In 1945, Charlottetown businessman Robert Lawson Cotton (23 March 1881 - 22 August 1968) established the Cotton Memorial Trust. Through this trust, Cotton donated $100,000 and land in Bunbury, Prince Edward Island, to the provincial government for the purpose of building and operating a nursery. This nursery was to supply Islanders with a variety of shade trees, shurbs, vines, small fruits, perennial plants, and bulbs at a reasonable cost. The Cotton Memorial Trust was just one of Cotton's contributions to rural beautification which also included donating land for three provinical parks (Strathgartney, Brudenell, and Selkirk).

The seventeen acre nursery, which operated first under the Department of Industry and Natural Resources and later under the Department of Agriculture and Forestry, was known by many names over the years, including the Forest Nursery, the Cotton Memorial Nursery, the Robert L. Cotton Nursery for Rural Beautification, the Bunbury Nursery, and the Bunbury Nursery Garden Centre. The first manager was Robert Snazelle. The Bunbury Nursery soon developed a reputation throughout the Maritimes for the quality of its plants and its knowledgeable staff. When Mr. Snazelle retired as manager of the nursery, Keith Brehaut took over. He continued to run the nusery until his own retirement in 1996. The Bunbury Nursery closed shortly thereafter. On 2 June 1998, the Town of Stratford officially took ownership of the former Bunbury Nursery property from the provincial government. The site is now home to the Cotton Memorial Park.