Reford, in 1918, Estevan
Lodge has been painstaking
maintained and carefully
restored to its former
splendrour. Today it is home
to a museum and exhibition
rooms.
Beginning in 1926, at age
54, Elsie Reford began
creating her gardens. Guided
| by her intuition, her love of
nature and her remarkable
energyu, she shaped her
garden into a place of beauty
by adapting traditional
horticultural methods to the
site's topography. She
succeeded in making a garden
where the growing conditions
at first glance were less
| than ideal. Her success in
introducing new species -
such as the Himalayan blue
poppy - today the emblem of
Les Jardins de Métis - were
carefully recorded and are an
imporrtant moment in the
advancement of horticulture
in Canada.
Built and augmented over
| more than than thirty years,
Les Jardins de Métis were
opened to the public as a
tourist attraction in 1962.
The ambitious project of
Elsie Reford has been seen
more than than gfive million
visitors. Today it is the
source of insporration for
amateurs gardeners. The
|