Wander rural gardens and nurseries on the lakeshore

Gardeners don’t always have to use their hands, they can use their minds. In the Lakeshore, we garden for the curious of mind. Take a walk along the Saugeen Shore to learn over 2,000 native plants that are beloved by monarch butterflies. The trail with pod stations stretches from Southampton to MacGregor Point Provincial Park. Travel a little bit to the south to Kincardine, and perhaps after a good lunch, you’ll feed your mind with gardening resources at Ontario’s only solar-powered bookshop and nursery. A bit further south to Point Clark, and you’ll find Smeltzer’s Garden Centre, boasting a beautiful variety of trees, shrubs, perennials, hanging baskets, and more.

Interested in solar power and gardening? Seek out Canada’s only solar-powered non-fiction bookshop featuring gardening, nature, art, biography and travel books located in Kincardine. Open by chance or appointment, this neat little find specializes in unusual plants for the home and landscape with over 500 varieties of Hostas. They also have a good selection of ferns and grasses and select perennials for sun and shade.

Test your knowledge of large caliper trees when you visit Everest Trees, a locally owned and operated tree nursery in Port Elgin. Visit their retail garden centre and ask the knowledgeable staff about zone tolerant plant material and tree care before you head out to walk the rows of young trees.