RBG Centre

The year round focal point of Royal Botanical Gardens is RBG Centre. Here you will find both indoor and outdoor displays along with the administrative offices of the institution. Orient yourself to the property in Stedman Exploration Hall, stop by the Mediterranean Garden and explore a living wall in the Camilla and Peter Dalglish Atrium. Access Hendrie Park through an underground tunnel to continue your exploration of the plant world.

Click on the map above to learn more about each area.

Mediterranean Garden

Peak interest: December to April

RBG Centre is on the same latitude as Marseilles on the Mediterranean coast of France. Our Mediterranean Garden "under glass" brings together plants that have adapted to the world’s five Mediterranean climate zones: the Mediterranean Basin, Cape Province South Africa, south and southwest Australia, central Chile and southern California.

Though far apart, plants in each region have adapted in similar ways to the challenges posed by the hot, dry summers and cool, wet winters. Specimens are displayed on two landscaped levels, with cultivars of native and exotic plants grown in Mediterranean gardens around the world such as orange and lemons, bougainvillea, and jasmine. To survive the extreme conditions, many plants become have evolved to become dormant in the summer as a bulb, root or seed. Others have evolved adaptations including leathery, waxy, silvery or hairy, moisture-retaining leaves, or lose their leaves all together. When the rain begins, their flowers appear. Their bloom season is winter, just in time to provide a floral display indoors, when the outdoor weather is cold and snowy. The Mediterranean Garden is cool (not hot and humid), so when you visit you may want to keep your coat on.

Bulb Room

Peak interest: year round

The Bulb Room is home to rotating displays, which are seasonal or topical. From January to April the room brightens winter with a taste of spring. The winter display features a wide range of spring-flowering bulbs, both common and exotic, forced to bloom early in pots. Also featured are various spring-flowering shrubs and trees, such as forsythia and magnolia that are forced into bloom. The atmosphere of the house is that of a cool spring day, with its delightful colours and scents.

Following the spring bulbs is a display combining plants with gardening items from the gift shop. This display, which opens for the annual RBG Garden Show, demonstrates the use of garden ornaments.

Various topical displays such as ‘Using Colour’, ‘Wicked Plants’, or ‘Wet and Dry’ fill in through the year leading up to the beautiful holiday season show of poinsettias, cyclamen and other winter greens.

Indoor Garden Displays

Cactus and Succulents
Cacti are unusual and distinctive plants, which are adapted to extremely arid environments. To do so they have evolved a number of unique adaptations in order to survive these harsh climates. The most obvious of these is that cacti have developed spines instead of leaves, which allow less water to evaporate through transpiration. The spines also help with defending the cactus against water-seeking animals. Cacti often have a waxy coating on their stems to prevent water loss from their stems, a short growing season and long dormancy. Through evolution, many cactus have become thickened and formed water retentive tissue – in many cases assuming the optimal shape of a sphere or cylinder. By reducing its surface area, the plant is also protected against excessive sunlight. Perhaps the most interesting adaptation is that transpiration does not take place during the day at the same time as photosynthesis, significantly reducing water loss. Compare the similar adaptations between Euphorbia’s of the Old World and cacti of the New World and one can examine how plants use similar adaptive strategies of convergent evolution to solve problems of how to survive in extreme climates

Cacti belong to plant order Caryophyllales, which in an evolutionary sense means, believe it or not, they are related to beets, spinach, carnations, rhubarb and chickweed!



Orchid Collection Display Case
The orchid family is currently believed to be the second largest family of flowering plants known to science, Asteraceae being the first. The number of orchid species is thought to be four times larger than the number of mammal species. As a result, orchids have a cosmopolitan distribution, with the greater majority found in the tropics, mostly Asia, South America and Central America, but they are also found above the Arctic Circle, in southern Patagonia and even on Macquarie Island, close to Antarctica.

This collection focuses on orchids from the New World, those species native to North and South America, with other species and cultivars used to supplement the floral display. The orchid collection itself is housed in a large greenhouse in a staff-only area of RBG Centre. Plants in bloom are exhibited in a display case in the public wing of the Centre. Most of the orchid collection is not in bloom at any one time, so a large orchid collection is required to keep the small display case filled year-round.

Orchids are extremely desirable plants and, as a result, are over collected in the wild by unscrupulous plant collectors. The plants are then often smuggled out of their wild habitats to private collectors around the world. Orchids smuggled into Ontario are seized by Canada Customs and are impounded, quarantined and housed within our collection until the plants can be used as evidence during prosecution at trial.

