Victoria's Butchart Gardens, Part 1: The Sunken Garden and MUCH MORE! (+10 insets)

(+10 insets) (bigger is better for lovely details!)

Trip Talk: Marvelous Butchart Gardens

When I began to figure out the itinerary of our trip to Vancouver Island, there was one place we were definitely going to visit: Butchart Gardens in Victoria. Listed as one of the top 10 gardens in the world, this 55-acre horticultural masterpiece simply cannot be missed--especially for a person like me who's crazy about macro and flower photography! When I visited their website, the beauty and opulence of the grounds had me so excited that I could barely wait!

Another reason we wanted to go was memorial in nature. Steve has often told me how much his mother loved Butchart Gardens. Although we could only take her there in our thoughts and hearts, we would dedicate the day to her. I wished I'd gotten to meet Steve's mom, but it felt nice to know we could go to a place that she loved so dearly.

We hoped to avoid a weekend visit but ended up going on a dreaded Saturday. And as predicted, it was totally swamped with thousands of people. However, we were pleasantly surprised to discover that everything about Butchart was set up for huge volumes of people. From their uniquely organized parking lot to masterfully designed paths winding through the gardens, this place handled the enormous crowds easily with plenty of room for everyone!

When we arrived, we were directed by a team of helpful attendants to our spot in the vast parking lot. Before walking to the entrance, we used a parking app that saves your location so you can find your way back to your car. We didn't need to bother. Butchart actually has every aisle of parking marked with an enormous brightly colored banner with an animal and a number to make it really easy to remember where your car is. We'd never seen this before and thought it was totally brilliant. (There's nothing like leaving a venue of some sort and realizing that you have absolutely ZERO idea where your car is in the literal acres of cars laughing at you…Steve has a story of wandering around a football stadium parking lot for HOURS before finally discovering where he'd parked the car.)

There is nothing about this park which isn't beautifully manicured, elegantly designed, or perfectly landscaped. Both of us were totally blown away from the second we entered the parking lot…and by the time we arrived at the ticket booth we realized that Butchart Gardens was going to be even more incredible than we'd imagined. It turned out to be a totally mind-blowing experience and I would end up taking over 1,000 pictures during our visit!

To be honest, I've been working on this folder for days and STILL I haven't taken a close look at most of the pictures! I recognize that I simply won't be able to process all of the "winners" that I captured that day. However, I'll have at least five presentations to share from our day at Butchart Gardens and hopefully you'll get a sense of this incredible place.

Today's Pictures

My main image is the classic, iconic display of Butchart's most dazzling gem and the heart from which this Eden sprang--The Sunken Garden. If you can believe it, this place was once a limestone quarry! Robert and Jennie Butchart built a cement plant here in 1904, but as the quarry was exhausted, Jennie envisioned a garden to take the quarry's place. Dirt was carried in by horse and wagon for literally YEARS in order to create this lovely place. As decades passed, more and more landscaping was lovingly nestled into the sprawling 55 acres. Eventually the entire estate was turned into different sections which include, among others, the wondrous Japanese, Italian, and Rose Gardens. It is a wonder, just standing there and looking down into that garden. But of course we did more than just look from afar. After all…I had my macro lens with me, heh.

Inset 1: Gorgeous Lantana blossoms opening up in lemon and magenta…how incredible these flowers are!

Inset 2: Be still my heart, it's Candy-Striped Gazania, *SQUEEEEE*!!!! Too beautiful for words!!

Inset 3: This periwinkle blue Clematis stretches elegantly up to the heavens. I'm crazy about vining flowers and some day I would like to have an assortment of these huge favorites of mine!

Inset 4: I noticed a large, unassuming succulent growing below a huge flowering bush and the flash of what looked like glowing tendrils immediately caught my eye. Upon a closer inspection I could see that these weren't tendrils at all, but a sort of fraying at the edge of the sturdy leaves. I love finding gems like this, it makes me feel like I won a prize! :D

Inset 5: Glowing leaves are magnetic to me and these enormous and colorful canna leaves always blow my mind when I see them. Absolutely breathtaking. I cannot resist taking picture upon picture of these amazing plants! (more pictures coming in other presentations!)

Inset 6: Everywhere you looked there were planters filled with collections of flowers paired with lovely foliage plants, and these rainbow coleus leaves were as pretty as the flowers they were accenting! I couldn't resist having some fun with them and I used a filter which intensified the colors and created a psychedelic glowing blacklight effect. (I have another version of this which shows the normal beauty of this plant but will have it in another presentation.)

Inset 7: This ridiculously colorful gold and wine-colored rudbeckia stood by itself in front a wall of short, orange marigolds and screamed for attention, which I gladly gave. After I'd taken pictures and moved on a bit, I heard Steve yell, "OMG Janet, did you see this flower?!! It's incredible!" I looked over and grinned happily, as Steve was now falling all over himself to take pictures of the floral diva! :)

Inset 8: After several hours stumbling in flower-filled ecstasy, Steve and I left the main part of the park and walked out to the parking lot to have our lunch. This grand display, just 100 feet from our parked truck, was the Mediterranean Garden, surrounded by a perfectly manicured lawn. How would you like to lay out a picnic blanket, spread out lunch and enjoy this sight as you nibbled goodies?! That's just what we did!

Inset 9: As we brought our lunch into the Mediterranean Garden, we found a bunny enjoying the grass and we were delighted to see it hopping around while we arranged our lunch. There were many bun-buns in the Butchart Gardens and they weren't scared of people so they didn't instantly disappear and we could enjoy their cuteness!

Inset 10: Throughout the park were many sculptures and tasteful artwork. I really liked this piece but its setting made the birds' pretty details hard to appreciate. So I challenged myself to see if I could create a pretty collage which made the sculpture stand out. I hope I succeeded!! :)

Pam, Pam, Pam…how you would love this place. There aren't words grand enough to describe how incredible and vast this garden is. Think about it: 55 acres, totally covered with ornate landscaping! I've got loads of pictures and they might give you a clue but you have to experience this place to understand it! Just as I thought about Steve's mom as we walked around this stupendous place, I also thought about you. *BIG HUGS*

Explored on 9/29/19; highest placement #1.