Museum Gardens

The Old-Time Gardens

"The gardens of our forefathers were models of neatness and order as well as pictures of beauty. The garden plot stood close by the house and was surrounded by a picket or board fence to keep out the poultry, pigs and other animals that would soon make havoc of the flower and vegetable beds, if accidentally allowed to enter. A path ran round the sides of the garden and one or two paths through the centre. One could not help wondering how our busy grandmothers found time to devote to such work, but their gardens were apparently their pride, and they spent a good deal of time working in them. It was the custom always to take visitors out and shew them through the garden before leaving…

In the spring of the year our grandmothers would bring out the boxes in which were stored the seeds collected the previous fall, each kind of seed being wrapped up in a separate parcel, some in folds of newspaper, some in pieces of brown bags, all carefully marked and pinned up or tied with a piece of string or tape."

The Dundas Museum offers opportunities for visitors to enjoy the fragrance, beauty and history of perennials, biennials, roses, bulbs and annuals available in Upper Canada in the nineteenth century. The cobblestone edged path gently winds its way, leading visitors from the front door of the Museum to the Doctor's Office. A garden bench, donated by the Knowles Bequest Fund invites you to linger. Come by and sit a while.

Heritage Gardens at the Museum - yours to enjoy!