Kingston, Ontario prides itself on being Canada’s First Capital; the home to Canada’s oldest continuously operating open air Farmer’s Market; the only UNESCO World Heritage Site in Ontario (Kingston Fortifications); home of Canada’s First Botanical Garden (Queen’s University);and the home of Canada’s first Prime Minister. Kingston is also home to many beautiful gardens that serve as reminders of our past, present and future.

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			Churchill Park (685 Brock Street) Churchill Park, named after the former Prime Minister of England, Sir Winston Churchill, was developed in the very early 1960’s as a horticultural garden where residents could view rose gardens, annual trials, turf trials, native shrubs, trees and perennial beds. Due to obvious high maintenance costs over the years, the original intent of this special park has been lessened; however, what remains is a park with its many maintained formal and informal gardens which many people visit regularly either informally or as a special place for wedding photos.
			Walk At City Park - Hospice Kingston (corner of West St and Bagot St.) The Walk at City Park is a unique and inspiring landscape; a quiet place for beauty and a whimsical place for play. Water features attract children and the kid in all of us. Flowers for every season reflect the cycle of life. Through the laying of commemorative stones, the Walk celebrates people and the events that have touched our lives.
			Barriefield Rock Garden (corner of Highway 2 and Highway 15) The Barriefield Rock Garden is Kingston’s best-known reclamation garden, a green oasis once home to nothing more than bleak limestone, scrub and the litter of passing motorists. The Barriefield Rock Garden ranks among the city’s most memorable sites. The garden is like no other, combining breathtaking views of the lake, river, Fort and historic waterfront.
			Joseph Dominik Sensory Garden Ongwanada (191 Portsmouth Ave.) The garden, which is located at the Ongwanada Resource Centre, is fully accessible with sensory rich stimuli of smells, touches, tastes, movements and sights. In addition to Ongwanada clients who have a developmental disability, the garden is open to anyone who can benefit from this sensory experience.
			Paterson Memorial Rock Garden (63 Norman Rogers Drive) Kingston master horticulturalist Willie Paterson’s green thumb continues to create beauty, even though he passed away in October 1983. Rare plants from his garden were transplanted that fall to a rock garden in Rodden Park that he had been instrumental in helping the City create, opposite the City greenhouses. The Kingston Horticultural Society has undertaken the upgrading of the heritage rock gardens with the addition of gravel pathways and the naming of specimen plants.
			Cataraqui Cemetery Company (927 Purdy Mills Rd.) Since 1850, Cataraqui Cemetery Company has been recognizes as a cemetery of great natural beauty. Large flower gardens, along with birds and other wildlife, contribute to the park-like setting. The grounds are aesthetically pleasing with special touches such as spring daffodils and tulips, summer annual flower beds, and winter evergreen laden with snow. Art abounds throughout the cemetery in sculptures and other memorials created by gifted artists, many dating back to the mid 1800’s.