🇨🇦 The flowers of Canada
96 pages from Canada: its flowers, the things made with them and the places to see them, across 31 cities and regions.
Canada’s flowers and flowering plants reflect its huge range of climates, from Arctic tundra to temperate forests and rain-soaked coasts. Over 3,300 native vascular plant species grow here, joined by hundreds of established non-natives. The country is known for its wildflowers, forest blooms, and unique regional flora shaped by its varied landscapes.
- About 3,322 native vascular plant species grow in Canada.
- Over 830 non-native plant species are established outside gardens.
- Canada’s flora ranges from Arctic tundra to temperate rainforests.
- Nova Scotia has unique gypsum-adapted plants.
- Conservation lists track species at risk across the country.
The plant life of Canada
Canada’s plant life is shaped by its vast size and many different environments. Southern regions have warm, leafy forests, while the far north is covered in cold, treeless plains. The west coast supports lush rainforests, and there are also dry areas like deserts and badlands. This range of habitats allows a great diversity of flowering plants, with about 17,000 species of all kinds recorded. Around 3,300 vascular plants—those with specialized tissues for transporting water—are native to Canada, and more than 800 non-native species have become established as well.
From region to region in Canada
Flora changes dramatically across Canada’s regions. In the south, broadleaf forests support many woodland flowers. The Arctic north is home to hardy plants that survive freezing temperatures and short summers. The west coast’s temperate rainforests foster moisture-loving species, while dry central and western areas have tough, drought-resistant plants. Each region’s flowers reflect its climate and soil.
Flowers to know in Canada
Canada’s wildflowers and flowering trees are shaped by its varied landscapes. While the article does not list specific species, it notes the country’s rich diversity and the presence of both native and non-native flowering plants. Some regions, such as Nova Scotia, are known for unique local flora, like the gypsum flora, which grows on special mineral soils.
Threats and protection in Canada
Canada’s plant life faces threats from invasive species and habitat loss. Some native flowers and plants are at risk, and the country tracks these through official lists of species at risk. Conservation efforts include reserves and monitoring programs to protect rare and endangered flora.
Where this page comes from
The facts in this overview come from the Wikipedia article "Flora of Canada", written by its contributors and used under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence. Phool rewrote the text in its own words, with AI assistance, and compares every page with the article to make sure no passage is copied. It may be reused under the same CC BY-SA 4.0 licence with a link back.
Flower experiences in Canada
🇨🇦 Victoria · Mar to OctThe Butchart Gardens near VictoriaA worked-out limestone quarry on Vancouver Island that one family turned into a sunken garden of bedding and bulbs.
🇨🇦 Montreal · May to OctThe Montreal Botanical GardenOne of the world's large botanic gardens, with Chinese and Japanese gardens, a lilac collection and long rose beds.
🇨🇦 Ottawa · MayThe Canadian Tulip Festival in OttawaHundreds of thousands of tulips flower beside Dow's Lake each May, a tradition that began with a gift from the Dutch.Cities and regions of Canada
British Columbia 5Ottawa 4Vancouver 4Newfoundland and Labrador 3Ontario 3Edmonton 2Manitoba 2Montreal 2Nova Scotia 2Nunavut 2Quebec 2Toronto 2Victoria 2Beechwood National Military Cemetery 1Boissevain 1Brentwood Bay 1Commissioners Park 1Franktown 1Gatineau 1Hamilton 1Manitoulin Island 1Northwest Territories 1Notre Dame Island 1Parkland County 1Prince Edward Island 1Pulsatilla Pass 1Saskatchewan 1Shaughnessy 1Vancouver Island 1Writing-on-Stone Provincial Park 1Yukon 1
Echinacea
North American wildflower with a spiny cone and drooping petals
🇺🇸 United States and 2 more · Wildflower
Place
International Peace GardenJardin international de la paix
A vast flower garden on the border of Canada and the United States
Boissevain, 🇨🇦 Canada · Botanical garden
Place
UBC Botanical Garden
A living collection of temperate plants for research, education, and public enjoyment in Vancouver
Vancouver, 🇨🇦 Canada · Botanical garden
Trillium
Woodland wildflowers with three-petalled blooms and whorled bracts
🇺🇸 United States and 4 more · Wildflower
White trilliumTrillium grandiflorum
A woodland perennial with three-petalled white flowers in spring
🇨🇦 Canada and 1 more · Wildflower
Place
Floralies Internationales de Montréal
A major 1980 flower and garden exhibition held in Montreal, Canada
Montreal, 🇨🇦 Canada · Festival or show, May to Sep
