Travels With Stacey

Niagara Parks Botanical Gardens

Niagara, Ontario, is a stunning location. So much of the beauty is free to visit, including Niagara Parks Botanical Gardens.

Charlene and I always have this destination as our first stop for Chasing Flowers. Being the warmest spot in Ontario, the spring flowers bloom weeks earlier than in other places like Toronto or even Ottawa. We would go one weekend to Niagara and get our fill of spring's floral bouquet. The following week we will be hungry for more in the Toronto area doing the same and then finishing us in Ottawa for the grand dessert of spring flowers, the Ottawa Tulip Festival.

The most common spring flowers we seek out are tulips, daffodils, cherry, magnolia and even trillium. Spring brings an abundance of cheerful colours!

Other than parking, entry into Niagara Parks Botanical Gardens is entirely free. All throughout the spring, summer, and fall, plenty of flowers come into bloom, including trees. Like so many botanical gardens, these gardens do have themed areas, including an arboretum, edible plants, roses, and thousands of other colourful creations of nature.

We usually spend a couple of hours in this one area exploring each section and what it all has to offer in fragrance and colour. It is such a fantastic place; even the bees love this place!

there has to be hundreds of bees in this tree. So many of the trees that are flowering were just buzzing from the all-you-can-eat feast for these pollinators.

Because it is free and easily accessible, each time we go to Niagara (it is our favourite region) we always stop in for a peak. Even if only a week has passed, we will still visit because what wasn't in bloom last time, may very well be the next.

Niagara's floral beauty is not limited to this one spot. The ever-popular Floral Clock, Queenston Heights Park, Oakes Garden Theatre, Centennial Lilac Garden, Niagara Garden Place, Queen Victoria Park, Floral Showcase and Dufferin Islands are all a short drive of each other. There are many other flowery locations throughout the city, and some even have The Falls as a backdrop. 

Google Map: Niagara Parks Botanical Gardens

Website: Niagara Parks

Seriously consider getting a parking pass: One Year Pass.

I created a FLOWER MAP that shows these and many other locations for flowering trees, flower gardens and greenhouses. This map will constantly be updated when I find more places worth visiting.