Hamilton “The Flower City!”

While Hamilton has historically been known as the “Steel City,” they might want to think about rebranding it as “The Flower City” as it seems every time I visit there is a flower show happening.

From chrysanthemums to orchids and from stinky flowers, in university greenhouses to wild flowers, in a historic cemetery, Hamilton has some strange, curious and even morbid flower gardens to explore. They even have a flower named “Arthur.”

Gotta love Mums

Most recently it was the “Mum” show (October 18 to 27, 2019), which has been happening since 1920. This year the mega exhibition included 200 different varieties and 75,000 chrysanthemums. The show takes place in the new Gage Park Tropical Greenhouse, with all the flowers grown in the greenhouses next door. The Greenhouse has a permanent tropical gardens that made me long for Calgary’s old Devonian Gardens.

The “Mum” show was spectacular. Don’t believe me? Photos don’t lie….

Orchids, Irises, Lilacs & Peonies

On a previous visit, my mom and her friend took me to the annual Orchid Society show at the Royal Botanical Gardens which has been happening for almost 40 years. Turns out the Orchid Society has greenhouse space at the Royal Botanical Gardens (RBC) that houses approximately 1,200 species and hybrids of orchids. The show happens every February and is a welcome bit of colour in the middle of a dreary winter.

Laking Garden

The Royal Botanical Gardens (RBG) is home to the Laking Garden which includes several world renowned collections. Katie Osborne Lilac Collection is one of the largest and most diverse in the world, while the RBG’s also boasts over 1,000 varieties with over 600 being the tall bearded class. It also has an extensive collection of peonies.

Largest In Canada

Did you know the RBG is largest botanical garden in Canada, a National Historic Site and part of the Niagara Escarpment World Biosphere Reserve? More of Canada’s wild plant species grow naturally here than any other protected area in the country. The trails are home to different habitats like marshes on western side of Lake Ontario, forests, meadows, exposed escarpment edges, creeks, and shorelines. The trails have observation platforms, opportunities for ice skating and bird watching and much more. Approximately 300 different bird species can be seen throughout the year.

RBG is located at the border of Hamilton and Burlington and hosts annual shows year-round.

Winter Exhibit (Jan-April)
Plant Faire (End of April)
Garden Music Nights (Jazz and Blues Wednesdays, Country and Roots Tuesdays, June to August)
Enchanted Garden (August Long weekend)
Great Pumpkin Trail (October)
Tea Festival (early November)
Fest-Of-Ales (Late November)
Holiday Traditions (November to early Jan)

Stinky Flowers

Hamilton is also home to “Arthur, Phoebe and Magnus” three corpse flowers in McMaster University’s Biology Greenhouse. The corpse flowers only bloom every couple of years and when they do they stink. Yes STINK! They smell like garbage, or rotting flesh and last for only about a day. The leaf can grow to be six meters high and can grow 10 cm in a day. Upon blooming not only do corpse flowers stink but they create heat pulses that result in the greenhouse temperature rising to 36 degrees Celsius. The flower is classified as threatened and is native to western Sumatra.

The McMaster Greenhouse is over 50 years old (funny I am a graduate of McMaster’s

Biology department and I don’t recall the greenhouse) and is home to bamboo, insect-eating cobra plants, a chocolate tree, a coffee tree, a palm tree, sugarcane, cycads, bananas and more! The public is welcome to view the collection, as well as the always changing plants for research.

Link: McMaster University Biology Greenhouse

Butterfly Garden

And then there is the Urquhart Butterfly Garden located on the banks of the Desjardin Canal in Centennial Park – a real hidden gem. The garden is the brainchild of local businesswoman Joanna Chapman, who in 1992 catalyzed the formation of a group known as the “Butterfly Coalition.” The garden is named after Frederick and Norah Urquhart who discovered the monarch butterfly migration route from Canada to Mexico.

The garden consists of six large raised beds, each approximately 75 × 35 feet, and the adjacent bank of the canal. All are planted with shrubs, perennials and annuals. The Butterfly Coalition also planted ten memorial apple trees in Centennial Park, just adjacent to the garden.

The garden provides a relaxing, natural environment where people of all ages can learn about the diversity of local butterfly species and enjoy their beauty.

Cemetery

The Hamilton Cemetery located near the Royal Botanical Gardens and Butterfly Garden is another fun place to explore. The cemetery is a very popular place for walkers as the superintendent has created charming flower beds using lots of native plants amongst the over 75,000 tombstones. Established in 1847, it is Canada’s oldest municipal cemetery.

Link: Fun Story “Chef turns in apron for gardening gloves”