The Orchid Society of Royal Botanical Gardens is very active in the care and development of this collection.



Stedman Exploration Hall
Designed to give the visitor a capsulated understanding of Royal Botanical Gardens, the Stedman Exploration Hall orients you to the site, giving you a behind the scenes look at the staff and ongoing projects, and introduces you to amazing plants. Watch a video about accessioning plants, guess the number of species in our natural lands or learn how a plant can clean the air in your home.

New, interesting and unusual plants are rotated through this space, giving visitors an opportunity to experience the biodiversity of the plant kingdom.

Camilla and Peter Dalglish Atrium

Opened in 2009, the Camilla and Peter Dalglish Atrium houses two living walls, each of which measures 6m wide and 3.5m hide, for a total area of approximately 42 sq. m. The Living Walls are a new technology using living plant systems to improve indoor air quality. Hooked into the ventilation system of the building, the living walls remove volatile organic compounds from the air. Conditioning the air substantially lowers energy costs of the building by reducing the need to inject new air into the building. Tropical plants such as Philodendron, Schefflera, Ficus elastica, and some Phalaenopsis orchids which are commonly used as indoor houseplants are stripped of their soil and planted in the hydroponic wall. The Living Walls get their water from the rooftop rainwater collection, a feature that contributes to the LEED certification of the building. The Living Walls were designed and installed by NEDLAW Living Walls of Breslau, Ontario.

Aldershot Escarpment Garden

Opened in 2010, the Aldershot Escarpment Garden allows visitors to experience the beauty and wonder of the Niagara Escarpment without putting on hiking boots. This sunken garden features a limestone waterfall surrounded by native trees and shrubs. The numerous financial contributions to this garden are recognized through a beautiful, 6 metre long steel and glass sculpture, created by Peel-based artist Alex Anagnostou. This sculpture includes numerous organic artifacts that have left fossil-like imprints in the glass, allowing you to discover something new every time you look.

The DeLuca family, owners of Aldershot Landscape Contractors, made a lead gift to this garden in memory of Joseph DeLuca, founder of the company.

Discovery Garden

Peak interest: May to November

Kids of all ages get ready to embark on a botanical adventure in our Discovery Garden. Located outdoors, this interactive garden is chock full of activity centres and exhibits that are guaranteed to tickle the senses and stimulate the minds of children.

Follow a winding path on a voyage of discovery through a leafy tunnel, past whimsical tree canopies, ancient fossils, scented herbs and gurgling waterfalls. A wetland containing fish and plants from Cootes Paradise features underwater viewing windows that allow you to see the world through the eyes of a fish.

Synchronous Phenological Indicator Garden

Peak Interest: May to June

This working garden was planted to support our Integrated Pest Management Program. Through their time of leafing out or flowering, these plants aid our pest control staff in pinpointing the most effective times to use particular pest control methods. For example, a specific plant's bloom time ("phenology") coincides (or is "synchronous") with the appearance or vulnerable stage of a particular pest.

Spicer Court

Peak interest: February to October

This sheltered, south-facing courtyard creates a microclimate where autumn lingers and spring arrives early. We've stretched the year by filling this courtyard with connoisseur's plants—from February's blooms of snowdrops (Galanthus), netted iris (Iris reticulata) and Christmas rose (Helleborus) to autumn crocus (Colchicum) in October and Crocus speciosus in November. This courtyard is also a "plant collector's garden" containing interesting and unusual plants, that can be viewed up close in the raised beds. Several plants in Spicer Court are used as phenology specimens and help us track climate change

Royal Court

Peak interest: May to October

This courtyard, created when the building was extended, includes plants chosen for their rich textures and colours. Visitors can look out for Japanese maples, which thrive in this microclimate. Moving water and a variety of aquatic displays form focal points in this garden.

Royal Court's is used as both a site for weddings and corporate functions but visitors are welcome when it is not in use.

Hinton Court

Behind a wrought iron fence as the entrance to RBG Centre, lies Hinton court. This shaded courtyard is popular spot for a midday break. The new water feature adds to the ambiance of this courtyard.

Phenology Garden

The newly expanded Phenology Garden will provide the opportunity to learn more about the science of phenology and the plants that are commonly used to track flowering time. The species chosen are part of the Plant Watch program, where citizen scientists can contribute phenological data.