The Butchart Gardens

The Butcharts settled beside their limestone quarry in 1904, and from 1909, when the quarry was exhausted, Jennie Butchart set about transforming the pit left by her husband's cement works into a garden, and the result, over a century on, is one of the most visited display gardens in the world. The old quarry became the famous Sunken Garden, a deep bowl of lawns, beds and a fountain reached by a path along the rim, and around it spread Italian, Japanese and rose gardens laid out across the grounds. Run by the same family for generations and now a National Historic Site of Canada, it plants out huge numbers of flowers to keep colour through the seasons, lights up for Christmas, and holds summer evening concerts and fireworks. It is horticulture on a grand, theatrical scale rather than a botanical collection.

History

Robert Pim Butchart, who began making Portland cement in Ontario in 1888, came west with his wife Jennie for the limestone, and in 1904 they made their home by his quarry on Tod Inlet. When the quarry ran out in 1909, Jennie began turning it into the Sunken Garden, finished in 1921; an Italian garden replaced the tennis courts in 1926 and a rose garden the vegetable plot in 1929, the gardens passed to their grandson Ian Ross in 1939, and in 2004, their hundredth year, they became a National Historic Site of Canada (Wikipedia, Butchart Gardens).

The main sights

• The Sunken Garden - the deep former quarry, the garden's showpiece.
• The Rose Garden - at its peak in summer.
• The Japanese Garden - the shaded, water-threaded corner leading towards the sea.
• Seasonal displays - spring bulbs, summer bedding, autumn colour and Christmas lights.

When to go

Colour peaks from late spring through summer, when it is also busiest; spring bulbs and autumn tones are quieter and lovely. December brings the Christmas lights. Weekday mornings avoid the worst of the tour-bus crowds.

Things to know

It is a manicured commercial attraction, not a wild landscape, and in peak summer it is very busy with tour groups; going early or late in the day helps a lot. Entry is not cheap, especially in high season, and parking and cafés fill up. Some find it too polished; others love exactly that. Allow more time than you expect.

Nearby

Victoria and its harbour are half an hour south; the Saanich Peninsula wineries and ferry terminals are close.

Key facts