Think Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland was trippy? Go one up on Johnnie Depp and take the whole family on a walk into a mind-bending wonderland. The 2010 International Garden Festival, widely recognized as one of the leading contemporary garden events in the world, features cutting edge designs that are equal parts beautiful, thought-provoking and pure fun. Since the event debuted ten years ago, over 80 gardens have been presented, involving 200 designers from 15 countries. But numbers don't do justice to the pure freakiness of these outdoor environments that mix art, architecture, design and gardening in a mad mix of the senses.

The festival is held adjacent to the historic Reford Gardens on the north shore of the Gaspé peninsula, in itself a popular summer road trip destination. Created by Elsie Reford who decided, in the summer of 1926, to transform her fishing camp on the Métis River, today these original gardens are amazing in their own right. Try to time your visit to the festival between mid-June and mid-July, when the gardens' famous blue poppies–yes, blue–are at their peak.

Alexander Reford, Director of Les Jardins de Métis/Reford Gardens and great-grandson of Elsie, thinks one of the reasons this year's festival will be exceptional is because a large number of designers have been invited from a single city, Berlin, renowned as one of the greatest cultural capitals in the modern world.

When Reford describes the designs he predicts will be among the most popular this year, it's hard to believe he's describing gardens. Here are some of the main ingredients:

Ladders:
One design, called Tree Stands, is quite literally, a forest of ladders.

Books:
The Garden of Learning will use 25,000 books in a biodegradable installation that will naturally transform itself, over time, into a garden of mushrooms.

Barbed wire:
Reford describes the inevitably controversial Garden of Violence, featuring barbed wire, as "pushing the envelope."

A giant swing and motion activated seed spreader:
On the lighter side, there's a garden that features a 24-foot swing. As a rider moves back and forth on the swing, the movement activates a seed spreader. Reford describes it as "interaction in space." But it's also plain fun. "People are always fascinated by size. This swing is gargantuan!"

Hundreds of blue sticks:
Anyone who's been to the Festival before won't be disappointed. Back now on permanent display is the wildly popular Blue Stick Garden. Yup. Lots and lots of blue sticks. You really do have to see it to believe it.

Reford Gardens and the International Garden Festival are located just off picturesque Highway 132. Admission for adults: $16. Young adults (14 to 18 years): $8. Children (13 and under): free.