The Canadian Garden Council has recognized Garden Making as the 2014 Media of the Year winner of the Canadian Garden Tourism Awards, presented to organizations and individuals who have distinguished themselves in the development and promotion of the garden experience as a tourism attraction. Now presented annually, the inaugural Garden Tourism Awards – the only such awards program in the world – were bestowed at the 2011 Garden Tourism Conference held in Toronto.
The 2014 awards were announced on June 13 which the council is promoting as National Garden Day as part of its efforts to raise public awareness about gardens to visit.
“Dr. Richard Benfield, author of Garden Tourism, estimates that annually there are six million garden tourists in Canada,” says Alexander Reford, director of Jardins de Métis/Redford Gardens and chair of the Canadian Garden Council. “It is a great pleasure to celebrate the contributions that our Canadian gardens make to our tourism offering for both Canadians and travelers from around the world.”
In the spirit of highlighting Canada’s most dynamic garden experiences, the Canadian Garden Council in consultation with a Canadian jury network, selected the 2014 recipients of the Garden Tourism Awards:
- Garden of the Year: Jardins de Métis/Reford Gardens in Quebec, sponsored by the Canadian Nursery Landscape Association.
- Botanical Garden of the Year: Devonian Botanic Garden in Alberta, sponsored by VIA Rail Canada.
- New Garden Experience of the Year: Charlottetown Tulip Festival in Prince Edward Island, sponsored by the Canadian Nursery Landscape Association.
- Garden Destination of the Year: Vancouver, BC, sponsored by: VIA Rail Canada.
- Festival of the Year: Stratford Garden Festival in Stratford, Ontario, sponsored by the Canadian Tourism Commission.
- Event of the Year: Butchart Gardens Fireworks and Summer Music Program in Victoria, British Columbia sponsored by: Canadian Tourism Commission.
- Destination Garden Centre of the Year: Greenland Garden Centre in Sherwood Park, Alberta, sponsored by the Horticulture Centre of the Pacific.
- Community of the Year: Pembroke in Ontario, sponsored by Communities in Bloom.
- Person of the Year: Gilles Vincent of Montréal Botanical Garden in Quebec, sponsored by Baxter Travel Media.
- Initiative of the Year: The Ecolodge, Tofino Botanical Gardens in British Columbia, sponsored by the Horticulture Centre of the Pacific.
- Promotion of the Year: Vancouver Island Garden Trail in British Columbia, sponsored by: Baxter Travel Media.
- Website of the Year: ICanGarden.com in Alberta.
- Journalist of the Year: Lorraine Flanigan in Ontario, sponsored by Enterprise Canada.
- Media of the Year: Garden Making Magazine in Ontario, sponsored by Enterprise Canada.
Garden Making writes about garden destinations on gardenmaking.com//gardens-to-visit as well as in the magazine.
The Canadian Garden Council is the national umbrella body for provincial and national garden organizations that champions the “garden experience sector.” The Council manages: Garden Days (www.gardendays.ca), Canada’s Garden Route (www.canadasgardenroute.ca), Garden Tourism Awards and Garden Tourism Conference (www.gardentourismconference.com).
