2026 Gardening Season
Outdoor Photography Exhibition, 2026
Celebrating 100 Years of Homecoming at Queen’s University
We’ll host an outdoor, nature-based photography exhibition during the Homecoming celebration weekend, October 16–18, 2026. The exhibition will showcase 100 photographs taken over three gardening seasons: 2024, 2025, and 2026.
If anyone in our Queen’s community is interested in volunteering or having their photos displayed at this one-of-a-kind event, email us to learn more!
Flourishing Station
Stop by the community gardens behind Nicol Hall on Queen’s main campus and enjoy the new blooms at the Flourishing Station. Free flowers will also be available from time to time, including freshly picked blooms from Maha’s backyard gardens. There is also a small solar-powered water fountain that will run occasionally, weather permitting.
Free Flowers
Started today, June 11th, with more to come every now and then all season long!
Keep visiting the gardens and explore more spontaneous events.
Thank you to everyone who stopped by today. Enjoy your flowers!
Planting Day
What an incredible Planting Day, filled with fun, laughter, and tons of positive vibes!
Thank you to everyone who joined us. It was wonderful seeing you all and savouring some time planting, watering, learning and sharing gardening tips, and enjoying a light snack together.
Planting begins on June 6 from 2:00–4:00 p.m.
A Sneak Peek at This Season
2026
Flourishing Gardens, Flourishing People
1-Flourishing Station:
(a special corner in the garden area will be set up periodically throughout the season, inviting visitors to slow down, savour the moment, and explore nature and art while asking: What can we learn from a flourishing garden in order to flourish?)
2-New Plants and Flowers
3-Portable Gardens
4-The Art of Flower Bouquets & Arrangements
5-Traditional Flower Pressing
6-Flower Products and Art:
(e.g., we use flowers and herbs from our gardens to extract essential and infused oils using traditional equipment; make organic flower soaps, beeswax candles, and pressed flower greeting cards; and create large-scale collaborative pressed and dried flower art.)
7-Outdoor Photography Exhibition
8-Gardens 4 Joy Video Contest
9-Tea Time in the Garden Area
10-Research Handbook (coming this year)
2025 Gardening Season
Since 2024, when the Gardens 4 Joy team began piloting this initiative, and in collaboration with various departments at Queen’s university and passionate gardeners beyond Queen’s, they have hosted a range of both structured and spontaneous events in the gardens and indoors, delivering nature-based experiences through gardens and gardening. Examples of these events include planting, harvesting, savouring nature, creating flower bouquets, nurturing nature and protecting our planet, saving the bees, “Thank a Farmer Today,” and donating harvests to food banks, to name a few.
Starting in the current season (2025), they began advocating for Portable Gardens—promoting the idea that people can connect with nature and create and enjoy gardens at home or in the office, whether it’s a creative plant pot on a windowsill or a portable garden in a sunny office space that’s easy to manage.
They now also host a weekly event every Tuesday called Water. Connect. Harvest. This gathering invites the community to connect with nature, engage with others and share gardening tips, harvest and enjoy the vegetables, and capture the beauty of the flowers through photography.
We encourage you to visit the new gardens at Queen’s, located behind Nicole Hall, and see the small portable garden set up beside the three garden beds by the stairs, which the Gardens 4 Joy team is utilizing this season.