Discover Grenada’s diverse Private Gardens
Options:
Morning visit – choice of two gardens:
Hyde Park Garden and one other garden from list A:
Sunnyside Garden, Smithy’s Garden, Palm Tree Garden, GemRose Eden Garden
Friday Mornings only- visit to the Tower and one other garden from List A:
Sunnyside Garden, Smithy’s Garden, Palm Tree Garden, GemRose Eden Garden
Tour 1. A taste of Spice and Palm Gardens
We start the day by visiting Gem Rose Eden and visit this garden in the company of owner Gemma Flemming, whose enthusiasm & love for her plants is truly infectious. This garden is steep but adequately landscaped with good paths & steps with hand rails. Then on to Lawrence Lambert’s Palm Tree Gardens, described as a ‘Botanical Garden at Laura, St David… Two acres of beautiful gardens with thousands of flowering trees and plants of many varieties, tortoises and turtles’ Last stop is De LaGrenade Industries to learn about the manufacturing of nutmeg jams jellies and liqueurs, and the use that the Governor General’s enterprise makes of all Grenada’s fruits and spices. A great chance to sample before buying gifts to take home. Don’t forget to try the romantic energy drink made from algae. 3.5hrs
Tour 2. Landscaped Gardens
Today we visit three lanscaped gardens, Sunnyside, Hyde Park Garden and The Tower.
John and Fay Miller own Hyde Park garden, which was laid out by the landscape designer Chris Baksh to optimise the wonderful views. Fay will share her passion for her garden with you and you will enjoy a cooling drink on the veranda with its panoramic views of St George’s and the south of the island. Sunnyside Garden is a breathtakingly beautiful garden, 5 acres in size, with coy ponds, an orchard and an excellent variety of palms, orchids, hibiscus, and bromeliads, many of which feature in Grenada’s RHS Chelsea displays. The Tower garden – owner Mrs Victoria Slinger ” or head gardener George will take you around this historic garden” and you will have drinks on the veranda afterwards. 3.5hrs
Tour 3. Breakfast with the birds at Smithy’s Garden followed by a flower arranging demonstration and a visit to Westerhall Estate for Rum tasting!!
You will depart early to go to Smithy’s Garden for a delicious Grenadian breakfast. Located just a mile from historic fort Frederick (1779-1791), this gently sloping garden is noted for its wild feel. The owner Anne and her daughter Claire are keen flower arrangers. Following a tour of the garden guests can enjoy a relaxed Caribbean breakfast on the veranda with owner Anne and will be entertained by the resident birds in the garden. After breakfast you will be treated to a flower demonstration by Anne who has been on Grenada’s flower arranging teams in Cincinnati and London, before continuing on to Westerhall Rum Distillery and Museum where you will learn about the growing of sugar-cane for the production of rum before being offered a selection of the Estate’s aged rums for sampling. 4.5hrs
Tour 4. Garden Estates
Leaving St George’s we head into Grenada’s lush interior up to 1900ft above sea level to the Grand Etang Rainforest. Over 300 acres of the rainforest is protected and managed by the National Parks and Forestry Departments and if you are lucky we may see the Mona Monkey which was brought to Grenada from Africa during the Slave Trade. – Next stop is Balthazar Estate, which has diversified, moving from traditional crops like sugar-cane, cocoa, nutmeg and bananas to the commercial production of cut flowers. Guests will see giant heliconias, musas and gingers and many more tropical plants. Balthazar is probably the largest and only real commercial grower on the island. Owner Denis Noel will explain about his development of ‘Nutmed’ spray, and the introduction of nutmeg to the island in 1843. The group departs travelling via the Eastern seaside town of Grenville, the second largest town in Grenada to have a delicious Lunch – Plantation lunch at Belmont Estate. – You will explore Belmont Estate. The estate produces and purchases organically grown cocoa used in the production of Grenada’s rich dark chocolate, After lunch there is time to walk around the estate and to learn about its many innovative projects which transform the organically produced cocoa beans into value added products, including the production of their own brand of Grenada chocolate. – Leaving Belmont we head to River Antoine Water Powered Rum Distillery, which is over 200 years old and see how white rum is produced in the traditional method and then return to St George’s after approximately 7.5 hrs
Tour 5. NEW – Botanists Walking/hiking tour
This Botanists tour is conducted by Dr Guido Marcelle who is the author of several publications including Caribbean Spice Island Plants (Oxford University Press). We depart the hotel at 9am, spending about 1.5hrs on Dr Marcelles 8 acre garden/farm which is part of an old spice estate. He is an expert on chemistry, pharmacology and botany. After the 1.5hr tour, guests have about 1.5hrs at LaSagesse beach with the option to have a swim and they can purchase refreshments from the restaurant or they can also look for migratory birds who frequent the surrounding mangroves. Walking boots, a change of shoes, optional swimming costume. Towel and insect repellent are recommended. A walking stick or rod is an asset. The estate land slopes, so this is more a hike than a “walk in the park”, but this tour promises to be a botanists delight – the uses, medicinal and chemical properties of all “weeds” and spices will be explained in detail to you – Dr Marcelle is referred to by the Ministry of Agriculture as well as the Police Forensic Unit and is known within the region for his expertise and humour!
We would be happy to arrange your garden tours of Grenada.
You can find more pictures here.
Book a Garden Holiday in Grenada in November – We work with UK tour operator Individual Holidays – your guide will be designer Suzanne Gaywood!
Click here for more information!
For pictures also check Smithy’s Garden’s Facebook Page.
