Last summer Andra and I took our annual boat cruise through the San Juan Islands of Puget Sound, Washington. This year our primary destination was Victoria, British Columbia, at the south end of Vancouver Island. Our purpose: to see the famous Butchart Gardens a 13-mile bus ride from downtown.

The 55-acre grounds were originally a limestone quarry for a Portland cement plant, owned by Robert and Jennie Butchart. Beginning right after the turn of the 20th century, Jennie and laborers from the cement plant transformed the hole in the ground into what is now called the Sunken Garden. Over the years they added the Rose Garden, Japanese Garden, Star Pond, Italian Garden, Mediterranean Garden, and other attractions. Now it’s a full-fledged tourist attraction, with restaurant and, of course, a gift shop.

The hundreds of flowers and plant species are not identified by markers in the ground, as is often seen. Apparently the thought is these would detract from the visual impact of the gardens. Instead, you’re given a small booklet with the most popular and common species pictured, so as you walk through the various gardens you find yourself flipping its pages to identify what you’re looking at.

Coming from zone 4 in the Rocky Mountains, the profusion of color—red, pink, and yellow—was at first breathtaking, but after an hour, it was almost too much. The rain forest and the desert are different aesthetics, and while it’s fun to travel and experience other climates, you just might come away appreciating my home plantings all the more.
Designated as a National Historic Site of Canada, you can learn more at www.butchartgardens.com.