Montreal Gardens is a really magical spot in the mountains, on the Caribbean island of St Vincent. It is located at the top of the Mesopotamia Valley. The gardens were created by a local Vincentian, Douglas Brisbane. It was really interesting to see what, we’d think of as common house plants, in temperate parts of the world, used as outdoor ornamentals. In the photo below, Flamingo flower, Anthurium andraeanum and Ti, Cordyline fruticosa planed naturalistically in beds of coconut husks. Ti, is a sacred plant in parts of Australasia, Polynesian islands and Southeast Asia . This was my first time in the tropics in 2009. Seeing classic tropical garden plants like Heliconia rostrata, the lobster claw heliconia and Ficus pumila, creeping fig, will stay with me forever. I had always dreamt of visiting the tropics as these were the first plants I became interested in, around the age of 7 or 8.
In ‘Gardens of the Caribbean’ by Gill Collett and Patrick Bowe (1998), Montreal Gardens is described as being like “The Secret Gardens“. When I visited in 2009, it still very much had that special feeling. The garden had fallen into some neglect, during the 90’s, when it was being cared for, by just one dedicated gardener. Montreal Gardens, was then rejuvenated in the 2000’s by new owners. I believe that the garden is still owned by Timothy Vaughn, who began to restore Montreal Gardens with his gardener, Mr Jackson. Hopefully it will continue to be managed and maintained to the level a garden of this importance, to the Caribbean deserves. Tourism, is vital to the Vincentian economy and gardens, like Montreal Gardens. So, fingers-crossed, visitors will return to the Islands, now that the COVID -19, pandemic and the volcanic eruption, seem to be fading into some kind of normality for St Vincent and the Grenadines.
This is my last post on here, it has been wonderful to keep an online horticultural and plant diary for the best part of 10 years. Wardian Case will remain here as an online reference. So many adventures, travels, plants and people to look back on. But don’t worry, there is a new chapter starting; Lookout for the new website, which will be coming in the near future! I will post a link in the comments section, when the new website is ready.
My Wardian Case 