Victoria Day Tea Party 2024

Halifax Competing for Most Biodiverse City

Global’s Eilish Bonang sits down with Friends of the Public Gardens chair, Judith Cabrita, to talk about the upcoming nature challenge which has cities across the world vying for the title of ‘Most Biodiverse’ through the iNaturalist app. April 2023.

globalnews.ca/video/9654931/halifax-competing-for-most-biodiverse-city/

Oak tree planted in honour of the
Coronation of King Charles III

Halifax Public Gardens ceremony honours
Queen Elizabeth

Dozens gathered at the event Saturday morning, organized by the local branch of the Monarchist League of Canada and the Friends of the Public Gardens.

The Platinum Jubilee celebrated Queen Elizabeth's 70th anniversary on the throne. Celebrations were held around the world in 2022. The Halifax ceremony was scheduled before the Queen's death on Thursday, September 8, 2022.

The "Plant a Tree for the Jubilee" initiative in the United Kingdom inspired the initiative.

Diana Returned

Diana is once again enjoying her commanding view of the Gardens. Her sister statue Ceres has returned also, and Flora was restored and returned in the Spring of 2022.

Annual General Meeting — Tuesday, May 31, 2022

Paint the Gardens’ Trees
Wednesday, September 14, 2022
9:00am - 5:00pm

In late July, many of the beautiful, priceless trees in the Public Gardens were attacked and seriously damaged. Since then, the general public has offered good wishes, prayers, and donations as we await word on how the trees are healing.

Now, The Friends of the Public Gardens invite artists to celebrate the trees by participating in a Paint the Gardens’ Trees day.

Information and Guidelines for Artists (PDF).

Halifax Public Gardens Holiday Light Display
6 pm - 9 pm every night of the week
until January 1, 2022

Click here for Advent Calendar

Pose As Diana Contest — 2020

Our contest ran from July 18th until September 15th. One winner was chosen bi-weekly for 8 weeks.

Our judges selected the 'best' Diana photo submitted during each period. Winning photos were posted on our website and Facebook page. The winners received a $35 gift certificate from either Bookmark on Spring Garden Road, or Carrefour Atlantic Emporium in Historic Properties Market Mall on Upper Water Street.

Check out the photos in the live statue and gallery sections!

Winning Diana Poses

Pose as Diana Winners

Board Members Pose as the Goddess Diana

Life Statues in the Gardens — 2020

Live Statues

Victoria Day Tea Party — 2019

Red Spruce Mould Making — 2019

Text–A–Tree Project - July 7 - August 31, 2019

The results of the Text-A-Tree Project are in and available to the public! These are the results of the first round of analyses from the project this summer. Julietta Sorrensen Kass was floored by the response rate, but also by the depth of emotions shared with our trees. Grab a hot cup of comfort and browse through everything they have learned. It is posted on halifaxtreeproject.com/textatree or click here for a pdf: Text-A-Tree Final Report.pdf

For more information visit the Text-A-Tree website.
Article in The Star: Text-A-Tree

CTV Interview: Julietta Sorrensen Kass

Dedication of Queen Elizabeth II Walkway September 9th, 2018

DEDICATION OF THE QUEEN ELIZABETH II WALKWAY on Sunday, September 9, 2018.
The Monarchist League of Canada, Halifax and South West Nova Scotia Branch, Halifax Regional Municipality and The Friends of The Public Gardens hosted a reception following
the dedication. Honoured guests included: His Honour The Honourable Arthur J. LeBlanc, Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia; Her Honour, Mrs. Patsy LeBlanc; Andy Fillmore,
Member of Parliament for Halifax and Deputy Mayor Waye Mason for the Halifax Regional Municipality.

Royal walkway

The paths around the Diamond Jubilee Fountain have now officially been named in honor of the current Queen the Queen Elizabeth II Walkway. You can follow the dedication ceremony which took place on Sunday, September 9 at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Hm0MFWBTX0

Nocturne

Nocturne in the Gardens this year focuses on music in Juan Plaza and art in Horticultural Hall.  With the plaza, patio, and pathway to the Bandstand glowing in twinkling lights, visitors can enjoy musical refrains by local pianists on the Plaza (yes, this is the piano we brought in this Summer, and many have played on it all season long), meet local artists in Horticultural Hall and view original art painted in the Gardens. While access to the Gardens-at-Night is limited, people can stroll to the Golden Jubilee Bandstand (1887) and enjoy its unique architecture. 6 PM to Midnight. Gallery: 6 PM to 10:30 PM

Student interns

This summer, for the first time, we had 3 student interns. They had various tasks, going from the new inventory of trees to welcoming tourists at the desk, or making sure activities were properly advertised, or having surveys filled for our information. This proved extremely valuable and we plan to use the resources of the Canada Summer Jobs program again.    

The inventory of trees was necessary to help us produce a new map. The current one includes some trees that have been changed, does not show some which were planted since it was printed, and so we need to offer our visitors a more accurate list of the close to 200 kinds of trees they can find in our Gardens. You may notice that many have plaques now helping to identify them more easily, a task for which one summer intern in particular was very helpful.

American agave top attraction

Needless to say, most people who came into the Gardens this summer had eyes first for the unique Century Plant, our American agave, which bloomed for the first and last time of its life between April and October – yellow flowers came out in August and were feverishly expected by all visitors. Agaves bloom only once in their lifetime, a process lasting several months, after which the mother plant dies. The cycle can take 40 years before it happens; our own star initiated the process after spending many years in the Gardens, between the greenhouse and the desert plant section.

New Director of HRM Parks and Recreation

We welcome a new HRM Director of Parks and Recreation, Denise Schofield, and look forward to meeting her and working with her as of October 1st. Brad Anguish, who was the former Director, has now moved to the Transportation and Public Works portfolio. We wish him the best…

Dahlia days

Among the many activities involving beautiful flowers blooming over the summer in the gardens, making it a continuous daze of color, Dahlia Days is a regular activity associating the Gardens and the Dahlia Society of Nova Scotia. This year again, we had the pleasure of having Neville MacKay, author of Neville on the Level,  prepare and give away flower arrangements  to close those two days on August 30, 2018.

Poets and writers always welcome

Did you know there was a line by Emily Dickinson on a plaque at the foot of a tree in the Gardens? No? Well, it is in part because you would have to crawl to see it. This summer the annual poetry reading organized by Janet Brush took place inside Horticultural Hall, July 26.

The Agave Americana in the Gardens — 2018

Thanks to Global News for a wonderful article and for providing this week's 'agave update'. The stalks on the ends of the branches bloomed in mid-July.

Visitors, both locals and tourists, kept the area buzzing with conversation and lots of picture taking.

The Halifax Public Gardens has been home to this Agave plant for more than two decades. Agave plants flower only once in their approximately 25-year life cycle.

Global News Report by Alexa MacLean
Report and Video - globalnews.ca/news