Kingsbrae Garden Named To Top Five North American Gardens By Garden Tourism Conference's International Panel

Online, March 22, 2011 (Newswire.com) - Five is Kingsbrae Garden's new lucky number, after receiving a "Top Five North American Gardens Worth Travelling For" award at the recent Garden Tourism Conference (Toronto, ON), in consultation with various Canadian and International associations. Co-winners with Kingsbrae Horticultural Garden (St Andrews, New Brunswick) are the Royal Botanical Gardens (Hamilton, ON), Desert Botanical Garden (Phoenix, AZ), Longwood Botanical (Kennett Square, PA) and New York Botanical Gardens (The Bronx/NYC, NY)-stellar gardens, all. In addition, Kingsbrae Garden was recently named in Boston Globe travel editor, Steve Jermanok's "Top 5 Travels for 2010" worldwide. It's easy math: 5 + 5 = 10; serendipitously, Reader's Digest named Kingsbrae Garden one of the 10 reasons to visit St Andrews-"the perfect place for a family summer getaway"-encouraging readers to "While away an afternoon at Kingsbrae Garden".

The Honourable Peter Kent, Canada's Environment Minister, presented the inaugural Garden Tourism awards, saying "...gardens are a Canadian natural treasure and must be protected and preserved and, most importantly, enjoyed by Canadians and visitors alike."

It would be an intrepid traveller who managed to visit all five extraordinary 'travel-worthy' gardens in one year, but it could be done. Kingsbrae Garden is off the major travel routes, to be sure, but once found, never forgotten. Many roads lead to St Andrews by-the-Sea, in the balmy southwest corner of New Brunswick (NB), including a ferry across the Bay of Fundy, from Digby, Nova Scotia to Saint John, NB-Canada's oldest incorporated city, just over 100 kms from St Andrews. Other Fundy ferries approach through Deer Island, from Campobello Island (Canada, just off the US mainland at Lubec, ME) and Eastport, ME. By road, St Andrews is just 29 kms from Maine, at Calais (a stone's throw across the river from Canada's Chocolate Town, St Stephen, NB), 654 kms from Montreal and 567 kms from Boston. St Andrews does very well in tourism, particularly for a tiny town of 1800 people, with a long history of summer visitors and residents; Kingsbrae Garden is a key component of that success. St Andrews, a National Historic District, has long been known for its temperate, healthy climate, well-preserved historic buildings and natural beauty.

A selection of other winners at the Garden Tourism Awards are: Canadian Garden Tourism Person of the Year, Alexander Reford of Reford Gardens/Jardins des Metis, QC; Canadian Garden Tourism Initiative of the Year, War of 1812 Bicentennial Peace Garden Trail, USA/Canada; Canadian Garden Tourism Achievement Award Parks Canada, on their 100th anniversary; International Garden Tourism Event of the Year, Taipei International Flora Exposition, Taipei, Taiwan; and International Garden Tourism Person of the Year, Pascal Garbe, Garden Policy Manager, Moselle Region, France and Director, European Garden Tourism Conference.

The Garden Tourism Awards' patrons are: Canada's Garden Tourism Conference, Canadian Nursery & Landscape Association (CNLA), Canadian Garden Tourism Council and Baxter Travel Media.
The awards are also supported by: the Ontario and BC Garden Tourism Coalitions, Associations des Grands Jardins du Quebec, Landscape Ontario Horticultural Trades Association (LO) and Communities in Bloom.

Michel Gauthier, Chair of the Ontario Garden Tourism Coalition, closed the conference saying, "Given the enormous number of Canadian and American travellers-almost 27 million, as quoted by the latest TAMS report (Travel Activity & Motivation Study, commissioned by Federal and Provincial tourism ministries)-who included visiting Canadian gardens among the top ten things they want to do while on holiday, it's high time that Canada's many and varied garden experiences are recognized as a tourism product".

Kingsbrae Garden earned this latest distinction by varying its offerings, exhibiting Canadian sculpture and art around the 27-acre public garden-dozens of sculptures and fountains enhance the many themed gardens and displays of over 50,000 perennials, shrubs and trees. Each year, sculptors from across Canada vie for the two financial prizes in Kingsbrae's annual National Sculpture Competition ($10,000 and $5000). All but the winning sculptures in the competition are for sale to the public. Winners remain in the Sculpture Garden, amidst extensive water features, continuing Kingsbrae's commitment to displaying great Canadian art, in an easily accessible location. Kingsbrae Garden is family-friendly; children are entertained by the art, Children's Fantasy Garden (with five playhouses and a climbable castle), cedar maze, animals (alpacas and peacocks are particularly popular) and numerous activities. Garden sceptics are invariably won over with the breadth and variety of features as well as the beauty and restfulness of Kingsbrae Garden. The most common exit comments are: "I had no idea... it was so big/there was so much to see/how much I would enjoy it". Then: "I wish I had more time" or "I'll be back!"

In WestJet's UP! Magazine and online, Shelley Cameron-McCarron wrote: "Kids. What do they know? Mine did not want to go to Kingsbrae Garden. At all. But once they got there, they were so enchanted with the 27-acre site, complete with ponds, birds, butterflies, trails, cedar maze and amazing selection of theme gardens, they did not want to leave" (July 26, 2010). You can't say fairer than that.