The Quinte Botanical Gardens development - on time and on budget!
Quinte West, ON: Despite the drought, the Quinte Botanical Gardens project is on time and on budget. One of the most exciting tourist attractions to be developed in our area, owners Deanna Groves and John Riedl, of The Garden Place in Frankford, are making headlines across Canada with their six-acre site near Frankford. Announcements have hit the garden tourism industry, and lots of attention is being focused on Quinte West. For the first time ever, Quinte will be included on the Via Rail Garden Route for Canada as a garden tourism destination. “John and I are very happy and proud to have accomplished this for our region,” said Groves. “We are getting loads of support from the garden tourism industry and everyone is excited about adding us to their tours in 2017. People will be able to connect with nature, enjoy sharing their experiences, learn good eating habits, be outdoors, or quietly revel in peaceful surroundings.”
Recently, Quinte Botanical Gardens received wonderful news from the Canadian Garden Council. “On behalf of the Canadian Garden Council and the many gardens that we represent across the country, it is my pleasure to congratulate the Quinte Botanical Gardens team, led by yourself, for your passion, commitment and hard work to open a new garden in Quinte, Ontario. Building a garden takes a great deal of vision, hard work – and courage,” said Alexander Reford, President of the Canadian Garden Council. “Many of us in the world of garden tourism have the pleasure of managing a garden – but very few of us have ever faced the challenge of building one from scratch. You have our admiration for having brought this garden to life. We are also thrilled that you are adding to Ontario and Canada’s garden experience sector and doing so in a region that has many attractions but no gardens of this magnitude. In support of all your effort, I wish to confirm that we will include the Quinte Botanical Gardens on the Garden Attractions of Canada’s Garden Route for 2017.”
Garden Making Magazine, with readers from across Canada, is also supporting the Quinte Botanical Gardens. “A new botanical garden is coming to southeastern Ontario in spring 2017. Quinte Botanical Gardens is being developed at a six-acre site in Frankford, Ont., by Deanna Groves and John Reidl, who operate The Garden Place, a landscape design and installation business. After 10 years of planning, work started in spring 2016 with the formal ground-breaking to take place Aug. 31, 2016. The gardens are located an hour from Peterborough and Kingston and 15 minutes from the Canadian Forces base in Trenton. There are 41 businesses sponsoring portions of the gardens either with labour or materials, 15 volunteers and 9 tourism organizations involved. “
“We want to create gardens that are unique, educational, and memorable,” said owner John Riedl. “Botanical gardens act as a gateway to a region, creating more of a variety of things to see and do. The gardens will open with a spectacular 40,000 tulip display in spring of 2017, another first for Quinte West!” Strategically located ten minutes north of Trenton, halfway between highways 401 and the Trans Canada, the project is positioned to entice 36,000 visitors a year. The gardens will support other tourist attractions in the area by encouraging visitors coming from the south to continue heading north, and vice versa with lots of stores, hotels and service stations benefitting from this new attraction. More visitors will see places like Farmtown in Stirling, eat at restaurants in Belleville, experience fishing in Hastings, see our new Marina in Trenton, attend Applefest in Brighton, and visit wineries in Prince Edward County. All tourist attractions are invited to place brochures at the kiosk located at Quinte Botanical Gardens.
A June 2015 report from the Canadian Chamber of Commerce reveals Tourism is a larger industry then agriculture or the auto sector, contributing $88 billion to the Canadian economy and generating over 627,000 jobs. While other industries are suffering, tourism is still climbing. “Those are real numbers, we know how popular the gardens will be,” said owner Deanna Groves. “There is a lot of work to be done, and people are available to work, we just need to raise funds to cover all the costs. Businesses have realized how much exposure they will receive each year, so are gladly coming on board as sponsors, or donating materials or plants. A one-time sponsorship in exchange for permanent advertising is a great return on investment. The Quinte Botanical Gardens development is poised to make a real and lasting impact in our community”
Create jobs, help people, support businesses and place our region on the garden tourism map – that’s what the Quinte Botanical Gardens development is all about. Quinte Botanical Gardens is located at 664 Glen Ross Road, RR3, Frankford. To find out more about Quinte Botanical Gardens or The Garden Place you can reach Deanna or John at 613-398-0402 or check out their website at www.thegardenplace.ca
Click Here for Photos of the Sod Turning
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