Harriet Irving Botanical Gardens

The Harriet Irving Botanical Gardens consist of six acres divided into nine habitats in the Acadian Forest Region.^[12] The native plants are labelled with their botanical name and common name. The HIBG has three living specimens of endangered species that are protected under the Nova Scotia Endangered Species Act.^[13] The pink coreopsis (Coreopsis rosea), water-pennywort (Hydrocotyle umbellata), and thread-leaved sundew (Drosera filiformis) are each on display at the gardens.^[14] As visitors travel through the gardens, they pass through the Walled Garden, Experimental Garden, Medicinal Garden, Deciduous Woodland, Freshwater Inland Marsh, Bog, Coastal Headlands, Mixed Woodlands, Calcareous Woodlands, Wet Woodlands, Sand Barrens, Coniferous Woodland, and finish in the Conservatory, which leads to the KCIC. An article in the local paper, The Grapevine,^[15] gives descriptions of the events.

At the entrance of the gardens, tall iron gates lead into the Walled Garden. The plants are pruned to conform to the symmetrical aspects of the traditional English garden style. Ten-foot brick walls surround the garden on the west and south sides, creating a microclimate that provides an early spring. This garden has a picturesque landscape of the Acadian Forest Region.^[16]

Medicinal Garden is the only area of the garden that displays non-indigenous species in the Acadian Forest Region. However, many of these plants escaped from early homesteads. A white cedar hedge surrounds the garden, and two rows of linden trees create a pleached hedge along the pathway. Interpretive signs are displayed throughout the garden, explaining the early uses of the medicinal and food plants displayed.^[17]

An artificial bog has been created to demonstrate a mossy, peat-covered wetland. Pitcher plants can be witnessed growing in this area of the HIBG.^[18]

The centre provides a space to conduct studies in ecology and conservation.^[19] In the basement of the centre, the E.C Smith Herbarium can be found.

45°05′12″N 64°22′05″W / 45.0866°N 64.3681°W / 45.0866; -64.3681