Reford Gardens

Elsie Reford inherited a fishing camp on the St. Lawrence in 1918 and, at fifty-four and with no training, began turning it into a garden; over three decades she built up around three thousand species on a cold, windy shore, moving soil in by the cartload. Her signature achievement is the Himalayan blue poppy, Meconopsis, notoriously difficult to grow and normally impossible at this latitude, which flowers here in a large stand each summer. The gardens have run an international festival of contemporary garden design since 2000, with new installations each year alongside the historic beds and the family villa.

What you actually see

• The blue poppies - Himalayan Meconopsis flowering in an unlikely climate.
• The historic beds - Elsie Reford's plantings across some twenty hectares.
• The garden festival - contemporary installations renewed each summer.
• The Estevan villa - the family house shown with its period interiors.

When to go

June to September; the blue poppies flower roughly late June into July and are the main draw. The gardens close for winter. The festival installations change each year.

Honest expectations

Blue poppy bloom is a window of a few weeks and misses many visitors. The gardens close from October to May. Contemporary festival pieces vary in quality and appeal.

Nearby

Gaspésie park lies east; Bic is southwest.