Ornamental Gardens at the Central Experimental Farm

The ornamental gardens at the Central Experimental Farm are hallowed grounds in terms of Canadian horticultural history. To get a better appreciation of this, you have to imagine yourself going back to 1886, when the Canadian government established the experimental farm. At the time, Canadians were looking for research-based solutions to add more colour to their gardens and brighter flowers, but more importantly, for more options to deal with winter. There was a need for plants that were more tolerant of cold, with a longer growing season, and varieties that produced more. So the central experimental farm was created, and Williams Saunders was appointed its first director. William Tyrrell Macoun (pronounced Mc-Cown rather than McCoon) was then hired as Canada’s first Dominion Horticulturalist. Within a few years, they had hired a research staff of 100 scientists.

Canadian horticultural history has been made on this farm. Of note:

Isabella Preston developed new varieties of flowers, shrubs, and crabapples. She became famous for the Preston series of lilacs, which can be found down the hill from the garden, and  Rosybloom crabapples, including the one you see beside us and in the north-east corner, as well as irises, and lilies. These two remaining crabapple trees are from the Rosybloom series developed by Isabella Preston. Rose-coloured flowers entirely cover the trees in May. Rosybloom crabapples also line Prince of Wales Drive, and you will see them flowering if you come by during the Tulip Festival in May. 

Macoun was a great advocate of having everyone enjoy a colourful garden at home that could be made possible with common plants. Many of the perennials and shrubs planted in the garden at that time were those that Macoun would have had in his garden. Nothing would have been exotic, instead, he focused on plants that were colourful and hardy.  Initial plantings in the garden included roses, lilacs, lilies, and crabapples that originated at the Farm. Sadly, not all of these exist in the garden today. 

Felicitas Swedja was another notable plant breeder at the Farm. She developed the Explorer series of roses and also developed hardy shrubs, including weigela and mockoranges. 

Today, the Ornamental Gardens display historic and new varieties of flowers and shrubs. Covering an area of approximately 3.2 hectares (8 acres), they are a favourite site for gardeners and visitors. The Farm, covering an area of about 1000 acres, is maintained by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) with a staff of 19 people, perhaps reflecting that there is no political will to maintain the farm. Rather, maintenance of the Ornamental Gardens falls heavily on the efforts of approximately 200 volunteers of the Friends of the Farm who work at the pleasure of AAFC.