The
Butchart Gardens
are a showplace of one of the best gardens of the Pacific Northwest. Located only 13 miles north of Victoria on Vancouver Island on 50 acres of land, they are part of a 130 acres country estate. The gardens maintain the gracious traditions of the past, in one of the loveliest corners in the world. Visitors can enjoy something different each month. The Gardens are illuminated in the summer evenings. Musical entertainment and fireworks are also included in the summer activities. Festive decor and lighting displays highlight of the Christmas season.
The Gardens are divided into four major sections and can be viewed from several miles of paved pathways, which lead through the Sunken Garden, Rose Garden, Japanese Garden, and Italian Garden. Indigenous and non-native plants alike, make their home at the Gardens.
The Sunken Garden was built on what was once a limestone quarry with pathways
winding downwards to a lake which features a magnificent fountain. Further
along one comes across The Rose Garden, which contains many varieties of the
Hybrid Tea Rose. Along a long concrete walk you will find old-fashioned English
perennial borders covered by rose arches not unlike one would expect to find in
England. Especially noteworthy is the Japanese Garden with its winding pools
and a cascading stream, a lacquered bridge, Japanese stone lanterns, small
summerhouses, a teahouse in the center of a pool. Dispersed throughout the
Japanese Garden are willows, Japanese azaleas, bamboos, dwarf rhododendrons and
lace leaf maple. This is a truly delightful garden. In contrast to the
Japanese Garden, The Italian Garden features a pond fed by a mermaid and fish
fountain, bordered by flowerbeds and enclosed by Lawson cypress.
The display of more than one million flowering plants continues from March through October. Garden tours are self-guided, and you can stay for the whole day.
Location:
800 Benvenuto Avenue
Box 4010
Brentwood Bay (Victoria), B.C.
Canada V8X 3X4
250-652-5256 (recorded information)
250-652-4422 (business office)
250-652-8222 (dining room reservations)
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