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Calgary's Reader Rock Garden was one of a dozen places, persons and events to be given national historic designations this week. Located just south of the downtown core, the 1913-established park was created to showcase the horticultural, ecological and aesthetic possibilities of gardening in Western Canada and the harsh Calgary climate.
The Reader Rock Garden takes its name from William Roland Reader, Superintendent for Calgary Parks from 1913 to 1942, who transformed the steep hillside with a green space adopting the alpine rock traits of the Edwardian Arts and Crafts movement. Befitting of that particular typology, the garden preaches informality, featuring hard plant species, local sandstone features, and a system of rock paths, steps and walls.
Reader harmonized the principles of the City Beautiful movement, which promoted the link between civic aesthetics and social progress, and Thomas Mawson's garden city plan for Calgary. A pioneer in his own right, Reader's work demonstrated the potential of beautifying cities through greenery in an environment long considered hostile to agricultural and botanical visions. Reader also believed efforts to green the city would bring additional settlers to Calgary. He offered tours of the garden during his time inhabiting the superintendent's cottage, which was demolished in 1944, but rebuilt later as a cafe.
More than an example of civic pride and boosterism, the garden was a testing ground to study the suitability of Alberta's soils for a myriad of plant species. An undeniable success, the garden hosted over 3,500 botanical species at its peak.
Reader Rock Garden was named a Provincial Historic Resource in 2006 following an extensive restoration. The national designation comes at an auspicious time for the garden, which typically blooms from mid-March to mid-November.
