Les Jardins de Metis (Reford Gardens)

I've wanted to visit this garden for a while now while the Blue Poppies were in bloom. I got my wish recently when we took a trip to Quebec and spent a couple of days on the Gaspe peninsula.

Les Jardins de Metis, aka the Reford Gardens, is situated along the St. Lawrence River, near St-Flavie. If you've been, you know what a beautiful and inspiring place it is! Even though it's far away from any urban centre, (350 km from Quebec City), the garden is very well known and gets approx 100,000 visitors per season.

This was the summer residence of heiress, Elsie Reford, who started transforming the forst and fields into a garden in 1926. There are 3,000 plant species in the garden, including the Himilayan Blue Poppy, which can be difficult to grow.

Elsie died 50 years ago - but her great grandson is a director, along with 80 staff that maintain the garden.

I took a few pics of this awesome garden which don't even come close to doing it justice.

Sandy

PIC #1
That's me in the giant Adirondack chair at the entrance. At first I tried to climb onto it from the front but it was too high!

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This is the first garden to greet you. It's designed by local horticultural students and called the 'hanging gardens of Babylon'. The plantings represent a waterfall.

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This is the Entrance Garden, where you meander through the woodland with a canopy of 100-year old Spruce and Larch.

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Lovely mossy border.

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Further along there was a border of Saxifrage which was in bloom.

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The path crossed the stream many times and all the bridges were made in this rustic fashion.

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Then we get to the Blue Poppy Glade. Elsie Reford was one of the first people in North America to try the seed of the Blue Poppy, which she obtained from Scotland. The special climate in the Gaspesie - high humidity, yet cool nights - was favoured by the Blue Poppy.

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The Azaleas were also blooming. Wow!

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Here's a close-up. Does anyone else in the country have success growing these? I've tried without success. I think our summer nights must be too warm.

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This area was dubbed the 'high bank' There is a very steep incline to this pic.

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An interesting way to carve into the sloped landscape, complete with a place to rest.

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What a beautiful Iris. It was labelled as 'Loop the Hoop'.

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This was called The Long Walk, and the brochure said it's a subtle model of Gertrude Jekyll's creations.

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The flagstones were designed by Elsie's husband, Robert Wilson Reford, to resemble stone, but are in fact cement, using shell-filled sand from the beach.

Lovely gardens, and lovely pictures. The blue poppies grow well here, although I have not tried them. They have them at Butchart Gardens. I love the hanging gardens!!
And I love the big chair!!! What a great picture taking place!

Thanks.

Glenda

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Their summer residence was called Estevan Lodge, and it's now a Museum with many personal items and family photos. Back in the day, Elsie had it remodelled to include a nice master bedroom, as well as a dark room for hubby, who was an avid photographer. This is the view from the room that was their master bedroom.

Yes, it was a great place to snap pics, Glenda! In fact, I have a few more .... :-)

Sandy

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Looking up towards the Lodge, with all the mugo pines - imagine keeping them all manicured! There's also a nice restaurant and an art gallery in the building.

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There is a great view from here of the St. Lawrence River (if you are 7 feet tall!)

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Even the trash cans were lovely!

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Another garden view, with lots in bloom.

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Interesting trellis work on the fence.

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The sign said not to touch the old Millstone as it's a fragile eco system. The bonsai-like evergreen is Juniperus chinensis var 'sergentii'.

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A living willow fence.

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Many primulas were also in bloom. The dark pink were Japanese Primroses, I think.

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Lupines by the pond.

'Kay, that's all. Hope you enjoyed the tour.

Sandy

Thanks for the tour Sandy. Looks like a wonderful place. Your pictures are great, they are so clear and detailed.

Glenda

Sandy, thanks for that tour. Really enjoyed it,

Elaine

Glad you gals enjoyed it! Like I said, the pics do not do the place justice.

Sandy

LOL! Sandy, you look like a teensy little girl sitting in that chair!
Those are great pics and I especially love the one with the beds "carved" into the slope!
When you mentioned that the great grandson is director, it made me remember that these gardens were on a tv program that I saw last year. I think it was the Recreating Eden series on Vision Tv.

Erynne

Hi Erynne, missed that episode but I love Recreating Eden, it's definitely a quality show. There are so few gardening programs nowadays.

Sandy

Thank you for letting me walk along with you..absolutely breath taking...worth taking a trip I'm sure!!!

Glad you liked the tour, Betty. Here's another pic with Thyme, Dianthus and a perennial Geranium - not sure of the variety.

Sandy

Great pics Sandy. Must put that on the list of places to go someday. You should keep the pic of Lupines by the Pond for the photo contest.

Ann

Thanks, Ann. I was sheltered under a tree to take that photo because It was tipping down with rain, as you can tell by the raindrops in the pond.

Sandy

I love that. 'tipping down with rain'. I sure wish we were having a 'toad strangler' here LOL
Elaine

Toad strangler! Never heard that one before! lol (aw.... poor wee toads.)

Sandy

More of the 'Hanging Gardens of Babylon' display.

A lovely tour. Fantastic! Thank you, sanannie. I wonder who weaves the trash can cover-ups?

Thanks for sharing these photos Sandy. That is one place I sure would like to see. Just love the blue poppies. I grew them them once from seed, but the next year was too hot for them and they disappeared. Should have tried them this year, with our cool nights.

You gave us a wonderful tour.

Glad you ladies enjoyed the walk with me!

Here is a shot from the top of the 'high bank'. Don't know how they keep their balance while weeding that slope!

Sandy