Great Gardening weekend at Montreal’s Botanical Garden

The Great Gardening Weekend at Montreal’s Botanical Garden is really a festival of gardening and gardeners!

Sylvie Perron, the Chief Horticulturist at the Botanical Garden says this is the largest event of its kind in the province of Quebec.  It’s an opportunity to share the passion of gardening, a time to discuss garden experiences, challenges as well as successes, and exchange tips and advice.

All these aspects, as well as the series of talks and presentations have made the occasion a huge draw.

Now in its 18th year, the Botanical Garden is also celebrating the restoration of one of the original show pieces, the Reception Garden at the entrance to the 75 hectare site.

Part of the city’s ‘Space for Life’ science complex, the Botanical Garden. with its greenhouses and several themed gardens, is the first, Established in 1931, it is the jewel in Montreal’s east-end, just across from the Olympic Stadium, built for the games in 1976, and the newly built Planetarium, the only one in Canada.

This weekend there will be a tree-give away, which is rather timely, as parts of Montreal have been ravaged by the Emerald Ash Borer.  This is exotic insect has no natural predators in our latitude and has caused extensive damage destroying so many of the city’s ash trees.