The Butchart Gardens near Victoria

What it is

In the early 1900s Robert Butchart quarried limestone for cement at Tod Inlet, north of Victoria in British Columbia. When the pit was exhausted his wife, Jennie Butchart, had soil carted in and planted it. That became the Sunken Garden, seen first from a lookout on the old quarry rim, with beds of tulips in spring and annuals in summer laid around a rock mound. She went on to add a rose garden, a Japanese garden running down to the sea and an Italian garden on the old tennis court. The family still owns it, and Canada lists it as a national historic site.

Before you go

• April and May for bulbs, late June to August for roses and summer bedding.
• Summer evenings are lit and less crowded than midday.
• It is a 30 to 40 minute drive or bus ride from central Victoria. Allow three hours there.

The flowers you will see

TulipSpring-blooming bulbs with showy, cup-shaped flowers in many coloursRoseWoody perennial plants with showy, often fragrant flowers in many coloursBegoniaA vast group of colourful, shade-loving flowering plants from warm climatesDahliaA bushy perennial with tuberous roots and bright, star-shaped bloomsRhododendronA vast group of shrubs and trees with showy blooms in many colours

Read more

Butchart GardensA historic floral garden on Vancouver Island, Canada

More in Canada

🇨🇦 Ottawa · MayThe Canadian Tulip Festival in OttawaHundreds of thousands of tulips flower beside Dow's Lake each May, a tradition that began with a gift from the Dutch. 🇨🇦 Montreal · May to OctThe Montreal Botanical GardenOne of the world's large botanic gardens, with Chinese and Japanese gardens, a lilac collection and long rose beds.