a land of parks and gardens

With gardens and parks and cities to explore, we hit the ground running in Victoria, British Columbia and headed straight from the ferry to The Butchart Gardens.  The garden is as exquisite as promised, with rhododendron, peonies, fuchsias, alliums, foxgloves, stock and more in bloom.  The garden was the vision of Jennie Butchart, who intended a sunken garden on the site of a former quarry that served her husband’s nearby Portland Cement plant.  Jennie transformed the quarry into a richly planted and structured sunken garden full of collected exotic and native plantings. 

Additional gardens surround the primary sunken garden and include the Japanese Garden, the Mediterranean Garden, the Rose Garden, the Italian Garden (complete with house-made gelato in flavors like wildflower honey and lavender).  A looser planting among the more organized, the Gravel Garden is a meadow that showcases perennial blooms and grasses and is completely non-irrigated. 

All of Vancouver Island is a garden haven with its temperate rainforest climate.  The City of Victoria holds numerous pocket parks and planted areas, with one of the most prominent being Beacon Hill. Beacon Hill was created in 1882 as a public park and its 200 acres are accessible for all to use and enjoy.  The park holds open lawns, mature trees of diverse species, formal plantings, ponds, and even peacocks, as well as natural areas for endangered species protection.

Beacon Hill is a park, but also a garden; the parkiest garden or the gardeniest park.  Around every turn there is a new area to discover, like a secret garden room or a keyhole view.  There is plenty of room to play with grassy open space, a putting green, playground, bandstand (with live jazz this day), areas for picnicking and lanes to bike or stroll.  Beacon Hill is stunning and a wonderful introduction to the city.

Another wonderful city introduction was in the City of Vancouver, across the strait, where we visited renowned Stanley Park.  At 1,001 acres, Stanley Park is a blend of waterfront, woodland, open space, recreational amenities, vendors, and pedestrian and cycling areas.  I was in awe of the vast array of bustling activities in the park (lawn bowling, anyone?), and at its beauty right in the city. What a jewel, and what vision to preserve this landscape for nature and for public greenspace.

Vancouver was full of natural and urban beauty, and we even happened upon a classical Chinese garden in the heart of Chinatown.  Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden and the adjacent Sun Yat-Sen Park are the first representations of a Ming-style garden outside of China.

The best part of this journey was time with friends and family.  Jon’s parents flew out to visit and to trek with us along the Oregon and Washington Coasts and then to explore Vancouver Island and Vancouver.  During their visit we happened to see the world’s largest spruce tree, followed by the largest Western redcedar, all in the same day.  Travel is full of surprises.  We also experienced a severe windstorm one night that forced us in from the rooftop tent, resulting in four adults and one dog in the travel trailer in the wee hours of a disconcerting morning.  Spirits were restored with days of sunshine and garden visits and especially with home-cooked meals along the way!