Butchart Gardens

Just outside of Victoria lies Butchart Gardens. In 1904, Robert and Jennie Butchart moved to Vancouver Island to start a cement business. They bought some land that included a limestone quarry.

In 1912 when the cement plant depleted the quarry, Jennie Butchart envisioned transforming it into a sunken garden. With the help of renowned garden designers that vision became a reality. Her grand vision expanded over the years to include 53 acres of unique and distinctive gardens.

Today Butchart Gardens is a National Historic Site of Canada. Over a million people visit this sanctuary every year. Today I take a couple hours to come check it out for myself.

Sunken Garden

The sunken garden includes 5 acres of gardens and took 9 years to create. It contains 151 flower beds with 65,000 bulbs planted each spring.

Rose Garden

The Rose Garden contains 7 different types of roses, 280 varieties, 2,500 rose plants, and 30 rose arches.

Japanese Garden

The Japanese Garden is spread over 1 acre. It contains 500 rhododendrons and azaleas, 74 Japanese maples, and over 650 ft of flowing streams.

Italian Garden

The Italian Garden contains 18 flower beds, 85 varieties of plants, and 22,000 spring bulbs & biennials

Miscellaneous

There are a lot of little nooks and crannies within many of these gardens. Despite the kajillions of people walking around the grounds, it’s not too hard to find some less traveled paths or sections, or even hidden little areas that most people don’t notice and walk right past. These are my favorite spots. It’s here where you can sit and take in all of the beauty in quiet peaceful solitude. Alone with just your thoughts. Ugh! – All I can think about is how I can’t even keep up with my 1/4 acre low maintenance yard.

“Stretching his hand up to reach the stars, too often man forgets the flowers at his feet.”– Jeremy Bentham

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