Park Maisonneuve

High above the city in the grounds that hosted the 1976 Summer Olympic Games, Park Maisonneuve is the site of Montreal’s wonderfully imaginative botanical garden. The diverse plants are grown in 30 themed gardens and 10 exhibition greenhouses, so a wide range of climates are represented. Outdoor gardens include the beautiful Japanese and Chinese gardens, as well as those devoted to alpine, aquatic, medicinal, shade, useful, and even toxic plants. The rose displays are stunning, and especially interesting is a garden devoted to those plants grown or used by First Nations peoples. Soaring greenhouses contain a tropical rain forest, ferns, orchids, bonsai and bromeliads. There is also an interesting Insectarium and huge arboretum on the grounds, as well as ponds supporting a variety of birds.