Dr. James Brander was born in Northport, Nova Scotia in 1879 and graduated from Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario with an M.D. in 1906. He specialised in pediatrics and continued his studies with postgraduate work in gynecology at hospitals in London, England and Belfast, Northern Ireland.
View of the Silver Heights Peony Gardens near Edmonton, 1930. (Image courtesy of Provincial Archives of Alberta, #A11711)
Dr. James Brander and children, Silver Heights Peony Garden. Date unknown. (Image courtesy of Provincial Archives of Alberta, #B6794)
A modern day view of the peony garden in Fort Edmonton Park. Date unknown. (Image courtesy of Fort Edmonton Park)
An aerial view of the Bonnie Doon neighbourhood. 1957. (Image courtesy of City of Edmonton Archives, 9-25593)
École Brander Gardens School is located southwest Edmonton. Date unknown. (Image courtesy of Edmonton Public Schools)
On his return to Canada, he married Mary Purdy from Kingston in Calgary and set up his first practice in Ponoka, Alberta. Then, in 1911, Dr. Brander moved to Edmonton and opened a clinic on Whyte Avenue. Several reports indicate that throughout his career, Dr. Brander assisted in the births of more than 3,000 babies in Edmonton. He was also known for being keenly interested in the lives of his many immigrant patients and their families. He quickly developed the ability to communicate with them in both German and Ukrainian.
Shortly after moving to Edmonton, Dr. Brander bought 54 house lots as a real estate investment in the area around 84 Street and 93 Avenue, on what would become the Silver Heights neighbourhood. But, by 1914, land values had crashed, and he was unable to find buyers for these properties.
By 1920, the land was still unoccupied. In the meantime, Dr. Brander’s widowed father, George Brander, had left Nova Scotia to join his son in Edmonton. George suggested to his son that if the land could not be sold it should at least be used “to grow something useful.” James shared his father’s interest in botany and they decided to use the property to grow flowers and market them.
Both men were very interested in the peony, which, despite what they had been told by experts, was thriving in their own garden in Bonnie Doon. Supposedly, the peony was too exotic and delicate a flower to survive in the frigid north. The Branders, however, felt the Edmonton soil and climatic conditions were well suited to this beautiful flower, and with the help of landscape engineer Horace Seymour and head gardener J.H. Frengen, the Silver Heights Peony Farm had begun.
The Branders ordered the vast majority of the peony roots from Holland. Cost for the different varieties ranged from 15 cents to several hundred dollars per plant. They planted all eight of the basic peony plants as well as nearly all of the varieties. At its peak, the garden contained more than 17,000 plants with an estimated 350,000 blooms. Almost from the beginning the peony business was a commercial success. As one long-time resident recalled, “You could even buy Brander’s peonies at Woodwards!”
As an amateur but skilled horticulturist, Dr. Brander developed the technology to cut the peonies in the “bulging bud stage” and then put them in cold storage. In this way, the company was able to supply peonies for hospitals, churches, funeral homes and weddings long after the blooming season was over.
Unfortunately, a peony farm is not a sustainable business in a world at war. After World War II, the booming economy in Edmonton created a huge demand for property. The discovery of oil at Leduc Number 1 brought thousands of prospective workers to the city, and the views of Edmonton and the North Saskatchewan river valley from the south side made land in the area surrounding the garden highly sought after.
As a result in 1949, the plants were carefully dug up, the roots preserved and peonies distributed throughout Western Canada and elsewhere. As some of the peony varieties live for over a hundred years, it is estimated that as many as half of the peonies grown in Western Canada may have their “roots” in Edmonton.
The peony garden’s legacy continues to live in Edmonton. In 2002, Fort Edmonton Park created a replica of the garden, and now it has more than 60 heritage varieties of peonies and other flowers.
The garden’s legacy has also been captured in the paintings by artist Oksana Movchan at the Bonnie Doon Valley Line LRT Stop. Although the gardens themselves were located in Strathearn and were, in fact, located right across the street from the Holyrood Stop, the original street car destination for garden visitors was Bonnie Doon. During the July to August peak blooming season, it was not unusual to have more than 2,000 visitors sign the garden’s guest book in a single day.
Dr. Brander passed away in 1963. In October of 1976, the Edmonton Public School Board opened a new school in southwest Edmonton named Brander Gardens Elementary. Two of Dr. Brander’s children were present at the ceremony.
In an article in the Edmonton Examiner by Kevin Clive to mark the 25th anniversary of the school’s opening, the byline reads: Students Continue to Bloom at Brander Gardens.
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