Devonian Gardens

So Calgary has something here that every Canadian urban centre should be jealous of.
We saw this listed in a tourism guide at the hotel but didn’t think much of it. We stumbled on it during our wandering around and were very pleasantly surprised. It was a park in the middle of a mall. There were huge planters, living walls, koi pond a quite a few water features.
Despite being indoors everyone there was using it as if it were an outdoor park. Kids were playing on the jungle gym, people were sitting around the planters and under the trees eating lunch and everyone was enjoying watching the world go by.
Calgary has a great little gem here.

Devonian Gardens turned out to be very different from what I had expected. For starters, it is located in the mezzanine floor of a shopping mall. There are indoor plants beautifully decorated and a koi pond with fishes. There is a small play area for the kids as well, and several chairs and tables by the gardens. I even saw a couple of people working with their laptops!
Very impressive that these gardens are so well maintained throughout the year and that it is free to the public! A great way to spend an hour or so, walking by and admiring all the beautiful plants.

What do you get when you mix corporate Calgary with 10,000 shrubs, 1.5 million pounds of soil and trees? You get a tropical oasis within the Core Shopping Centre! Located on the top or fourth floor of the shopping centre beyond the food court resides The Devonian Gardens. It’s a park in a mall, its corporate meets nature, it’s cool and it’s beautiful! It features over 550 tropical palm trees of 18 different species, seating, a children’s playground, ponds, fountains, water features with fish, a meeting room and event spaces. It’s a fantastic location to bring a twist of nature to your corporate function, social event or wedding while maintaining a modern perspective. There are even drop-​in entertainment performances and educational programs for kids. Did I mention entrance is free?
For me the Devonian Gardens is the perfect temporary getaway from the busy hustle and bustle of downtown Calgary. I have the ability to work remotely with my role, somethings this translates to a quiet coffee shop, but what’s even better is taking my work to the Devonian Gardens. Unfortunately I can’t plug-​in at most nature spots, I wouldn’t find Wi-​Fi and I’d probably have the sun blaring in my face. At the Devonian Gardens I get to plug-​in, enjoy free Wi-​Fi, not be blinded by the sun and be amongst the nature in this indoor park! Also having a complete food court at my disposal and washrooms nearby doesn’t hurt! Another thing I absolutely love is when a professional is playing on the piano in the park. When you blend work with nature, water and classical music you get the perfect work environment. Honestly, it’s a must try spot for remote workers! There are a lot of children here as well which sometimes translates to a noisy environment though, if you know where to set-​up though you’re usually okay as they tend to stick to the playground areas.

This is a nice relaxing spot in the middle of downtown Calgary. I love the variety of tropical flowers, plants and trees. The goldfish pond at the end is a treat my kids never get tired of.
Devonian gardens is very well maintained by the Calgary Parks Service and is my choice spot for meeting out-​of-​town friends. It’s easy to grab some eats from the Core food court too.

Absolutely my favourite place in all of downtown Calgary.
The gardens are such a nice surprise find at the top of the CORE centre, and are beautifully maintained.
I happened to have some time to kill, so I spent a couple hours enjoying live classical music on the grand piano, the soft lighting (clearly for the plants, but I enjoyed the tone), and a book I had in my bag.
It’s clearly a favourite spot for adults and kids alike, and the lunch work crowd ebbs and flows over the lunch hour. Seating does fill up, but take your time to stroll around if you can’t find a seat right away.

