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The Butchart Gardens
Butchart Gardens - Victoria's Best Loved Garden
I love the Butchart Gardens in Victoria, BC. If I could live anywhere in the world Victoria would be high on my shortlist. How I wish I were there in the warmth of a Vancouver Island Summer! I am not generally a very gardeny or flowery kind of person - generally I am more of a boat, forest, mountain kind of girl - but having entered the Butchart Gardens I was very loathe to leave. Had my camera not been digital, the processing would have cost a fortune.
Whenever I get to BC to visit with friends, Victoria is on my schedule and I have been back several times to visit! If you have the good fortune to visit British Columbia and Vancouver Island, this Garden is truly worth an hour or two of your time at least. For the time being though, here are some pictures of the Butchart Gardens that I hope you will enjoy!
Reclaiming the Limestone Quarry
The Sunken Garden
When I visited, I was interested to hear how the gardens were begun. The Butchart Gardens began when Canadian businessman Robert Pim Butchart began quarrying limestone and manufacturing Portland cement at Tod Inlet Vancouver Island in 1904.
He and his family established their home there. His wife Jennie was upset by the bleak pit left by the quarried limestone and set about reclaiming the land. She ordered topsoil from nearby farmers, had it brought in by horse and cart and lined the floor of the abandoned limestone quarry at Tod Inlet. This became the Sunken Garden.
Chimney Sentinel at the Butchart Gardens
Signals the End and a New Beginning
The Tod Inlet plant stopped manufacturing cement in 1916, but continued to make tiles and flower pots as late as 1950.
The only surviving portion of the cement factory is the tall chimney of a former kiln seen from the Lookout in the Sunken Garden. This lonely chimney now overlooks the reclaimed quarry.
The Butchart Gardens - Mementoes On Sale
The gardens have their own store, which can be accessed online too. Recently someone asked me about floating flower nightlights and I couldn't see those, so I searched a few here.
Now this is more like it. It is a solar powered floating lamp, so it draws on the sun for energy and you won't have to be forever changing batteries!
Watch the adverts for these, Some give the impression you are buying more than one. It is seven colours on one rose, not seven roses of different colours. Having said that, it is cheap enough to buy a set.
Butchart Gardens, Japanese Garden in Victoria BC
Stone, water, a traditional bridge and trees
We are working on a Japanese corner for our own little plot here in England, but nothing beats the real deal! Robert and Jennie celebrated their travels abroad by creating a Japanese Garden at the Butchart Gardens in 1908.
These solar powered lilies come in a variety of shades. I was taken with this purple one.
Other Gardens Created At The Butchart Gardens
Variety at the Butchart Gardens
Later they created an Italian Garden and replaced a vegetable patch with the Rose Garden in 1929.
Birds and Birdhouses at the Butchart Gardens
Gardens are for Birds too
Mr. Butchart enjoyed his wife's work and contributed by collecting ornamental birds from all over the world. He kept ducks, peacocks, and a parrot in the main house.
He also trained pigeons at the site of the present Begonia Bower. He was very proud of Jennie's work and built elaborate birdhouses throughout the gardens.
I Bought A Beautiful Hummingbird - Swarovski Crystal Hummingbirds
While I was at the Butchart Gardens I bought a beautiful crystal hummingbird for my Mum from the gift shop. It has since triggered an interest in Swarovski hummingbirds. The gift shop at the Gardens has a lovely selection, but if you can't get there, you might like to look at these.
Entrance-ing Butchart Gardens....
Blossoming Cherry trees greet visitors in the Spring
News of Mrs. Butchart's gardening spread. By the 1920s more than fifty thousand people came each year to see the gardens.
Their estate was christened "Benvenuto", Italian for "Welcome", and flowering cherry trees were purchased from Yokohama Nursery in Japan. These were planted from West Saanich Road to The Butchart Gardens' entrance. (This is not a cherry blossom from Victoria - sadly I missed that display!)
This would make a pretty gift for anyone who loves hummingbirds too!
Butchart Gardens - A Family Business
The Butchart family tradition
The Butchart Gardens is still a family business and a premier West Coast display garden, with an international reputation for its display of flowering plants all year round.
Close to a million people visit each year, and also over 1,000,000 bedding plants in 700 varieties ensure uninterrupted bloom from March through October. Entertainment and lighting displays are presented each summer and Christmas.
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Florentine Bronzes
Sculpture at the Burchart Gardens
Ian and Ann-Lee Ross purchased The Fountain of Three Sturgeons and the bronze boar in 1973. Pietro Tacca, created the marble statue of the Boar in 1620. It is displayed in the Uffizi Gallery in Florence.
This rare bronze casting has a shiny snout form visitors giving it a rub for good luck! It is called Tacca after the original sculptor and is dedicated to the children and dogs who visit the Gardens!
If you have enjoyed this lens, been to the Gardens, or would like to see them, please leave a message here! Thank you!
© 2009 Lisa Marie Gabriel
Related
Garden Guests
Yes, a wonderful garden. Informative lens.
I was there in the Autumn a few years ago and it was breathtaking. Your lens does justice to the beauty of this place.
