Montreal Botanical Garden

Established by Brother Marie-Victorin, Montréal Botanical Garden had religious and scientific vocation. It was a time when the wonders of nature were seen as a proof of God's existence - and at a time when there was a severe unemployment problem in Montreal, necessitating public works for unemployment relief. The plan for the garden, in 1936, was by Henry Teuscher (1891-1984), a horticulturalist. The layout is gardenesque with a numner of theme gardens: Alpine Garden, Chinese Garden, Japanese Garden, Rose Garden, Flowery Brook and First Nations Garden. There are 22,000 species and cultivars of plants from around the world. Opened in 1988, the Japanese Garden was designed by Ken Nakajima using serpentine rock with its distinictive green veins. It has a bonsai needle juniper that is over 370 years old.