Well, Road Trips Gardeners, it seems as though we’re in the forefront of a trend. Did you know that visiting a botanical or garden-themed attraction while on a trip is among the top 10 cultural activities undertaken by pleasure travelers in Canada, according to the Travel Activity and Motivation Study?

Here’s an easy way to join in all this Canadian garden tourism: climb board Canada Blooms and take the VIA Rail Garden Route (in operation from June 3, 2011, through September 5, 2011).

For 2011, it includes 19 feature gardens, 27 award-winning Communities in Bloom destinations and countless local garden attractions — from Victoria to Halifax. New feature gardens on the route are Ottawa’s Central Experimental Farm and the Annapolis Royal Historic Gardens in Nova Scotia.

Communities in Bloom is a Canadian non-profit organization committed to fostering civic pride, environmental responsibility and beautification through community involvement and the
challenge of a national program. For more information visit: .

Serving over four million passengers annually, in both official languages of Canada, VIA Rail operates 503 intercity, transcontinental and regional trains per week linking 450 communities across its 12,500-kilometer route network.

(Photo courtesy of Communities in Bloom)