treats in the boutique, and take a self-guided tour of the garden.
• Marlin Orchards and Garden Centre, Cornwall: As well a wide range of flowers, veggies, herbs and trees for sale, Marlin sells some 30 different varieties of apples from its extensive orchards.
• Saunders Country Critters and Garden Centre, Oxford Station: The garden centre is seasonal (May and June, usually), but the private zoo (housing macaws, wallabies, lemurs, lynxes and lots of other critters) is open much longer.
• Coville’s Greenhouses, Prescott: You can order customized hanging baskets and container gardens at this full-service garden centre.
• Kingston area: Reader Rosalyn Gambhir’s faves in the Kingston area are Sun Harvest Greenhouses in Glenburnie, Burt’s Greenhouses in Odessa, and Potter’s Nurseries and Riley’s Garden Centre in Kingston itself.
• Prince Edward County: In the County, Rosalyn likes Lockyer’s Country Gardens in Picton and Carson’s Garden and Market in Bloomfield.
• Napanee: Reader Mike Sewell recommends Selby Garden Centre, just outside Napanee.
• Trenton: Mike also gives a shoutout to Connon Nurseries.
• Toronto: Reader Amy Bundy recommends Ontario Plants for its specialization in plants native to our region. Even though it’s in Toronto, the company can arrange deliveries to Eastern Ontario and West Quebec.

Quebec

• Les Serres Bourgeon Greenhouses, La Pêche: Several readers gave this spot just north of Wakefield props on Twitter; one noted, “Great selection and service, en route to cottage country.” As well as annuals, perennials, trees and shrubs, you can buy paving stones, outdoor fireplaces and other garden decor.
• L’Herboristerie la Fée des Bois Apothecary, Clarendon: The owners of this 28-hectare (70 acre) farm in the Pontiac region of the Outaouais cultivate and sell medicinal herbs, and organize related workshops and other events.
• Beaux Arbres, Bristol: Reader Michael Peterson gives this Pontiac garden centre a shoutout for its excellent selection of native plants.
• Le Paradis des Orchidées, Sainte-Dorothée: Located in a rural sector of Laval, this massive greenhouse complex grows and sells just about every type of orchid imaginable. I visited a few years ago and was completely boggled by the sheer number and variety of these notoriously hard-to-grow plants.

Flower festivals and gardening events in Ontario, Quebec and New York

Grab your camera and your notebook! Keen gardeners throughout our region work diligently year round to create wonderful gardening events and festivals to inspire everyone from novice gardeners to serious green thumbs. Here are some that may pique your interest.

