Growing Communities of Biodiversity
The Monarch Awards celebrate and inspire eco-friendly gardening. Whether you’re just getting started or already building a healthy space for pollinators, birds, and other wildlife, your efforts matter.
- The Monarch Awards were created by dedicated volunteers and staff from the Hamilton Naturalists’ Club and Royal Botanical Gardens, under the leadership of Beverley Wagar.
- A decade later, the Monarch Awards again took flight with Halton Region Master Gardeners, who are proud to relaunch this impactful program with an expanded regional vision.
- The Monarch Awards align directly with two of Hamilton’s most important environmental commitments. The City’s Biodiversity Action Plan is a multi-partner, five-year plan to protect, enhance, explore, and restore biodiversity across Hamilton — and ecological front yard gardens are a tangible, resident-driven contribution to exactly that goal. Biodiversity is interconnected, and even the smallest urban spaces can provide vital habitat and corridors for local plants, insects, and wildlife.
- The Monarch Awards also support Hamilton’s Climate Action goals. In 2019, the City declared a Climate Change Emergency and committed to achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. Ecological gardens are part of the solution — native plantings sequester carbon, manage stormwater, filter air, and reduce the need for energy-intensive lawn maintenance. Every Monarch Awards garden is a small but meaningful piece of Hamilton’s climate resilience.
Mission
To educate, inspire and acknowledge gardeners who create sustainable gardens that provide shelter, nesting sites and food sources for native flora and fauna.
Goals
- Raise awareness of biodiversity
- Increase the amount and quality of habitat for native flora and fauna.
- Promote sustainable landscapes.
- Recognize ecological gardening practices.
Who is eligible to apply
🐛 2026 Applications – Open NOW: Apply HERE.
🐛 Gardens must be on a residential property within the municipal boundary of the City of Hamilton: Hamilton, Ancaster, Dundas, Flamborough, Glanbrook and Stoney Creek.
🐛 The garden must be in the front yard, visible from the public area (street, sidewalk).
🐛 Applicants can either own or rent the property where the garden is located.
🐛 Applicants must maintain the garden themselves.
🐛 Previous Monarch Award winners are not eligible to apply.
Congratulations to All 2025 Monarch Award Applicants!
During a hot, dry summer here in the City of Hamilton, 38 gardeners from Ancaster, Dundas, Hamilton, Stoney Creek and Waterdown participated. We’re especially excited for the Monarch recipients and happy to showcase photos of their gardens.
🦋The map below celebrates all of our the recipients for 2025 including 14 Monarch Awards! Each marker below represents a garden where people are making a difference—creating habitat, welcoming wildlife, and adding biodiversity to their neighbourhoods. Together, these gardens shine as inspiring examples of how ecological gardening can transform our communities. The butterflies represent gardens that have reached the MONARCH AWARD level.
