Faerie House Appears in Hillsdale House Inn Garden

For many weeks now little 'Faerie Houses' have been appearing all over Annapolis Royal.

Check out the recent article in the Yarmouth Vanguard http://bit.ly/jxP9HL.

Well it was brought to our attention just a few hours ago that a Faerie House has now appeared in one of the front gardens of the Hillsdale House Inn.

We are certainly honoured to be one of the chosen locations and hope that along with it comes a little good luck!

Plant a Tree

Earlier this week we had the great pleasure of having a few of the children from Good Beginnings Day Care in Annapolis Royal come by to plant some trees on our property. They are participating in the "Adopt a Stream" program.

As you can see from the photos below they got their hands dirty and seemed to have as much fun finding worms as they did planting the trees.

We look forward to watching the trees grow and have invited the kids to come back to check on their trees any time.

Ghost Hunting, Goblets & Goblins

Ghost Hunting, Goblets & Goblins Package

While there are no known or reported encounters with ghosts at the Hillsdale House Inn, what better place to search for them than a 151 year old Historic Inn on Halloween weekend.

While visiting the Inn to conduct your own search we also want you to have the opportunity to take in GOBLETS & GOBLINS – A Bewitching Evening of Wine & Merriment in the Historic Gardens.

Your package will include:

• Overnight accommodation for two in a deluxe room


• Complimentary full hot breakfast


• Welcome gift


• Two tickets to attend “Goblets & Goblins” at the Historic Gardens on Friday, Oct. 29th

Package Price

$119.00 plus tax

[Add an extra night with room and breakfast for just $79.00 plus tax]

Advance reservations are required and can be made either by calling us directly at 902-532-2345 or by emailing us at reservations@hillsdalehouseinn.ca.

Our Butterfly Garden

On Saturday, June 6, 2009 we had 15 people attend our Butterfly Garden Workshop, and the best part of all is that in less than a couple hours our new garden was completed planted. We started out with presentations by Brennan Caverhill, a biologist with the Mersey Tobeatic Research Institute, followed by Gilberte Doelle, an organic farmer with Wild Rose Farm in Gilbert's Cove, NS.

The presenters shared a wealth of information with the group, including the importance and plight of butterflies, in particular the Monarch Butterfly, as well as how planting gardens like ours assists them in making their migrations. We also learned what types of plants butterflies will be drawn to, and how to properly locate your garden and position the plant materials within it.

Once the educating was completed it was time to put everyone to work and get their hands into the soil. Gilberte talked about different options for laying out the plants in the bed and then challenged members of the group to position the plants based on what they had heard. With the plants laid out to Gilberte's satisfaction, everyone started to actually put the plant's in the ground. Gilberte's preferred method is to just dig in with her bare hands. Several people followed her lead, but a few opted to take a small shovel in hand.

With the plants all in the ground Gilberte took a little time to talk about maintaining the garden, including things like composting and mulching, and most importantly the organic alternatives to fertilizing. Possibly the most important factor when putting in a butterfly garden is that a large area surrounding it must be pesticide free.

The finished product may not look like much at the moment, however Gilberte told us that given that we started with a great foundation bed with good soil and compost material we will be amazed at how quickly it will flourish. We look forward to watching the progress and will provide regular updates and photos throughout the summer.

We want to thank both our presenters and those who participated in the workshop. Hopefully they got as much joy out of being a part of setting up our garden as we have knowing that we are contributing to the future preservation of the Monarch Butterflies.

Butterfly Garden Workshop

Here at the Hillsdale House Inn we are creating a Butterfly Garden to assist in the cause to provide a protective environment for the “at risk” Monarch Butterfly. In doing so we have coordinated a workshop to take place on Saturday, June 6th from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. to give others the opportunity to learn why the establishment of these gardens is so important, as well as, what is required to set up a Butterfly Garden in your own yard.

In setting up the workshop we are partnering with the Mersey  Tobeatic Research Institute (MTRI) who oversee the Nova Scotia Species At Risk Program; Brennan Caverhill, MTRI Outreach Biologist; and Gilberte Doelle, owner of Wild Rose Organic farm in Gilbert’s Cove, Nova Scotia. Gilberte is a certified organic gardener who among many other things is growing plant materials that attract the Monarch butterfly.

If you are interested in more information about the workshop Click Here