Prior Issue (Archive)
Our Communities Bloom
Gardens of Saint John & Surrounding Areas

Have you made plans for your garden yet? Maybe you'll just put a few pots of plants at the front door. Maybe you've ordered catalogues and are diligently designing a backyard masterpiece.

Can you imagine planning large-scale, award-winning gardens? Communities in Southern New Brunswick have succeeded in creating spaces that highlight flora, creativity and community pride. And they have the awards to prove it.

In or around May 25 each year, the Parks and Recreation Department of the City of Saint John begins its spring planting. Over 2,000 geraniums are the first to be planted throughout the downtown core. In total, over 40,000 annuals are planted in gardens, squares and parks maintained by the city. The plants include impatiens, petunia, salvia, snaps, seed dahlia, and begonia (tuberous and fibrous) annuals. The city also installs and maintains over 125 hanging baskets.

Many of the annuals planted are marigolds, particularly for the "Marigolds on Main Street" program where area schools and municipal and corporate groups join forces to beautify urban spaces.

Since 1996, the City of Saint John has participated in the Communities in Bloom project, a Canadian organisation committed to "fostering civic pride, environmental responsibility and beautification through community participation and the challenge of a national competition".

Municipalities are divided into population-based groupings (Saint John participates in the 50,000-100,000 category). Each summer, expert volunteer judges travel to the over 100 participating Canadian municipalities and judge them on eight criteria: tidiness, urban forestry, landscaped areas, floral arrangements, turf areas, environmental effort, heritage conservation, and community involvement. Community, municipal, corporate, institutional, and individual sectors are included.

The city has maintained a "five bloom" (highest) rating since beginning the program, receiving special recognition for landfill site management, heritage conservation, community involvement and floral displays.

The Village of Grand Bay/Westfield has also received national recognition in the program.

In 2001, the communities of Greater Saint John hosted the Communities in Bloom National Awards Ceremonies and the National Symposium on Parks and Grounds. Over 600 delegates from across Canada and around the world attended.

St. Andrews by-the-Sea is a picturesque, seaside community that's about an hour's drive from Saint John. One of its top destinations, Kingsbrae Gardens, boasts over 40,000 plants in a 27-acre public garden. Among its collections are a white garden, a rose garden, and bird and butterfly gardens. There is a therapy garden with wheelchair-accessible herb and flower beds. The Scents and Serenity Garden has plants, marked with Braille, featuring strong scents and tactile sensations.

The garden, which opened in 1998, also has two ponds and a 1/3 scale Dutch windmill, all connected by a series of trails. See if you can find the "secret" garden, or find your way through the New Brunswick themed "labyrinth".

As well as being named one of the "Top 10 Gardens in Canada", Attractions Canada named Kingsbrae Gardens as Canada's Best Developed Outdoor Site (Category A) for 2001.
A cafe, gift shop, art gallery and garden shop share the property.

top