Niagara Parks Botanical Gardens and Floral Clock

The Niagara Parks Botanical Gardens are one of the great free experiences of the Canadian side, and the best reason to drive the Niagara Parkway north rather than taking the highway. The gardens cover 99 acres on the parkway north of the Niagara Glen, and they exist because in 1936 Niagara Parks founded a School of Horticulture here to train professional gardeners; the students still help maintain the grounds, which explains why they are kept to such an exceptional standard. General admission is free, and the gardens are open year-round. The highlight in summer is the rose garden, with more than 2,400 roses, often described as one of the finest in North America, but there is much more: perennial and herb gardens, a parterre, a vegetable garden, an arboretum of specimen trees, and quiet lawns that invite a picnic. The Butterfly Conservatory sits on the same grounds. A few kilometres farther north, toward Queenston, is the Floral Clock, one of Niagara's most photographed sights: a working clock 40 feet across, whose face is planted with up to 16,000 carpet-bedding plants in a design that changes each year, and whose Westminster chimes ring every fifteen minutes from the stone tower behind it. The clock has been a parkway landmark since 1950, and a small photo collection of past designs can be seen when the tower door is open. In winter, the gardens are bare and the clock face is unplanted, so the visit is mostly about the conservatory and a quiet walk; from late spring to autumn, they are glorious. Guided garden tours are available for a small fee in season. For couples, garden lovers and anyone driving to Niagara-on-the-Lake, they are an essential stop.

The gardening tradition: Niagara Parks has gardened the river corridor since the late 19th century, and the School of Horticulture made that a profession; graduates have gone on to work in gardens across Canada. Walking the Botanical Gardens, you are looking at a teaching landscape, which is why labels and plant variety are so good, and why each section feels designed rather than merely planted. The rose garden peaks in June, the perennial borders in mid to late summer, and the arboretum colour in October.

How to visit: drive north on the Niagara Parkway from the falls, past the Whirlpool and the Niagara Glen; the gardens are on the river side, with Niagara Parks parking on site, which may carry a charge. In season, the WEGO bus serves the area. Allow an hour for the main gardens, more if you add the Butterfly Conservatory. Then continue north to the Floral Clock, which has its own small parking area beside the parkway, and on to Queenston Heights and Niagara-on-the-Lake. The paved recreational trail along the parkway makes the whole route a fine bike ride in summer.

Who it suits: garden lovers and photographers above all; couples on a scenic drive; and families who want a free, open space for children to run before or after the conservatory. In the depth of winter, there is less to see outdoors, and the Butterfly Conservatory is the main draw; in May through October, the gardens are one of the most rewarding free hours in the region.