Decoration
Canadian Tulip Festival
Ottawa’s annual celebration of tulips and friendship with the Netherlands
🇨🇦 Canada and 1 more · Parade or display, May
PipewortEriocaulon
Small wetland flowers found across tropical and temperate regions
🇦🇺 Australia and 4 more · Wildflower
Wisteria
Woody climbing vines with long, fragrant flower clusters
🇨🇳 China and 5 more · Garden flower
Beachhead irisIris setosa
A hardy iris with blue to violet flowers found across northern Asia and North America
🇯🇵 Japan and 4 more · Wildflower
White rose of YorkRosa × alba
A cold-hardy old garden rose with white or pink many-petalled blooms
🇸🇪 Sweden and 4 more · Flowering shrub
Sweet mock orangePhiladelphus coronarius
A fragrant white-flowered shrub from the Caucasus and Turkey, grown in gardens
🇹🇷 Turkey and 7 more · Flowering shrub
Pulsatilla
Spring-blooming wildflower with bell-shaped blooms and feathery seed heads
🇨🇦 Canada and 2 more · Wildflower
Dame's-violetHesperis matronalis
A tall, fragrant flower with purple, pink, or white blooms in spring
🇪🇸 Spain and 4 more · Wildflower
Soapweed yuccaYucca glauca
A hardy, spiky-leaved yucca of the central North American plains
🇨🇦 Canada and 2 more · Wildflower
Tufted evening-primroseOenothera cespitosa
A night-blooming white flower of dry western North America
🇨🇦 Canada and 2 more · Wildflower
Decoration
Tulip festival
Annual spring festivals celebrating tulips in bloom across the world
🇳🇱 Netherlands and 7 more · Parade or display
Decoration
carpet bedding
Giant plant sculptures made from thousands of bedding plants on steel frames
🇨🇦 Canada · Carpet or floor pattern
New England asterSymphyotrichum novae-angliae
A late-blooming purple wildflower of North American meadows and gardens
🇺🇸 United States and 2 more · Wildflower
Blue flagIris versicolor
A blue to purple wild iris of eastern North American wetlands
🇨🇦 Canada and 1 more · Wildflower
Small camasCamassia quamash
A blue-flowered wild bulb of western North America, valued for its edible bulbs
🇨🇦 Canada and 1 more · Wildflower
Crimsoneyed rosemallowHibiscus moscheutos
A large-flowered wetland hibiscus with a deep red eye
🇺🇸 United States and 3 more · Wildflower
Yellow lady's slipperCypripedium parviflorum
A wild North American orchid with a bright yellow pouch-shaped flower
🇨🇦 Canada and 2 more · Wildflower
Jack-in-the-pulpitArisaema triphyllum
A woodland plant with a hooded flower spike found in eastern North America
🇺🇸 United States and 1 more · Wildflower
Virginia spiderwortTradescantia virginiana
A clump-forming wildflower with blue, purple, pink, or white blooms
🇺🇸 United States and 2 more · Wildflower
Common milkweedAsclepias syriaca
Tall wildflower vital for monarch butterflies, with pink to purple fragrant blooms
🇺🇸 United States and 1 more · Wildflower
Showy lady's slipperCypripedium reginae
A rare pink and white wild orchid of northern North America
🇨🇦 Canada and 1 more · Wildflower
Pacific rhododendronRhododendron macrophyllum
Large-leaved pink-flowered rhododendron from the Pacific Coast
🇨🇦 Canada and 1 more · Wildflower
Red columbineAquilegia canadensis
A woodland wildflower with red and yellow nodding blooms from eastern North America
🇨🇦 Canada and 1 more · Wildflower
Place
Rose garden
A public garden devoted to growing and displaying many kinds of roses
L'Haÿ-les-Roses, 🇫🇷 France · Flower garden
Dotted hawthornCrataegus punctata
A thorny North American hawthorn with pale bark and colourful fruit
🇨🇦 Canada and 1 more · Wildflower
Place
High Park
A large urban park in Toronto with gardens, ravines and rare oak savannah
Toronto, 🇨🇦 Canada · Flower garden
Place
Butchart Gardens
A historic floral garden on Vancouver Island, Canada
Brentwood Bay, 🇨🇦 Canada · Flower garden
Place
Muttart Conservatory
Four glass pyramids housing global plant biomes in Edmonton
Edmonton, 🇨🇦 Canada · Botanical garden
Impatiens
A large genus of flowering herbs known for their explosive seed pods and colorful blooms
🇲🇬 Madagascar and 7 more · Herb or useful flower
Shrubby CinquefoilDasiphora fruticosa
A hardy yellow-flowered shrub found in cool northern regions
🇨🇳 China and 7 more · Flowering shrub
Place
University of Alberta Botanic Garden
Alberta's largest botanic garden, near Edmonton
Edmonton, 🇨🇦 Canada · Botanical garden, May to Sep
Garden cosmosCosmos bipinnatus
A tall annual with feathery leaves and pink, purple or white daisy-like flowers
🇲🇽 Mexico and 7 more · Wildflower
Wood lilyLilium philadelphicum
A red or orange wild lily native to North America’s prairies and forests
🇨🇦 Canada and 2 more · Wildflower
Decoration
Heraldic rose
A stylized five-petaled rose used as a symbol in coats of arms and badges
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 3 more · Art or design
Place
Abkhazi Garden
A one-acre garden in Victoria, British Columbia, created by Prince and Princess Abkhazi
