Calendar of Bloom
Where in downtown Toronto can you see hundreds of roses in bloom throughout the summer, rare native wildflowers, a dell planted with colourful rhododendrons and azaleas and old-fashioned perennial borders?
All in one magnificent garden at Canada's most famous castle - Casa Loma!
The Casa Loma Gardens consist of over four acres of specialty garden areas on an escarpment overlooking downtown Toronto. The original grounds associated with Casa Loma had been taken over by the forces of nature after Sir Henry Pellatt was forced to leave his dream castle. In 1986, a joint venture between The Garden Club of Toronto, the Kiwanis Club of Casa Loma and the City of Toronto sought to renovate the grounds to their former glory. The $1.5 million dollar project resulted in breathtaking gardens like no other in the city. The gardens of Casa Loma are seasonal as it is very weather dependent.
JUNE
-
June is the month for roses: we have over 75 varieties of roses. Excellent collection of old fashioned roses, formal beds of floribunda types, Austin Roses; walk through the Rose Arbour into the Secret Garden covered with hardy climbing roses. Don’t miss the Casa Loma Rose on the Lower Terrace.
-
Lower Terrace: Perennial beds start their early summer bloom; delphiniums, iris, campanula, coral bells, late tulips.
-
Rhododendron Dell: Really at its glory during June; large leafed types in bloom as well as deciduous azaleas; flowering dogwoods, lilacs, mock-orange, spirea are all in bloom now.
-
Secret Garden: Peonies, scabiosa, salvia, deutzia, dianthus, geraniums, and, of course, roses in profusion.
-
Front Courtyard & Upper Terrace: Containers with annuals should be starting to fill in and showing lots of colour.
JULY
-
Rhododendron Dell: Mass plantings of astilbes bloom in succession all month long - feathery plumes create a sea of pink, white & red; paths edged with rare hostas and other shade loving plants.
-
Rest in the cool shade of the maples and enjoy the soothing sounds of the waterfall by our lily pond; pond edge hosts many marginal plants such as ligularia, iris, peltiphyllum, calla, and lobelia; also is the home of our resident turtle, Henry.
-
Lower Terrace: Perennial beds peak in late July/early August; daylilies, pholox, yarrow and many other hardy perennials create a tapestry of colour amongst fountains and formal annual beds.
-
Front Courtyard: Cut-leaf Japanese maples, masses of floribunda roses, colourful annuals in beds and containers.
AUGUST
-
Secret Garden & Lower Terrace: Late blooming perennials; coneflowers, asters, sedums, perennial hibiscus.
-
Front Courtyard, Secret Garden, Rhododendron Dell: Roses have a second flush of bloom with cooler night temperatures.
-
Woodland Walk: Ornamental grasses begin to flower.
-
Meadow Garden: Prairie and meadow species are fully developed.
SEPTEMBER
-
Secret Garden, Lower Terrace & containers: Fall mum display.
-
Secret Garden: Autumn colours in late September start with scorching reds (Burning bush), brilliant yellows (Katsura tree) and flaming orange of amur Maples.
-
Lower Terrace: beds liven up with hydrangeas, ornamental grasses, boltonia, fall asters.
-
Rhododendron Dell: showing fall colours of many rare native trees and shrubs.
-
Front Courtyard: roses and annual beds are in their final glory before the first frost.
OCTOBER
-
Woodland Walk: muted autumn light shows off browns, golds and silver of ornamental grasses.
-
Displays of ornamental cabbages with chrysanthemums.
-
East Stair: reds and bronzes of oaks and sumacs.
For further information on the Casa Loma Gardens, please contact us directly at (416) 923-1171.
1 Austin Terrace, Toronto, ON, M5R 1X8
Casa Loma is located at the intersection of Spadina and Davenport Roads.