The event highlighting Manitoba’s glorious gardens

Harrison Shin takes a closer look at the Gardens of Distinction in Winnipeg.

From Prairie plants to roses to lilacs and lilies, Winnipeg is home to many lush, vibrant and diverse gardens.

To highlight these tranquil sanctuaries, Nature Manitoba holds an annual fundraiser called the Gardens of Distinction tour. During this event, attendees take themselves on a self-guided tour of some of the city’s most gorgeous gardens, all while raising money for the non-profit organization.

Tim Evans, coordinator for the Gardens of Distinction tour, is the one who chooses which gardens are featured in the event. He admitted he’s quite picky about what makes the cut.

“It has to have an appeal to it. It has to be something that would be tour-worthy,” he said.

“So that’s where I get a little persnickety… It has to have a beauty to it.”

This year’s Gardens of Distinction event takes place on Saturday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., with 14 glorious gardens in south Winnipeg for Manitobans to enjoy.

Those taking part in the tour can take pictures, ask questions and discover new plants they may have never seen before.

Which gardens are involved

The 2025 Gardens of Distinction event includes several home gardens, as well as stops at FortWhyte Alive and Aurora Farm.

One of the gardens being featured belongs to Rita and Len Giesbrecht.

Rita said their garden has evolved over 35 years and features a rock bed with a pond, as well as irises, peonies, lilies, and more. She noted it takes a lot of work to keep the garden going.

“We work on it from spring to fall constantly,” she said.

“There’s weeding, moving, deadheading… It’s basically set up so that we have something blooming from the spring all the way through the fall.”

Other gardens on the tour are found at Aurora Farm, which has seven unique gardens with their own story and purpose. This includes a rose garden, a medicinal moon garden and a fireweed garden for culinary herbs and edible flowers.

“With Aurora Farm, I consider the entire property a garden,” said co-owner Louise May.

“So, it’s an ecosystem with a lot of different components to it.”

Those on the tour will also make a stop at FortWhyte Alive, where they will get to take in its solar pollinator garden, which includes colourful wildflowers and native Prairie plants.

Heather Skrypnyk, FortWhyte’s farm operations manager, said the garden began in 2018 with the goal of showcasing the native species that can be grown with solar panels around.

“The solar pollinator garden has a couple of things starting to bloom,” Skrypnyk said.

“It’s really active later in the summer, and in the fall, there’s lots of those classic Manitoba purple and yellow colours.”

These are just a few of the gardens featured in this year’s Gardens of Distinction tour, which still has tickets for purchase Saturday morning at FortWhyte Alive.

Why is the event important?

The Gardens of Distinction tour holds significance for its organizers, featured gardeners and plant lovers around the province.

According to Evans, the event gives people a chance to see amazing gardens that are produced in harsh environmental conditions.

“Not too many places in the world have got -40-degree weather in the wintertime and go up to 40 [degrees] in the summertime. We have a temperature range of 80 degrees unlike any other place in the world,” he said.

“If you can create a beautiful garden in Winnipeg, you can create a beautiful garden anywhere around the world.”

May said it’s an honour to be a part of the event and looks forward to getting feedback from those on the tour.

“This is my 20th year gardening here, so it’s a 20th anniversary garden,” she said.

“So, I really pushed myself to just go all out and do everything I always wanted to here. I love the gardens here. I’m very excited about the gardens.”

The love of gardening

When it comes to what people love about gardening, it’s different depending on who you ask.

For some it’s about being outside and connecting to the earth, while for Rita Giesbrecht, it helps her find calmness.

“I can get out there and I can start weeding, and you just don’t think about anything else,” she said. “You’re in the moment.”

Skrypnyk said she enjoys gardening because she gets to work with her hands and see the results of her work.

“When you come to a space like a garden and your task is weeding, at the end of the job, you can look back and it’s very obvious that you’ve made an impact. And so that can be really rewarding for people,” she said.

Tips for future gardeners

For those who are interested in gardening and its many benefits, May said it’s all about observing and enjoying. She added it’s also important not to come in with too many expectations or give up if things go wrong.

“Just take it one year at a time,” she said. “Every single year that I’ve been gardening, which is almost my entire life, has been a different gardening year. So, if [something] didn’t work one year, try it again next year.”

And who knows, if you start now, maybe you’ll be featured in a future Gardens of Distinction tour.