Victoria, 🇨🇦 Canada · Botanical garden
Decoration
Hanami花見
The Japanese tradition of gathering to enjoy cherry blossoms in spring
🇯🇵 Japan and 7 more · Custom, Jan to May
Decoration
Floristry
The craft and trade of arranging and selling flowers
🇳🇱 Netherlands and 3 more · Arrangement
Pygmy waterlilyNymphaea tetragona
A small white waterlily found in calm waters across the northern hemisphere
🇨🇳 China and 7 more · Wildflower
Decoration
American Institute of Floral Designers
A professional association for floral designers in the US and Canada
🇺🇸 United States and 1 more · Arrangement
Trumpet creeperCampsis radicans
A woody climbing vine with orange trumpet-shaped flowers from eastern North America
🇺🇸 United States and 2 more · Wildflower
Hepatica
A woodland perennial with three-lobed leaves and early spring flowers
🇨🇳 China and 7 more · Wildflower
Stemless four-nerve daisyTetraneuris acaulis
A bright yellow daisy of North American prairies and mountains, growing close to the ground
🇺🇸 United States and 2 more · Wildflower
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Hanami: Unknown author, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Heraldic rose: Gliwi, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Rose garden: The original uploader was SUJIRENas at Lithuanian Wikipedia ., CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- carpet bedding: Jiaqian AirplaneFan, CC BY 3.0, source
- Abkhazi Garden: Grnpolk, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- University of Alberta Botanic Garden: Neil, CC BY 2.0, source
- Trillium: Ramin Nakisa, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Hepatica: Unknown author, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Red columbine: Ragesoss, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- New England aster: Andrew Sebastian, CC BY 4.0, source
- UBC Botanical Garden: Daderot, CC0, source
- Floristry: Joachimj, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Pygmy waterlily: Hooker, William; Salisbury, R. A.; Shury, D. N., Public domain, source
- Dotted hawthorn: Nadiatalent, Public domain, source
- High Park: Chensiyuan at English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Montreal Botanical Garden: GarrettRock at English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Butchart Gardens: Marcus, CC BY-SA 1.0, source
- Shrubby Cinquefoil: Ivar Leidus, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Wood lily: Mason Brock ( Masebrock ), Public domain, source
- Trumpet creeper: Miwasatoshi, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Stemless four-nerve daisy: No machine-readable author provided. Curtis Clark assumed (based on co, CC BY-SA 2.5, source
- Echinacea: Ulf Eliasson, CC BY 2.5, source
- International Peace Garden: Words in the Wind, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- White trillium: Paul Johnston, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Floralies Internationales de Montréal: PtitLutin (photograph); Roger Taillibert (architect), CC BY-SA 2.5, source
- Canadian Tulip Festival: Andrew Scheer, CC0, source
- Pipewort: Alpsdake, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Wisteria: 3268zauber, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Beachhead iris: Unknown author, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- White rose of York: A. Barra, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Sweet mock orange: No machine-readable author provided. Rainer Bielefeld assumed (based o, Public domain, source
- Pulsatilla: User:Stan Shebs, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Dame's-violet: AnRo0002, CC0, source
- Soapweed yucca: Nick, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Tufted evening-primrose: Stan Shebs, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Tulip festival: GoToVan, CC BY 2.0, source
- Garden cosmos: George Chernilevsky, CC BY 4.0, source
- Blue flag: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Small camas: William & Wilma Follette @ USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / USDA NRCS. 1992, Public domain, source
- Crimsoneyed rosemallow: Didier Descouens, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Yellow lady's slipper: Hardyplants at English Wikipedia, Public domain, source
- Jack-in-the-pulpit: IvoShandor, CC BY 2.5, source
- Virginia spiderwort: Daniel J. Layton, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Common milkweed: Ponor, CC BY 4.0, source
- Showy lady's slipper: Orchi, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Pacific rhododendron: Robert Dunning, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Muttart Conservatory: WinterE229 WinterforceMedia, Public domain, source
- Impatiens: Cj.samson, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Canada: Moxy, CC BY-SA 4.0, source