Memorial University Botanical Garden

St. John's, Canada, Canada

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Memorial University Botanical Garden is Newfoundland and Labrador's premier botanical garden, located at 306 Mount Scio Road within Pippy Park in St. John's, on the north-west side of the road.

Founded in 1971 under Dr. Bernard Jackson's supervision and originally named Oxen Pond Botanic Park, the gardens opened to the public in 1977 and became a not-for-profit organization in 1994. The 110-acre property encloses Oxen Pond and includes 3.5 kilometers of nature trails through surrounding boreal forest where visitors frequently observe moose, snowshoe hare, ruffed grouse, common loons, black ducks, and various songbirds.

The main cultivated garden area features a greenhouse, an alpine house showcasing high-latitude plants, rock gardens, peat gardens, a heritage garden, and a demonstration vegetable garden, while the twinflower (Linnaea borealis) serves as the garden's official emblem. Operated by Memorial University of Newfoundland, the garden functions as an outdoor classroom for students and a research facility where staff engage in plant propagation, seed banking of native Newfoundland species, and habitat restoration for species at risk.

The garden is open seasonally from May through November with admission priced at $12 for adults, $30 for families, $9 for seniors and students, $6 for youth, and free for children under 5, and in December it transforms into a magical holiday destination with the Merry & Bright Holiday Light Festival running nightly from November 29 to December 22. Educational programs include guided tours, lectures, workshops, camps, and the Newfoundland Horticultural Society Spring Flower Show, while visitors can feed ducks at the pond, enjoy coffee or lunch at the café, and explore both cultivated displays and natural forest trails.