• Canada Blooms, Toronto (March): Canada’s largest flower and garden festival draws upwards of 200,000 visitors annually for gardening talks, demonstration gardens, a huge marketplace and more.
• Canadian Tulip Festival, Ottawa (May): The giant among Eastern Ontario floral celebrations, this multi-week extravaganza features concerts, vendors markets, roving entertainers and, of course, thousands of tulips in Commissioners Park and Major’s Hill Park, along Colonel By Drive and the Queen Elizabeth Driveway, on Parliament Hill and elsewhere.
• Tulipes.ca, Laval and Boucherville (May): Pick-your-own tulip farms in suburban Montreal.
• Green Corners Farm, Edwards (May): Pick your own tulips in rural southeast Ottawa.
• Franktown Lilac Festival (May): This small community, partway between Carleton Place and Smiths Falls, holds a day-long celebration of all things lilac each year.
• Rochester Lilac Festival (May): This event, which usually features live music, craft beer tastings, a farmers’ market and more, is the largest free lilac festival in North America.
• Art, Jazz and the Garden, Rideau Woodland Ramble, Burritts Rapids (June): This multidisciplinary festival is a chance to shop for garden art and plants to the sounds of live music. (Note: The event is on hiatus in 2022.)
• Art in the Garden, Kiwi Gardens, Perth (mid- to late June, usually including Father’s Day): This annual art show and sale features all sorts of garden-friendly pieces (and the nursery is open, too). Here’s where you can buy the required timed tickets for the 2022 event, which runs from June 17 to 19.
• Showy lady’s slipper orchids, Purdon Conservation Area, Lanark Highlands (mid-June to early July): This isn’t an organized event, but reader Julie Charron suggested this outing and I agree that it’s a worthy one for flower lovers! For a few weeks in late spring and early summer, Canada’s largest colony of showy lady’s slipper orchids blooms along a fully accessible boardwalk here.
• Sunflower Garden Tour, Carleton Place (late June): Despite the name, this garden tour—a fundraiser for Zion United Memorial Church—features 10 gardens in and around Carleton Place that are known for all sorts of flowers, not just sunflowers. Here’s where you can buy tickets to the 2022 tour, taking place on Saturday, June 25.
• International Garden Festival, Jardins de Métis (Reford Gardens), Grand-Métis (late June to early October): As the biggest contemporary garden festival in North America, this event in eastern Quebec features cutting-edge designs and is a magnet for creative horticulturalists.
• Lavender Festival, Prince Edward County Lavender, Hillier (early July): This festival celebrates all things about everyone’s favourite sleep-inducing aromatic plant.
• Ottawa Valley Midsummer Herbfest, Waba Cottage Museum and Gardens, White Lake (late July): This event focuses on herbs and healthy living and features a vendors’ marketplace, culinary demonstrations, gardening workshops, live music and more.
• Bloomfest Garden Art Show and Sale, Whitehouse Nursery and Display Gardens, Almonte (late July to early August): This sale of garden art by local artists is timed to coincide with the nursery’s annual display of day lilies.
• Ottawa Garden Festival (mid-August): This extensive festival, which launched in 2022, has included everything from self-guided garden tours to gardening workshops, flower-themed art shows and even special botanical cocktails.
• Sultan Farm Sanctuary, Ashton (late August to early September): The farm owners invite visitors to stroll along paths through fields of sunflowers in exchange for a donation to their animal sanctuary.
• Gardens of Light, Botanical Garden, Montreal (October): Book your timed ticket early for this extremely popular event, which features displays composed of hundreds of illuminated silk lanterns throughout the Chinese garden.

Even more resources for garden lovers

This is truly just a smattering of the many, many destinations for garden lovers in Ontario, Quebec and New York state. If you’re looking for even more inspiration, here are some excellent places to start.

• Garden Promenade des Jardins: This bilingual site highlights more than 75 large and small gardens in Ottawa and Gatineau that you can visit. They’re grouped by theme and area, making it easy to plan your own multi-garden itinerary.
• 1000 Islands and Rideau Canal Garden Trail: This relatively new network of about a dozen public and private gardens includes sites in Brockville, Gananoque, Mallorytown and elsewhere along the Rideau Canal and the St. Lawrence River.
• Kingston Community Gardens Network: You’ll find details on a number of public gardens in the Limestone City here.
• Seeds of Diversity: This group of keen gardeners saves and cultivates rare and vulnerable seeds, and exchanges them with similarly minded folks in “Seedy Saturday” and “Seedy Sunday” events across Canada.

Did I miss your favourite green place or event?

Is there a great public garden, greenhouse, botanical garden, garden centre or horticultural event in Ontario, Quebec or northern New York that I’ve overlooked? Let me know in the comments and I’ll check it out—and thanks!

Looking for more tips on things to see and do in Eastern Ontario, the Outaouais, northern New York state and beyond? Subscribe to my free weekly newsletter or order a copy of my book, Ottawa Road Trips: Your Weekend Getaway Guide.

As the owner of Ottawa Road Trips, I acknowledge that I live on, work in and travel through the unceded, unsurrendered territory of the Algonquin Anishinaabeg Nation. I am grateful to have the opportunity to be present on this land. Ottawa Road Trips supports Water First, a non-profit organization that helps address water challenges in Indigenous communities in Canada through education, training and meaningful collaboration.