Edward Dale and his young family arrived in Brampton from England In 1863. Edward struggled through hard economic times as a market gardener and hoped that Canada would provide a better life. He heard Peel Plain surrounding Brampton contained some of the richest farmland in Canada. During their first six years in Canada, the Dales rented land in Brampton and Edward . With Edward’s eldest son, Harry, working alongside him, Edward tried to start a market garden operation selling their vegetables door-to-door and until their business expanded well beyond Brampton. Dale vegetables were taken to the Toronto market by train. The Dales built their first greenhouse in 1869 when they purchased their first plot of land at the northeast corner of Main and Vodden streets and they expanded their vegetable production. In the 1870s, Harry developed an interest in roses and was experimenting with techniques that produced healthy roses uniform in size and colour. Edward retired in 1882 and Harry took over the business, focussing primarily on flowers. The Dale greenhouse complex expanded to 11 acres under glass across 20 greenhouses, and the company was renowned internationally for its Canada Rose. The Dale Estate nurseries played an instrumental role in the development of Brampton, establishing its reputation as "The Flower Town of Canada." The Dale Estate continued to prosper through the first half of the twentieth century and its numerous greenhouses and great chimney became iconic features of the local community. In the 1960s, the Dale Estate was sold and merged with another local grower, becoming the Calvert-Dale Estates. Gradually, production slowed and the firm closed its doors in 1980.
The Flower City Trail is a series of geocaches along Williams Parkway in Brampton, stretching from Mississauga Road in the west to Humberwest Parkway on the east side of the city. Thirty seven caches, all starting with "FCT" in their title, have been placed for you to find by the following group of Brampton cachers: DougyB, Chris Baker, K-Pom, magily, mrslmojo, The Robson Family. We wanted to bring you a fun series of caches that would delight you, perhaps challenge you, and give you some insights into what makes Brampton such a special place to live.
For more information on the official Brampton Flower City story, please click to see The City of Brampton Flower City Strategy and The Flower City Story.
We hope that you enjoy this series of caches, and we look forward to seeing your log entries.