The Butchart Gardens (Canada) and Lion Forest Garden (Suzhou) Art Exhibition opened on Oct. 27. With the theme of “Stone and Flower: A Tale of Two Gardens”, the exhibition juxtaposes the garden-making histories of the two gardens, creating a platform for East-West cultural dialogue.
The Lion Forest Garden is a masterpiece of Eastern literati gardens, known for rockeries made of Taihu Lake stones. The Butchart Gardens has grown from a reclaimed limestone quarry into a lush sanctuary of blooms, celebrated as a paragon of Western horticultural design.
In 2025, the Lion Forest Garden and the Butchart Gardens signed a joint statement on friendly cooperation, formally establishing a sister-garden relationship.
This year’s exhibition is hosted by the Suzhou Municipal Bureau of Gardens and Landscaping and the Foreign Affairs Office of the Suzhou Municipal People’s Government, and organized by the Lion Grove Garden Management Office and the Butchart Gardens in Victoria, Canada. It will run until November 15.
