Saturday, April 30, 2016

The Butchart Gardens in spring...

Butchart Gardens ~ that's where this post is going today.  As I looked through my April photos for my 'month-in-review' post...I decided I would give the lovely gardens a page of their own.  My April post can wait for a day or two!


Butchart Gardens is a national historic site and has been in bloom since 1904.  Located near Victoria...the gardens are the legacy of Jenny Butchart...whose lifelong project was to create a magnificent garden in barren limestone quarry. The Butchart home (originally called Benvenuto ~ Italian for welcome) and gardens are being maintained just as they always were.



I had the good fortune to be in Victoria with a busload of women last week...the annual 'ladies getaway' planned by our feed company...and so enjoyed my time in the gardens. I don't think I have ever seen it looking quite so lovely! 



We happened to be there last week during the peak of the spectacular spring bulb display.


Some 300,000 tulip bulbs are planted annually to create the circus of colour that we observed.



From the sunken gardens...



...to the fountain in the quarry



...along canopied pathways



...past blossoming fruit trees


...we had the most delightful day!


Good company.  Fresh air. Birds singing. Sun shining. Bliss!



Did I say relaxing?  Some just came to sit a spell!



Or maybe to gaze up at the giant redwood trees near the Japanese gardens.


Whatever the reason...over a million visitors come to take a peek every year. 



And some come back time and again!




I'm hoping to return again one day...to the lovely garden above the bay!





15 comments:

  1. What a lovely place. I can imagine that people come back time and time again.

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  2. We go as often as we can - it is such a treasure. I hope you get to see the garden sometime when the roses are blooming. The perfume is incredible!

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  3. Oops...one comment gone and it was such a good one, too. Well, I just love what you have shown us today. It looks as beautiful as a garden could possibly present.

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  4. This really was a wonderful time to go to the gardens this year. What a sweet blessing of the early blooms and weather! I'm thinking another good time to go is when all the roses are in bloom!

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  5. Beautiful photos Judy! I just can't get over how blessed we were to have such a lovely day there. The company just made it perfect.

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  6. Such a beautiful garden. Actually, I can't think of a word that adequately describes it, just gorgeous!

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  7. Such a beautiful garden. Actually, I can't think of a word that adequately describes it, just gorgeous!

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  8. Beautiful photos, Judy! I can't remember the last time I was there but I can see it would be worth taking time for when we get to the island again.

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  9. Beautiful photos of the gardens. We chugged by that bay last weekend into Tod Inlet for a couple of nights. Yes, it's a garden worth visiting over and over. Glad you had such a good time there.

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  10. Found your lovely blog by way of Pondside - wonderful springtime images of the gardens. When we visited it was high summer and the roses were the stars of the show. I would love to see it now with tulips and flowering trees.

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  11. Thanks for a walk through the gardens. It's been a long time for me....maybe this summer..but I agree it's in spring that the gardens are at their peek. Sounds like you enjoyed your time.

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  12. Oh such beautiful gardens!! I can see why they are so popular, the tulips are stunning aren't they and the addition of the blossom on the trees just makes it even better!

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  13. It looks gorgeous there. That is a lot of tulips! They must have a big crew of staff to keep the gardens looking so beautiful all year around.

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  14. I would love to visit this garden one day! It looks so beautiful in all the seasons but spring is extra special.

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'The ornament of a house is the friends who frequent it.'
~ Ralph Waldo Emerson