Our network seeks to promote visits to many of the rural gardens of Grey and Bruce Counties. We offer you an opportunity to meet our enthusiastic and knowledgeable gardeners and to share the delights of a variety of rural garden venues. Gardens included in our network are many and varied; each is unique. Some offer other facilities such as hiking trails; several offer plants for sale; others organically grown produce. Admittance to RGGB gardens is by set fee or by suggested donation, determined by each garden owner. Visiting hours include a range of regular, scheduled hours as well as ‘by appointment only’ arrangements. As you tour, you may identify many Rural Gardens of Grey and Bruce Counties gardens by the yellow daisy signs. They are your signposts for garden adventures!

Located in the heart of Thornbury, Ontario The Mill is a purveyor of fine Canadian dining from Chef Andrew Barber. Come and discover a classic Thornbury dining destination, The Mill Café. Casually elegant and full of charm, The Mill Café is the perfect backdrop to an outstanding meal. Enjoy the quaint pub atmosphere of our warm street side outdoor bar or bask in the sun on our elegant waterside patio as you overlook the Beaver River and the Thornbury Dam with the landmark fish ladder. Spot Trout jumping in the spring or Salmon in the fall.

One of Canada's Top Spas, Scandinave Spa Blue Mountain offers a Thermal Spa experience, including Saunas, Hot Baths, Cold Plunges, Waterfalls, Eucalyptus Steam Room, Outdoor Fireplaces, and indoor/outdoor relaxation areas. Nestled in a forest setting, with serene views, Guests can enjoy relaxation year-round. A short drive from downtown Collingwood & Blue Mountain Resort. Reservations are recommended for guaranteed access to the Thermal Journey experience and can be booked online or by phone. Massage treatments can also be booked in advance. Overnight packages available with off-site partner accommodators. A Bistro is open daily for lunch and the Boutique offers Spa Essentials. Bathing suits are mandatory.

Come and explore Keppel Croft Gardens at Big Bay, on the beautiful Bruce Peninsula. We have four acres of gardens, a nature trail, an arboretum, and Keppel Henge. Enjoy your picnic at one of our numerous picnic spots. The four acres of Keppel Croft Gardens, fifty years in the making, are built on an ancient shingle beach. A pick axe is the tool of choice. Enjoy our rockeries and pebble beds, a xeriscape border and a zen garden, a circular thyme and lavender garden, peony borders and pond bank plantings. Our pit greenhouse is of Victorian design, literally built in a pit. There’s no heating for the greenhouse in the winter but our olive, fig and persimmon trees, New Zealand flaxes, and agapanthus do well.

The Nature Trail is a mown trail going through the fields of various grasses, and shrubs and trees to Painter’s Point where there is a picnic table and a view across the waters of Georgian Bay. There are interpretive signs, a birding bunkie and benches along the Nature Trail. At the edge of the gardens the Nature Trail will lead you to several astronomical installations, including Keppel Henge where the Summer Solstice celebration is organised by the Bluewater Astronomical Society each June.

Our gardens are a reflection of three very different personalities and interests. Brenda, John and Judy share a common passion for growing plants, learning constantly, and sharing our beautiful piece of property with as many people as possible. With its beginnings as a market garden, in beautiful ‘downtown’ Red Bay, Earthbound has evolved into a labyrinth of pathways leading you through the various garden rooms in our 5-acre garden. Visit the butterfly garden and relax on the bench to watch them drift by. Sit by one of the still ponds and count frogs and dragonflies (Earthbound Pond is home to a rare species of blue frogs). Feast your eyes on the colourful daylily garden and row propagating bed and choose your favourite bloom. You might even be tempted to pinch a tasty treat from our raised bed vegetable garden.

Folmer Landscaping and Botanical Gardens began in the spring of 1996 with the purchase of our 108 acre farm, 5 minutes west of Walkerton on the # 9 highway. The property was perfect for our landscaping business and garden centre, located on a busy highway with lots of exposure. The acreage was also perfect for developing a garden. Natural features include a hardwood bush at the back of the property, and forested wetlands on the east side, with a coldwater creek meandering through the wetlands. There is also a significant natural limestone rock outcropping facing the highway, as well as numerous fields and meadows, mature tree specimens and old forested fence lines. Previous owners also dug a large pond in the wetlands.

These natural features have provided the perfect framework for the extensive gardens that we have incorporated into these existing assets. Alpines, dwarf conifers and xeriscape plants have been nestled into the natural rock outcroppings to create a large rock garden. A trail through the forested wetland and along the pond include ferns, hostas, rhododendrons and native plantings to form naturalized shade gardens. Existing wooded fence lines have been augmented with trees, shrubs and perennials to provide pleasant views for the walking trails that have been created along them. Extensive themed perennial borders including a white garden, ‘hot’ garden, alpine garden, butterfly garden, wildflower meadow and mixed perennial and ornamental grass borders have been developed in the old fields and meadows.

Numerous formal gardens have also been created, and form an interesting juxtaposition with the more natural and ‘English style’ surrounding gardens. A formal Serviceberry tree allée, shrub parterres, extensive formal rose gardens, boxwood gardens and a circular maze are all points of interest. The gardens also feature a formal Mediterranean garden and knot garden in our front courtyard. An extensive collection of container gardens features tropical and succulent plant collections from around the world.

In the heart of Saugeen First Nation, within Bruce Peninsula, an embankment site overlooks the Saugeen River, a prime example of beautiful Canadian geography with breathtaking views. The amphitheatre and gardens were built in the 1970’s by Saugeen First Nation, led by Chief James Mason and Reverend Earl Stotesbury, the minister of the adjacent Wesley United Church. The goal was to promote reconciliation between First Nations and non-Indigenous peoples. The large stone amphitheatre and gardens, embedded in the hillside overlooking the Saugeen valley has for the past 40-plus years provided one of the most dramatic settings for community gatherings, ceremonies, music, and theatre in North America, attracting visitors from around the world.

One of the most beautiful and scenic gardens in Western Ontario.Stone stairways and walkways, terraced gardens and an outdoor amphitheatre constructed of locally quarried stone overlook the Saugeen River quietly snaking its way in the distance. The word “Friendship” outlined in large white letters on a grassy area below the gardens underlines the focus of this quiet and tranquil park. A nature path winds its way down to the river’s edge. A visit to the Saugeen Amphitheatre in July or August will allow an opportunity to experience firsthand the Ojibway culture by participating in workshops and other programs.

The Kincardine Labyrinth Peace Garden is located in the heart of Kincardine at Geddes Environmental Park. This labyrinth, known as the ‘Chalice’ design, has sculpted gardens and paths based on a Classical Labyrinth pattern, similar to the design of one in the cathedral at Chartres, France. It all began when several Kincardine residents, having had the opportunity to walk labyrinths on separate occasions around the globe, were compelled to see a labyrinth in their own town. Collectively, they began a group known as Friends of the Labyrinth Peace Gardens. With much enthusiasm, commitment and hard work the Labyrinth was realized.

The flowers that border the paths of the Labyrinth Peace Garden emerge in a rainbow of colour, evoking subtle energies that quiet the mind and allow the inner wisdom to be heard. This meditative walk to the centre and back out is a metaphor for our life’s journey to inner peace. By finding peace within, we attain peace without, not only in our lives, but in the world, too.