- Hyde Park Garden -Fay shares her passionate enthusiasm for her garden with visitors
- Bay Gardens – This garden is an education in itself
- Smithy’s Garden – Anne shares her garden and Chelsea experiences with you.
- Balthazar Estate – Largest commercial garden and grower of giant heliconias
- Tower House Garden – Take a step back in time in this garden
- Rose Nurseries – Largest nursery – supplying unique garden plants
- Gemma’s Garden – A warm welcome awaits visitors to this hillside garden
- Sunny Side Garden – See the Jade Vine in flower and feel Xoya grass underfoot in this garden.
- Palm Tree Garden – two acres packed with wonderful flowers, foliage and trees!
Each Grenada garden is chosen for a specific highlight that they exhibit – lush and rambling jungle gardens contrasted with colourful, manicured, landscaped gardens!
Price dependant on number in your party and number of gardens visited.
Tour participants are advised to wear sensible hiking or walking shoes that have a grid bottom and NOT sandals or slippers on this garden tour.
The Garden Tours listed are a horticulturalist’s delight! Here’s what’s happening in Smithy’s Garden’s diary:
Early mornings and late afternoons are noisy with the calls of nesting birds, including beautiful humming birds, doves and the banana quits as well as the black parrot, the Ani. One green crested humming bird that lives in the garden was quite feisty yesterday – think I spoilt his dinner- he was displaying a brilliant green diamond of feathers on his forehead, then I got shown the side view and finally he gave up and flew away to the next bush. The spotted spider orchids are in full flower, as well as the Vandas. Just have to keep watering every day – takes 1.5hours minimum. Water is too precious to use a sprinkler system, we water each plant directly. Thank goodness we are still getting a good supply from the water authority. White Vandas are often brown from the sun and will soon stop blooming altogether. We continue to propagate white and pink ginger lily plants to fill spaces in the boundary hedge – following the plan to extend the flowering shrubs to the top end of the garden. The Rangoon creeper at the bottom entrance to the garden is in full flower and has started climbing over the new trellis. Have started using the compost formed from the mound of wood chips, which the tree felling last October produced. The new gates, which were installed at both entrances to the garden, seem to be keeping the plant thieves away. Thinking about adding yet another water feature to the garden – probably on the southern end – The new dendrobiums are responding well to the fertilizer, which the Orchid Circle brings in to Grenada.
Interested in reading more about Smithy’s Garden, click here to check out Smithy’s Garden blog at grenadagardenflorist.com.
PURE GRENADA, THE SPICE OF THE CARIBBEAN SETS SIGHTS ON 15TH CHELSEA FLOWER SHOW GOLD MEDAL
The GTA Supports Team Grenada’s 2019 Campaign
St. George’s, Grenada – 5th February, 2019 – The Grenada Chelsea Flower Show Team has set their sights on a 15th gold medal at the 2019 event confident that their design will once again amaze the judges. In strong support of the team’s effort, the Grenada Tourism Authority (GTA) and lead designer Mrs. Catherine John today signed an agreement cementing the GTA’s major sponsorship this year for the event held from May 21 – 25, 2019.
Following the signing of the agreement, GTA Chief Executive Officer Patricia Maher said, We are so proud of the efforts of the Grenada Team in producing excellent displays year after year and winning 14 gold medals to date. Not only do they depict our horticultural products to an international audience but they highlight to the world the fact that Pure Grenada is endowed with natural products such as Cinnamon, Coconut, Cocoa and Nutmeg.
In 2018, the team produced the gold medal awarded display, “’Grenada -The Road to Success’, a depiction of the island’s iconic historic symbol – the board bus, uniting Grenadians in the memory of travelling by open-sided bus to and from St George’s. Mrs. John and her team are looking forward to producing an equally intriguing display this year. She said, “ We always try to tell a story about Grenada’s beauty, history and rich culture. We are excited about the display this year.”
Also present for the signing of the agreement was GTA Chairman Mrs. Brenda Hood. She congratulated Team Grenada for their excellent work over the years and presented Mrs. John with a beautifully hand crafted nutmeg award for her years of service as the lead designer. She also mentioned the wonderful selection of garden tours available to visitors now who wish to explore the island’s natural beauty,
To top off the signing, GTA CEO Maher presented Mrs. John with a Tourism Ambassador’s pin, a token given to citizens who exemplify tourism excellence and represent Grenada, Carriacou and Petite Martinique.
The RHS Chelsea Flower Show is an unrivalled world stage and continues to play a prominent role in enticing visitors to Pure Grenada, the Spice of the Caribbean where they are free to wonder at our abundant natural beauty and exquisite gardens.
About Grenada
The tri-island destination of Grenada, Carriacou, and Petite Martinique is located in the eastern Caribbean just south of Barbados. Grenada is best known as the “Spice Island of the Caribbean” for its cinnamon and nutmeg production, but the lush destination draws visitors for so much more. The Pure Grenada experience beckons visitors to its 40 white sandy beaches such as the world famous Grand Anse Beach, 15 breathtaking waterfalls, 4 chocolate factories, 3 rum distilleries and more than 30 unforgettable dive sites, including the largest shipwreck in the Caribbean ‘Bianca C’ and the World’s First Underwater Sculpture Park. Grenada’s approach to hospitality is infused with a warm charm which is apparent from its luxury resorts to barefoot chic boutique hotels and villas. There are direct flights to Grenada’s Maurice Bishop International Airport from the US, Caribbean, Canada, UK and Germany making the island accessible to visitors from around the world that wish to experience Pure Grenada, the Spice of the Caribbean.
