Garden Stops

Ottawa and Region hasn't a zoo or a famous Botanical Garden, so where do we take our guests who don't want to visit the Museums, Galleries or Houses of Parliament? If they are interested in plants and gardens there are some places where an hour or so can be very pleasant - at the right time of the year.

During winter the little Tropical Greenhouses on Maple Lane of the Experimental Farm is a delightful stop. You can park on the street and visit the tropics - a great escape from swirling snow outside.

It will take a bit longer to see the thousand or so labeled plants on a self-guided tour of the Carleton University Greenhouses. If your car is on a meter, watch the time - it's very easy to become oblivious to its passing while you study such plants as cinnamon, coffee, bananas and sugar cane. The hours are from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday to Friday.

Other day trips can be made to commercial nurseries: Fine's at 3600 Riverside Drive; Richmond on the outskirts of the town of Richmond; Peter Nederpel, also in Richmond for some unusual plants; Peter Knippel at 4590 Bank Street. There's good indoor browsing at White Rose, Ritchie's, Thorne & Co., and others.

On a cold winter day, downtown a verdant respite from winter can be enjoyed in the Bank of Canada where the Coin Museum has a beautifully designed landscape. A phone call to Eleanor Sweny on West River Drive in Manotick could get you a visit to the Northern Ridge nursery to see the culture of exotic orchids.

Guests to Ottawa in the spring will expect to tour the famous NCC tulip displays, see the OHS Spring Bulb Show in May and throughout the summer the continuous gardens at "The Farm". Despite a lack of employees the gardens and arboretum are always instructive. While in the vicinity, drop in at the Fletcher Wildlife Garden. It is a very special enterprise with many unusual features.

For those concerned about the restoration of heritage plantings, a visit to the Billings Estate on Cabot Street, the Maplelawn Cafe on Richmond Road and the Mackenzie King Estate in Gatineau Park will be very worthwhile.

Short drives into the surrounding countryside reveal such unusual places as the Bedrock Gardens on Wagon Drive in Dunrobin where some interesting aspects of rock gardening - especially the use of heather - are demonstrated.

Other Horticulturists specialize in herbs not only for their food and medicinal values but also for their decorative qualities.

One especially interesting visit at any time of year can be made to Pepiniere Cloutier Ltee, Pont Alonzo Wright, Chelsea (from Hull follow Boulevard St. Joseph to the turn onto Pont Alonzo Wright). Call ahead to 778-3576.

Les Terrasses da la Chaudiere has a wonderful multi-tier garden inside the complex of Federal Government offices (Indian and Northern Affairs and CRTC) at Boulevards Tache and Montcalm in Hull. It is a pleasant interior green space for the winter months. During the summer, it has a central courtyard with fountain. The Holiday Inn, reached by a skywalk, boasts an attractive indoor waterfall in its lobby.

There's also the Nesbitt Greenhouses and Nursery on Eardley Road, Aylmer, which is worthy of a visit.

There are many more stops you can make as you entertain your company. A short one in the spring at the Central Mortgage and Housing Corporation's establishment on Montreal Road will show how one firm turned a little bit of lawn into a notable garden.

Please contact the OHS or the author if you wish to republish these articles. © Ottawa Horticultural Society

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