Entrance Garden / Stream Gardens / Blue Poppy Glade / Azalea Walk / Moss Garden / Long Walk  /
Estevan Lodge / Belvedere / House Garden / Crabapple Garden / Gentian Walk / Scree / Meadow /
Primula Glade / Pond / Woodland Walk / International Garden Festival / The Bird Garden / Art in the Gardens

Every visit of the gardens will bring you a new experience.

Internationally renowned as an exceptional horticultural achievement, Reford Gardens are the result of Elsie Reford’s passion for gardening. From 1926 to 1959, she dedicated her summers to the gardens which extended over more than 40 acres by the end of her life. Today, this gardener’s paradise is home to more than 3,000 species and varieties of native and exotic plants. The property stretches along more than one kilometre of the shores of the St. Lawrence River. Known primarily as a historic property, Reford Gardens have been at the cutting edge of contemporary garden design since the creation of the International Garden Festival in 2000.

Entrance Garden

The tour of the gardens begins with the Entrance Garden. This is one of the more recent additions to the gardens, built in the 1960s to lead visitors from the entrance to the historic gardens. The Entrance Garden introduces visitors to the native forest and displays a growing collection of woodland plants. When the snow finally melts in early May, the first plants to bloom are spring bulbs, such as Daffodils, Tulips and Muscari. Then a collection of columbine (Aquilegia vulgaris, A. alpina, A. longissima, A. atrata.) gradually fills the beds, perfects companions for hostas and ferns. Annuals provide colour in the late summer once the perennials are through blooming. As the pathway proceeds to the next garden, century old White spruce (Picea abies) and Larch (Larix laricina) tower over a carpet of Meadow horsetail (Equisetum pratense).