- Author
@anonymous: I checked the shop out too, with no luck, but I did find some floating flower night lights on Amazon which I described here if you interested.
I was just there in Aug from one of the cruise ships, our tour was of the Gardens, just beautiful-I had been there years ago but I wanted my granddaughter & great granddaughter to see it-they loved it-I wanted to buy one of the flower night lites but we had to get back on the tour bus-how can I order one of these-they were beautiful-can't find them- on the gift shop choices-please let me know bnevadared@att.net--thank you-I must come back so I can spend more time in the gardens
Although I am Canadian, I have never been to the West of Canada. One day for sure!
Wow! This place is beautiful.
I've been here! Thanks for reminding me how much I love to travel.
My mother and aunt visited Butchart Gardens and were very impressed! I hope that I will be able to go someday.
Another Charming Lens!
After retiring, my parents travelled most of the U.S. and parts of Canada. They said that in all of their travels, the prettiest place they saw was the Butchart Gardens. I hope to visit someday. The photos in your lens are beautiful.
Gorgeous pictures. I especially like the birdhouses. Thanks for sharing your experience of the gardens.
What a wonderful article on the history of the Butchart Gardens. They are beautiful and I had no idea that their history dated back so far.
I visited Butchart Gardens a few years back. Enjoyed my return visit!
Lovely lens on the Butchart Gardens - I really enjoyed my stay. Squid angel blessed.
Butchart Gardens are indeed lovely, but I find the admission price to be exorbitant. Your lens has beautiful pictures!
Lovely lens! The garden looks so refreshing and the flowers are beautiful. Loved it! Sundae ;-)
Always love the sparks of nature...Beautiful display of nature.Thanks for sharing!
My mother and aunt visited Butchart Gardens many years ago and they just loved it! You have included so much interesting information and so many beautiful photos! I think my favorite is the one you included in the "Birds and Birdhouses" section.
What a beautiful garden! I wonder if they use rubber mulch to keep the weeds out.
I'm from Victoria, very proud of my home city and these amazing gardens. I've been to Butchart dozens of times, and am still thrilled every time. Thank you for doing such a lovely tribute to this beautiful place.
Yay for Victoria! :-)
With Love and Gratitude,
Jeremiah
I love flower gardens. It's a beautiful lens.
Looks like a lovely place to visit. I sure do have a fondness for gardens.
~ Blessed by a Squidoo Angel of the Travel Canada neighbourhood ~
They have a spectacular Christmas light display each year. I haven't been for years, though. This lens has been blessed by a Squid Angel.
This is the first site that's really made me want to visit Victoria. Thanks!
I've been to the gardens once, seventeen years ago. It was very beautiful and I've never forgotten.
I really enjoyed visiting your lens.
Thanks for sharing.
- Author
I just wanted to say thank you all for visiting this lens, I am glad you enjoyed it. I hope to get back to the Butchart Gardens soon! Lisa :)
Fabulous Lens - a nice tribute to a great place. I last visited 21 years ago on my honeymoon - someday we hope to get back!
stunning photos and great lens. i thought victoria was in Australia.
Woops my mistake. looking for a Tile Store?
I live on VI and visit Victoria often (including this past weekend) but I haven't been to The Butchart Gardens since I was little. Must put it on my "visit list" when the weather is better. I imagine its quite beautiful in summer. Thanks for sharing your photos of this lovely garden. Happy Easter weekend! :)
I, too, am lucky enough to live on Vancouver Island, in Shawnigan Lake to be exact. I've been to Butchart Gardens during the Christmas Lights tours and during the summer for the fireworks display they have on Friday nights. My only complaint about Butchart Gardens - is that they make it so hard to live up to! I'm a gardener and every time I go I think "oh that would look awesome in my yard!" - yes - breaks the bank whenever I go because I get into a planting craze!
The cherry trees are gorgeous - and Victoria is well known for the Cherry Blossom Blizzards every year - when the ocean breeze picks up and the pink blossoms start falling all around.
I've lived in almost every province, and 4 different states, and in England - and Vancouver Island is where I stay! It's my home.
Absolutely gorgeous pics...love it!!
Butchart Gardens sounds and looks absolutely lovely. I would love to visit there one day. British Columbia has always been on my destination list, but I haven't made it there....yet.
Well done lens.
Beutfull! That's a trip that will be made.
Stunning photos. 5*
We lived in Victoria for many years and used to be able to picnic in Buchart Gardens. I won a dinner for 4 at the Gardens one time and was that ever fantastic! Now we live in the beautiful Okanagan.. that is nice too. Great lens. 5*s and fav.
Very well done!
I am one of the lucky to live on Vancouver Island and have visited the Gardens many times.
The Japanese Garden is my favourite.
Very nice lens!
Great lens. I love The Butchart Gardens. Excellent pictures.
Beautiful photography. I really must get there one day! Blessed by a Squid Angel.
You did a wonderful job with capturing the beauty of Victoria and the Gardens.
- Author
Thank you both! I do miss Victoria and the Gardens! Couldn't go this year because of the painting and decorating... but I still have all the pictures :) :)
Beautiful garden and beautifully done lens - I love nature - you did a great job with this one!
Thank you for sharing this beautiful garden!
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