By Gail Cocker, Master Gardener, SCMG
The Reford Gardens/ Jardins de Metis in eastern Quebec
For travellers to eastern Canada and those interested in gardens, a stop at the Reford Gardens in the Gaspe is well work the trip. If you are lucky enough to visit in mid-July you are in for a treat as there will be a ¼ acre devoted to blooming Himalayan Blue Poppy (Mecanopsis). (I’m told there are over 8,000 of these plants, 4 different varieties, making it the world’s largest collection.)
FACTS:
Location: Grand–Metis, (Gaspe Peninsula,) Quebec
Size: 200 acres
Style: Over 15 gardens with 3,000 plant varieties & species; native and exotic plants, 350 outdoor garden installations
Designer: Elsie (Meighan) Reford
HISTORY:
Reford Gardens were created between 1926-1958 by Elsie Reford a passionate gardener and plant lover. Like many bourgeois families at that time, Reford left Montréal’s suffocating climate during the summer months. A fly fishing enthusiast, she spent her summers at Estevan Lodge, which she inherited in 1918 from her uncle, Lord Mount Stephen, founder of the Cdn Pacific Railway . In 1925, a doctor advised Elsie to give up her strenuous pastimes of fly fishing, horseback riding and caribou hunting and take up gardening instead. At age 54, Elsie Reford started her journey to become a self-taught gardener. This was meant to have been a gentle convalescence activity and instead turned into a new found passion that led to world-renowned garden and now a National Historic Site of Canada.
Elsie Reford, 1955. Photo credit: beside.media
Reford Gardens, or Jardins de Metis, besides being one of Canada’s most historic gardens, is ranked among Canada’s premier garden destinations. Located on the challenging landscape of the lower St. Lawrence River, the 40 acre garden sits in a naturalistic setting boasting many exotic and rare species that one would not expect to survive north of the 49th parallel. The protection of the spruce forest and the proximity to the river create a microclimate and along with the deep snow cover, enables plants such a azalea and mecanopsis to thrive.
The garden offers attractions for visitors of all ages; floral displays, sculpture in the gardens, exhibitions, a garden tool museum, gastronomic experiences and innovative installations of the International Garden Festival.
There are 15 gardens linked by meandering, fern-lined footpaths through forests, small meadows and along streams.
The International Garden Festival is a celebration of contemporary garden design. Every year 5 international designers are selected to create an eclectic work in nature. The projects live on for an average of 2-3 years; some even longer as natures intertwines with the project.
FEES:
Adults: $22 Students: $19 Young adults (14 to 18): $11
Children (13 and under): Free
Private guided tours available on request at the entrance
Reford Gardens is located at 200, Route 132 in Grand-Metis (Quebec) G0J 1Z0, telephone (418) 775-2221 Their website is www.refordgardens.com or e-mail reford@refordgardens.com. The gardens are open every day from the beginning of June until mid-October, but please check the website given the every changing Co-Vid regulations.