So, I initially had written a review for the ‘new’ gardens back when it first opened. However, given how attached I was to the old garden, I felt I had been somewhat unfair last time. Because of this, I’ve decided to re-​write this review.
Since my last rant about this place, I have had more exposure to it (usually about 2 to 4 times a month). After much reflection on my previous visits, I have to say that it’s all in all OK. It’s not great, but it is (mostly) functional. There is considerably more room available to move about, and the ‘paths’ do flow better. They’ve also made an attempt for parents, and placed a couple of play areas for the kids near the entrance of the park as well.
That being said, there’s quite a few things that still irk me about this ‘indoor habitat’.
One, is that it lacks color variety. There is quite a bit of green and gold tones here, and while I understand it is designed to create a feeling of warmth and provide the plants with the required light they need, it can actually be a bit hard on the eyes. I get that this is supposed to be a more ‘modern’ design, but I personally think adding a bit of floral life would help to balance this out. I’m sure there are reasons this is being avoided though (my guess is that a handful of individuals complained about allergens, or that floral life would require too much upkeep).
Another issue is seating. I totally get that adding too many tables could cause ‘traffic’ issues, but there are some parts of this garden that completely lack adequate seating. Still, the garden is pretty much an extension of the food court at this point, so a few more spots to sit shouldn’t be too much of an issue for most.
And the final detail, which has caused me to give this place a 2 star rating is… People!
Yes, I’m very much aware that public spaces has very little control over who the visitors are, but a lot of the folks that go to this place are just overly inconsiderate of the other patrons. How so? Here’s a short list of what I’ve encountered:
–There are families that let their kids run around unattended outside of the play zone (and often screaming), or encourage them to put their hands in the ponds/​fountains (Fun Fact! The ponds have fish in them, and last time I checked, putting your hands in fish water isn’t the most sanitary thing to do).
–I’ve seen full grown adults throw their empty coffee cups and such in the fountain water or plant life.
–People still throw coins in the water as well, even though there are signs that specifically say not to (I seriously worry for the safety of those fish).
–There are those who feel the need to take thousands of pictures, all with the camera flash on. (I can say as a ‘hobby photographer’, you often don’t NEED to use the flash, especially with the amount of lighting available in the garden).
–Oh, and I should mention that they have a piano that everyone has access to play. This could go either way, as I’m sure you can imagine.
To put it simply, for a place that suggests quiet and relaxation in both their name an appearance, Devonian Garden completely lacks it. Either way, the garden is what it is, and people will do whatever they decide to do. So when I go (and it’s usually with friends wanting to go there), I just try to avoid peak hours when things are a little more tame.
And with all that being said, if you’re looking for a place to sit while you eat in TD, and the food court is full, try heading over to Devonian Gardens. Who knows, maybe you’ll like it more than I do =P
Be well, and much love!

I stumbled upon the gardens after a lunch in the food court. Although it lacks for a garden, I was impressed that it’s free, accessible, and somewhat of an oasis from the hustle and bustle within a mall. I saw familiar, seniors, and couples seated and enjoying the sound of the water or piano being played. Also great to say seat cushions on the chairs! Kids were loving the pond and watching the fish. A wedding party was taking their photos as well.
There aren’t many flowers to enjoy but certainly a quiet place while you enjoy a meal, good book, or conversation.

I had not been to the Devonian Gardens before and enjoyed simply walking around and looking at the plants, (there was no place to sit as it was packed).
However my friend remembers the walkways being narrower and there being more flowers…
I would have gone more often if parking wasn’t an issue… But I wouldn’t spend more than hour there as there isn’t that much to do or look at.

In its current state, the «new» Devonian gardens are pretty sterile. I’m sure that as they age the foliage will become more lush, but for now seems to be geared towards open space for events (actually quite useful) rather than a botanical garden. E.g. The lack of name plates on any plants prevents me from waxing Linnaen. Also, bring back the turtles! Koi just aren’t adorable. Visit if you happen to be in the mall, but if you make a trip specifically to see this, you’ll be disappointed.

You can’t take a bad photo in this place!

There’s nothing really wrong with this place, but it’s really just a garden inside of a mall. It’s a nice place to rest and eat lunch on your lunch break or after some shopping, but there’s no real reason to go out of your way to see it.

