Events 2026

Location: 3101 Lake Shore Blvd. W. M8V 3W8

9:10am Festivities begin at The Gatehouse (Healing Garden). Welcome and thank you to our Gardeners, Sponsors and Volunteers.

9:20am - 9:45am: Stay with us for our kick-off talk with Keynote Speaker, Frankie Flowers.

9:45am - 9:50am: Flower Toss: Join the fun as we all toss a flower to officially start the Tour!

The Healing Garden is also a registered garden on the Tour, open from 10am-4pm. The Gatehouse started its operations on June 20, 1998, and since then has helped thousands including children, youth, and adults who have experienced childhood sexual abuse. The Gatehouse Healing Garden and Labyrinth is a garden that provides an environment conducive to reflection, self care and healing.

Frank Ferragine AKA "Frankie Flowers" is arguably Canada's most popular and trusted gardening expert. He is known for his ability to combine practical gardening advice with humour, and loves to share his passion for everything outdoors with the world.

Frankie's garden advice has twice earned him Landscape Ontario's Garden Communicator of the Year, he has been named Toronto's Favourite Weather Personality 8 years consecutively (Toronto Sun Reader's Award) and his Disney inspired Tinker Bell Garden won 3 awards including public choice and best overall garden at Canada Blooms.

Frankie is a four-time best selling author, consultant, garden writer, social media strategist, philanthropist and probably his favourite role, a father of two boys, Gavin and Matheson! Frankie's family runs one of the largest combined greenhouse/garden centre operations in Ontario — Bradford Greenhouses.

Frankie believes that life should be fun and lives every day by the mantra "if you are green you are growing!"

Location 2: 3166 Lake Shore Blvd. W. at Kipling Ave.

Time: 10:00 am - 2:00 pm

The GARDENS Pod Project are community gardens/containers, distributed throughout various locations within the local neighbourhoods, growing harvestable food which is donated to local organizations and community members.

Volunteers will be on-site between 10:00am and 2:00pm. Stop by and learn how much can be grown in small urban spaces.

This location is close to the Opening Kick-off and The Importance of Monarchs.

Location: Daily Bread Food Bank - 191 New Toronto Street

Time: 10:00am - 4:00pm

Visitors are invited to enjoy two different gardens at the Daily Bread Food Bank all day, however, LEGS representatives will only be available to answer questions between 10:00 and Noon.

LEGS - Lakeshore Environmental Gardening Society. www.legsetobicoke.ca

a) At the south end of the property is a community allotment garden with private plots, herb gardens and an extensive orchard.

b) At the north end of the property, along New Toronto Street, is the "Pollinator Path" garden. We've been re-wilding this industrial green space since 2017! Come visit the "Pollinator Path", our native plant garden complete with all the flowers, shrubs and trees that appeal to our pollinators.

Location: 3500 Lake Shore Blvd West

Time: All Day

Kids activities and library fun for everyone. The GARDENS Pod Project for South Etobicoke continues at this location, with several pods and all kinds of kids' activities. They can plant their own veggie, make a window catcher, learn to identify seeds, and there are other fun surprises in store!

Later in the year, harvested food from the container Pods is donated to local organizations and community members.

Location:Long Branch Ave. & Park Blvd.

Time: All Day

Did you know that Long Branch has 4 officially designated Heritage Trees? Each Heritage Tree has an established tie into the history of this neighbourhood, with some that are even older than the founding of Canada.

Find out more at the Long Branch Neighbourhood Association's Heritage Tree booth. This is also where Big Red is located, dating from the time when the historic Long Branch Grove Resort was at the location.

Also, learn about the new City of Toronto's Tree of Distinction program.

Location: 22 Villa Rd

Time: All day

This garden explores the theme of “Water is Life”. It traces the journey of snowmelt and rainfall as it moves through roofs, roads, soil, and surrounding spaces to restore ground water and avoid sewers. Grounded in Indigenous respect for water as a living force, the garden invites observation of runoff, absorption, and the impact on habitat while highlighting small, intentional ways to protect homes, birds, and shared land. The space has been carefully nurtured into an orchard that reflects Métis culture, and is rich with medicinal and life-giving plantings.

Location: The Gatehouse, 3101 Lake Shore Blvd W

Time: All day

Did you know that Monarch butterflies are primary pollinators and migrate between Canada and Mexico, and back every year? Join Queen Monarca and Lord Danaus in learning about the relationship Monarch butterflies have with our eco system, cultural/spiritual connections, and why it is important to get them off of the endangered list.

Help us reseed areas for Monarchs to rest, eat and lay their eggs, by planting free seed paper in your gardens and on your patios.

All Ages & Educational. Presented by: CarrHunger Creative.

Location: 2 Twenty Eighth Street (back yard) - Long Branch

Time: All Day

Members of the Etobicoke Master Gardeners are providing a Gardening Advice Clinic to answer your questions, and will offer an Activity Discovery Zone for children to make a pine cone feeder. www.etobicokemastegardeners.ca

Location: Various locations around 40 Twenty Second street.

Time: 11:00am - 1:00pm

If the weather permits visitors may encounter Urban Sketchers drawing in several of the gardens. The Sketchers love to capture city and garden scenes and invite visitors to observe quietly as they work.

Urban Sketchers is a global community of artists who practice on-location drawing. They create beautiful, spontaneous representations of the places they visit, documenting the world around them through art.

If you're lucky and catch these wonderful artists at work you will have the chance to witness the participating gardens from a different perspective.

Location: 40 Twenty Second Street

Time: 1:00pm - 1:30pm

Urban Sketchers display their art at the "Throw Down" to view and discuss with themselves and share with visitors.

A "Throw Down" is a tradition among Urban Sketchers where artists gather to share their work created during the day. This is a fantastic opportunity to meet some of the artists and see a variety of their artistic interpretations of the gardens.

Location: NOTE: Outside of Tour Area - 52 Mulgrove Dr. near Burnhamthorpe Rd. & Hwy 427

Special Talks: 10:00am, 1:00pm and 3:00pm (20 min.)

This special native plant garden was at the centre of a legal ruling and the gardener won the Charter-right to grow a storm water infiltration garden on the city boulevard. Learn how this garden not only provides habitat for pollinators and wildlife, but reduces erosion and cleans polluted storm runoff before it enters Renforth and Etobicoke Creeks and finally Lake Ontario at Marie Curtis Park Beach - a natural solution to beach closures due to polluting run off.

Visitors to this garden will be able to see native prairie and woodland gardens too.