Back to Butchart's

A break among the flowers

My mother loved to garden, and years ago when she visited Butchart Gardens outside Victoria, BC, she could not stop raving about it, so when we finally made it to the west coast we visited, pushing a young daughter around the pathways in a stroller. We enjoyed it enough that we returned on another visit to Vancouver Island, and with a morning to spare before catching a ferry to the mainland, we went back again this year. As usual the fabulous plant and flower displays continue to impress.

The Butchart Boar!

The original Mr. Butchart produced Portland cement, and needed limestone for the process. Outside Victoria, he operated a large limestone quarry, and when it was exhausted his wife decided to turn the ugly hole in the ground into a garden. Over the years it grew until it was not only the quarry, but the surrounding properties and is now a popular tourist attraction pulling in millions of visitors every year.

The Butchart’s original house and property are now surrounded by beautiful gardens, and

Even the garbage cans have plants

you can spend hours wandering through the various styles of gardens. There is the original quarry which has a beautiful fountain in one end, a Japanese garden, a rose garden, an Italian garden a Mediterranean garden and even a bog garden.

We have been here at various times through the year, and the gardens are always beautiful. The beds are constantly maintained by an army of gardeners; producing near

The Original Quarry garden

perfect displays all the time. As we wandered among the flowers I noticed one corner that did not look that good, but returning a few minutes later, the offending non-perfect plants had been dug out and replaced.

My mother was right, the gardens are beautiful, and if you are visiting the Victoria area, a side trip to this attraction should be on your to-do list. But, really these pictures do a better job of describing Butchart than the writing.