If I had never been here before, I’d say it’s nice but wouldn’t consider it a Calgary attraction. As someone who spent time in the gardens in its former state, including for a friend’s wedding, I think the upgrade is a disappointment. There is nothing intimate, romantic or exceptionally beautiful about it. Unfortunately, it just looks like a bunch of plants in a mall to me. However, it does make for a good venue for corporate functions and networking. That is the only saving grace.
Review 10 for Unilocal’s 30 Day Challenge — Nov 2012

I recently attended an evening event here and I liked it. I don’t really remember the old one but this definitely has a modern, up to date feel. I like how it is more open and not shut off by walls like it was before, although I find it makes the garden less humid which is a neat feature I remember from before. It is a unique space for an event and its also a nice spot to eat your lunch during the week if you work downtown.
It may not be grand and majestic but for a city where it snows virtually every month of the year, it is a pretty nice thing to have.

I hadn’t been to the «old» Devonian Gardens since I was in elementary school so I didn’t remember much of what they looked like. I do remember they were a lot more lush than the «new» Devonian Gardens.
While I really enjoyed the dark cement, and the living walls, there just wasn’t enough foliage to make a memorable impact for me.

I’ve been hearing a lot of grumbling downtown about the NEW Devonian Gardens, and how it «just isn’t the same» anymore.
Well, true, it definitely is not. But virtually all of the grumbling is coming from people who KNEW the old Gardens, so a direct comparison is automatically made.
If I disregard those memories, and view this new space in isolation… to me it is now a nice extension to the food court seating. A place to eat or meet with a little less bustle, while being surrounded by greenery, instead of people traffic and food vendors.
It no longer has the lush rainforest-​y downtown oasis vibe it once did. I’ll give you that. But I’m thankful we still have this, versus the 50 more retail outlets that it could have turned into.

Old Garden: A place where a kid could run around, look at the pretty flowers, threaten to push their siblings in the ponds, and terrorize the fishies.
New Garden: Kind of like what happens when a person loses half of their mind and starts running their business/​family out of a magazine.
Disappointed, especially when it was such a haven as a kid.
Much like a lot of places in Calgary, it’s changed a great deal since I lived there. Not for the better.

It’s pretty in here, but the name makes it seem much more majestic than it actually is. Right now, it’s pretty mall-​tastic, which I suppose is appropriate. The signage that tells people not to throw coins in to the Koi ponds needs to be much bigger, because I can still see coins in the pond.
Stop it! You are killing the fishies! :’(

I liked the old one better. The old one had lusher, denser garden setting, skating rink, super cool kids play area back then… Okay, it did need an upgrade, but it’s almost more tile flooring than garden area. No flowering plants… Just trees and ornamental greens.
And c’mon Calgarians… There’s a huge sign saying don’t toss in coins cuz it’ll kill the fish, and less than one week after reopening there’s a ton of coins in the pond. I thought you were better than this.
The play area is so-​so too… It’s meant for ages 5+ and really isn’t designed for toddlers at all, so they’re SOL.
The bouldering wall is okay, but the holds were a little small for kids, and some of them were already loose and unsafe, again, less than a week after reopening.

I loved Devonian as a child, and was looking forward to finally seeing the new and improved gardens after 4 long years.
Unfortunately, it was a disappointment.
Dont get me wrong, it has lots of light, and beautiful plants, but with the open concept comes the lack of cozy corners to get some quiet and read a book.
The new space reminds me of the landscaping in a courtyard of a new condo building… no personality at all, just neutral colours.
On the plus side was the amazing climbing wall and playground set up for the kids…
Would I go out of my way to have lunch here on a day off? Sadly, no.

Don’t get me wrong. The gardens are beautiful. Clean, spiffy, manicured, and sanitized. Maybe that’s the problem. It’s TOO clean. It’s too spiffy, too manicured, and too sanitized.
For me, going to the old gardens was like going to Pages on Kensington or the now-​defunct McNally’s bookstore. It’s homey, comfortable, and smells a lot like what it should smell like: musty (in the garden’s case, it smells/​feels humid and earthy). The newly reopened gardens, however, is akin to going to a brand-​new Chapters, where books smell like plastic and being there feels so oddly wrong — too distant, too commercial.
Maybe it just needs a little more usage; perhaps some wear and tear to get its old character back. Until then, it just looks and feels like a rich man’s garden inside a really big house.