Royal Botanical Gardens (Ontario) facts for kids

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**Royal Botanical Gardens**


Abbreviation	RBG
Type	Organizations based in Canada with royal patronage
Legal status	Active
Purpose	Advocate and public voice, educator and network
Headquarters	Burlington, Ontario, Canada
Region served	Burlington and Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
Official language	English, French

National Historic Site of Canada
Official name: Royal Botanical Gardens National Historic Site of Canada
Designated:	1 January 1994

The Royal Botanical Gardens (RBG) is a huge and beautiful place found in Burlington and Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. It's not just a garden; it also protects large natural areas, important historical sites, and special gardens. It's a popular spot for tourists visiting between Niagara Falls and Toronto.

RBG is a key place for learning about plants, protecting nature, and doing scientific research. A special law from 1941 helps guide its work. This law focuses on how people interact with nature and how to protect important lands near the western end of Lake Ontario. The Royal Botanical Gardens covers about 10 kilometers by 4 kilometers. It includes two large wetlands and landscapes shaped by glaciers, stretching from the lake up to the Niagara Escarpment. You can enter the gardens and natural areas through nine different public entrances.

In 2006, RBG was chosen by Environment and Climate Change Canada to be Canada's main contact for the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation (GSPC). This was done to support the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity.

The Royal Botanical Gardens owns about 980 hectares (2,700 acres) of nature sanctuary. Much of this land used to be part of the Dundas Marsh Game Preserve, created in 1927. Today, these areas have many important cultural and environmental titles. The site is known as a significant "plant biodiversity hotspot" for Canada. This means it has a very large number of wild plant species in one area. It's also an "Important Bird Area" and part of the Niagara Escarpment World Biosphere Reserve.

More than 1,100 kinds of plants grow here. This includes the Bashful Bulrush, which is found nowhere else in Canada. It also has the largest group of one of Canada's most endangered trees, the Red Mulberry. Both of these plants are listed as endangered in Canada. In 2008, RBG was named an Important Amphibian and Reptile Area. This was done by CARCNET, the Canadian Amphibian and Reptile Conservation Network. RBG also protects several endangered plants in its garden areas for education.

RBG is unique because it owns the land under Cootes Paradise and Grindstone Marsh. It also controls activities on the water, even though it's connected to Lake Ontario. This control was given to RBG in the late 1970s to help protect the environment. However, RBG cannot control the quality of water flowing into its wetlands.

History of the Gardens
How RBG is Funded
Fun Things to See and Do
Images for kids
See also

History of the Gardens

A plaque telling the story of T. B. McQuesten, who helped start the Royal Botanical Gardens.

The idea for the Royal Botanical Gardens started in the 1920s. Thomas McQuesten led the City of Hamilton Board of Park Management in this effort. At first, the plan was to build the botanical garden along the south shore of Cootes Paradise Marsh. This area surrounds the Hamilton campus of McMaster University. The garden would also help protect the large natural areas along the marsh.

In 1930, King George V gave official permission for the gardens to be called the "Royal Botanical Gardens." Around the same time, the City of Hamilton was working on a big project to make the nearby Burlington Heights more beautiful. This project included many gardens designed by a Toronto company. One of these was the Rock Garden. It was made by lining an old gravel pit with limestone from the Niagara Escarpment. In 1932, the Burlington Heights gardens and the south shore of Cootes Paradise were brought together to form the Royal Botanical Gardens.

The first idea for RBG was to have both beautiful garden displays and protected natural forests and wetlands. Dr. Norman Radforth became the first Director of RBG in 1947. He was also a Professor of Botany at McMaster University. In 1954, Leslie Laking became Director and served until 1981. Under his leadership, RBG grew into the important place it is today. In the 1960s, the gardens added more experts in plants and new programs. This included new staff like Dr. James Pringle and Curator Freek Vrugtman. Over the years, more protected lands were added to RBG, like the Berry Tract South property in 2015.

With about 1,100 hectares (2,700 acres) of land, the Royal Botanical Gardens is one of the largest places like it in North America. In 2006, a book called Love, sweat and soil: a history of Royal Botanical Gardens from 1930 to 1981 was published. Dr. Laking wrote this book.

How RBG is Funded

The Royal Botanical Gardens first received money from the City of Hamilton. Then, in the 1940s, the Province of Ontario started to help with funding. By the early 1980s, RBG needed to find more ways to support itself. This led to charging an admission fee for visitors to the cultivated garden areas. Members can enter for free.

The many nature trails, which are more than 20 kilometers (12 miles) long, are still free for everyone to use. These trails are easy to reach by walking or public transport. Money from memberships is very important for keeping the gardens open. As of 2006, about 40% of RBG's yearly budget comes from the Province of Ontario, the City of Hamilton, and the Region of Halton. The other 60% comes from things like admission fees, memberships, donations, summer camps, and other services.

More than 500 volunteers help RBG achieve its goals. Every year, these volunteers help raise thousands of dollars and give thousands of hours of their time. They work as tour guides, help at events, staff the Archives, and take care of the plant collections.

Fun Things to See and Do

The Royal Botanical Gardens has five main garden areas for visitors:

Hendrie Park
RBG Centre (which has the Mediterranean Garden, RBG's only indoor plant area)
The Arboretum
Laking Garden
The David Braley and Nancy Gordon Rock Garden

You can also explore major natural areas with trails through:

The valley of the lower Grindstone Creek
Rock Chapel
The north and south shores of Cootes Paradise
Princess Point

Some of RBG's trails on the Niagara Escarpment at Rock Chapel were part of the original Bruce Trail. In 2010, RBG worked with Geotrail to put its trail map online.

The natural lands of the Royal Botanical Gardens are home to some of Canada's most important wildlife and native plants. The largest area, called Cootes Paradise or Dundas Marsh, is a key place for native fish to lay their eggs in Lake Ontario. It's also one of the best places in Canada for bird-watching. A big project called 'Project Paradise' is working to restore this important wetland.

The Arboretum has one of the world's most varied collections of lilacs, called the Katie Osborne Lilac Collection. The "Lilac Dell" has 570 lilac plants of 407 different types. It's one of RBG's most popular attractions in late May. The Royal Botanical Gardens also hosts the Ontario Garden Show, which is the second-largest garden show in Canada.

RBG offers exciting educational programs at its main building in Burlington and at the Nature Interpretive Centre in the Arboretum. More than 18,000 schoolchildren visit these programs each year. There are also over 200 public classes on topics like drawing plants, cooking with organic foods, and basic plant science. Aldershot School even has an ECO Studies program with RBG.

Royal Botanical Gardens is a member of the American Public Gardens Association and Botanic Gardens Conservation International. It works hard locally, nationally, and internationally to protect different kinds of plants and make sure they are used in a way that helps them last.

RBG's properties also include Bayview Junction, which is a popular spot for people who enjoy watching trains.