Image credit: Jardins de Métis After 25 years of journeying across Canada and England, the Blue Stick Garden, which was originally created in 2000 by CCxA’s founder, Claude Cormier, for the first edition of the International Garden Festival, has returned to the Jardins de Métis to be reborn as the Blue Stick Forest. The Blue Stick Garden is a pixelated metamorphosis of the garden’s famous Himalayan blue poppy. The rare poppy was carefully acclimatized and cultivated in Métis by garden founder Elsie Reford. Cormier’s installation now sits within a microforest made up of plant species from warmer climatic zones, which that encircle and permeate the array of 2,500 blue and orange sticks. This installation aims to juxtapose two temporalities: the annual blooming of the blue poppy, symbolized by the colour change of the sticks, and the life rhythms of forest ecosystems, which must adapt to climate change. The forest, inspired by the innovative planting methods developed by Japanese botanist Akira Miyawaki, is made up of 1,800 densely planted trees, shrubs, and perennials ready to amplify their symbiotic properties. In the plantings, native plant families are joined by species suited to future conditions, presenting a genealogical portrait of an emerging forest in Eastern Quebec. Assisted migration of these plant species also embodies the garden’s heightened resilience and optimism, underscoring a collective responsibility to act for an increasingly fragile environment. Located near Elsie Reford’s vegetable garden—Reford’s original site for horticultural exploration and experimentation—the Blue Stick Forest stands as a tribute to Cormier. It aims to celebrate his practice rooted in innovation, experimentation, learning, and “serious fun”—a playful approach defining all his work. The Blue Stick Forest invites visitors into a ritual of annual visits to witness the transformation of the installation into a new experimental garden, commemorating the passion, and patience of visionary pioneers who have shaped Jardins de Métis as well as advanced landscape architecture practice today. It also symbolizes the commitment of new generations towards the future. The installation will open to the public on June 21, 2025, which is also the opening day of the 26th edition of the International Garden Festival. The post Blue Stick Garden Reborn as Forest at Les Jardins de Métis appeared first on Canadian Architect.