The University of Alberta Botanic Garden (formerly the Devonian Botanic Garden) is

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

's largest

botanical garden A botanical garden or botanic gardenThe terms ''botanic'' and ''botanical'' and ''garden'' or ''gardens'' are used more-or-less interchangeably, although the word ''botanic'' is generally reserved for the earlier, more traditional gardens, an ...

. It was established in 1959 by the

University of Alberta The University of Alberta, also known as U of A or UAlberta, is a Public university, public research university located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It was founded in 1908 by Alexander Cameron Rutherford,"A Gentleman of Strathcona – Alexande ...

. It is located approximately west of the city of

Edmonton Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city ancho ...

, Alberta and north of the town of

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devo ...

, in

Parkland County Parkland County is a municipal district in central Alberta, Canada. Located west of Edmonton in Census Division No. 11, its municipal office, Parkland County Centre, is located north of the Town of Stony Plain on Highway 779. History ;2 ...

History

The garden was created in 1959 and established on donated land. The garden was originally designated the "Botanic Garden and Field Laboratory" of the department of botany at the U of A. In the 1970s, after the garden was severely damaged by floods, a donation from the Devonian Foundation, along with funds raised by the Friends of the Garden, helped to repair the damages, create a system of canals and ponds, construct a headquarters building, and purchase more land. In recognition of the donation, the name was changed to the Devonian Botanic Garden. The Friends of the Devonian Botanic Garden was founded in 1971 as a fundraising group to support the aims and objectives of the garden. In conjunction with an enhanced memorandum of understanding signed between the Aga Khan University and the

in 2009, the University of Alberta requested the

Aga Khan IV Shāh Karim al-Husayni (born 13 December 1936), known by the religious title Mawlānā Hazar Imam by his Ismaili followers and elsewhere as Aga Khan IV, is the 49th and current Imam of Nizari Ismailis, a denomination within Shia Islam. He ha ...

to develop an

Islamic garden An Islamic garden is generally an expressive estate of land that includes themes of water and shade. Their most identifiable architectural design reflects the ''charbagh'' (or ''chahār bāgh'') quadrilateral layout with four smaller gardens di ...

within the grounds. Planning the garden took nearly a decade and construction lasted 18 months. It was designed by the architectural firm Nelson Byrd Woltz Landscape Architects. The garden opened to the public in July 2018. Throughout the 2018 season, gardeners completed the planting of over 25,000 new perennials, trees, shrubs, and wetland plants, and add finishing touches on landscaping. The total cost of the Aga Khan Garden was $25 million. The garden is tagged as the "most northerly Islamic garden in the world". The botanical facility was renamed as the University of Alberta Botanic Garden in 2017. In September 2017, it invested $4.9 million to renovate its front entrance and parking lot.

Description

The gardens extend over 30 hectares (80 acres) of 12,000-year-old sand dune shoreline of pre-glacial Lake Edmonton, and include an additional 65 hA (160 acres) of natural areas. It is linked to the North Saskatchewan River via the Parkland County trail and will soon be linked to a 74 km Edmonton Capital Region river valley recreation trail system. Highlights of the garden include the Kurimoto Japanese Garden; a Tropical Showhouse with exotic butterflies; Temperate and Arid Showhouses; extensive alpine, herb, rose, peony, lilac, lily, and primula collections; Native Peoples Garden; trial beds, and much more. The Garden is open to visitors from May through Thanksgiving (Oct. 8), and year-round for adult and children's education programming. It contains a diverse variety of plants, with emphasis on cold-hardy plants that can survive the harsh extremes of a Zone 3 climate. As a unit of the Faculty of Agricultural, Life and Environmental Sciences, the garden is also a site for research, including plant conservation and diversity. A fully digitized herbarium contains a large collection of

bryophyte The Bryophyta s.l. are a proposed taxonomic division containing three groups of non-vascular land plants (embryophytes): the liverworts, hornworts and mosses. Bryophyta s.s. consists of the mosses only. They are characteristically limited in s ...

specimens that is used for research and teaching, as well as

horticultural Horticulture is the branch of agriculture that deals with the art, science, technology, and business of plant cultivation. It includes the cultivation of fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, herbs, sprouts, mushrooms, algae, flowers, seaweeds and no ...

plants grown at the garden. Every June, the

Edmonton Opera Edmonton Opera is a professional Canadian opera company in Edmonton, Alberta, which performs in the Northern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium with its Opera Centre located at 15230 128 Ave in northwest Edmonton. The Opera Centre is home to a box office, ...

company plays music in the park for one day during an event dubbed '' Opera al Fresco''. File:Japanese Garden Devonian Botanic Garden Edmonton Alberta Canada 22B.jpg, Bell in the Japanese Garden File:Japanese Garden Devonian Botanic Garden Edmonton Alberta Canada 15A.jpg, Viewing spot in the Japanese Garden File:Japanese Garden Devonian Botanic Garden Edmonton Alberta Canada 31A.jpg, Pond and bridge in the Japanese Garden File:UofADevonianCascade.jpg, A cascade in the Japanese Garden.

Awards

* 2013: Alberta Emerald Award, for its outdoor environmental education programs * 2014: Botanical Garden of the Year, awarded by the Canadian Garden Council.

References

External links

* {{Authority control 1959 establishments in Alberta Arboreta in Canada Japanese gardens in Canada Parks in Alberta Parkland County University of Alberta buildings University and college buildings completed in 1959

History

Description

Awards

See also

References

External links