Butchart Gardens

Our last stop on the cruiseship was in Victoria, Canada.  We weren't there for long, just 4 hours on a Friday night, but my sister had scheduled a visit to Butchart Gardens and I tagged along.  The gardens are about 30 miles north of the port city, and the drive out of town was an interesting tour of the city and its suburbs.  And the gardens themselves?  They were simply amazing.

Started in 1905, and added to in the subsequent years, the gardens began as a family project.  They remain family-owned and operated and are open 365 days a year.  If I lived in Victoria, I'd have a yearly pass to enjoy the beauty.  As it is, I was there for two hours and I've since spent hours daydreaming about plants that I'd like to add to my garden. 

Some delphiniums are certainly in order, for both the vibrant colors and the heady scent.

And I could do with a bed of double begonias that look like these.

It's unlikely that I have a hole large enough for this sort of sunken garden. 

Or a fountain.

But I could certainly make some space for a few more rose bushes.

I'd love to have a hedge capable of doing this….around which my childhood princess fantasies could once again flourish.

But I'll settle for an arbor.

In short, this garden walk, and the dozens of pictures I made, will feed my garden imagination for months and months to come.