James Bay

We arrived here on Vancouver Island this morning, after a five hour flight from Toronto, crossing three time zones. We are now eight hours behind the UK. The weather is warm and sunny and we are staying here for two nights. After the hustle and bustle of Toronto, Victoria is quieter and calmer and we have spent a relaxing afternoon wandering its streets around the picturesque harbour.
Tomorrow we intend to visit the world famous Butchart Gardens, just out of the town and I’ll let you know my thoughts.

Thursday 29 June
The Gardens were developed by Jenny and Robert Butchart from 1904 onwards and now cover some 22 hectares. Robert had bought the land to quarry limestone for his cement company and when the rock was worked-out his wife was left with the task of what to do with the remaining hole in the ground!. Robert was by now a wealthy man and the couple were very hospitable, so the idea of creating a family estate of beauty was appealing. They called their evolving home ‘Benvenuto’; Italian for welcome. Jenny set to work to make a garden out of the quarry, initially using a bosun’s chair to plant the crevices in the sheer walls with plants to soften them. Her logic was unassailable, as once the ground below was prepared and planted there would be no possibility of then clothing the limestone walls towering above. So the sunken garden slowly came to life in the style of the time. Huge amounts of soil and compost have been imported over the years and there is an irrigation system to die for. Eat your heart out those of us who are attached to a hose on a regular basis! Since then the Japanese, Rose and Italian gardens have been added and the whole spectacle is truly a sight for sore eyes.
It has been a beautiful sunny day and the garden is at its very best, the roses in particular.
Interestingly a great deal of use has been made of block bedding, which we rarely see
today, but was of course very much the fashion of the time. Water is everywhere and the colour schemes and clever use of plants has to be seen to be believed. Beautiful, mature, trees clothe the site giving welcome shade and there seems to be a microclimate for every genus of plant.
The whole garden is of course one giant microclimate, being sheltered within its quarry setting, which allows for the more tender plants to be grown. I could wax lyrically for hours, but will include as many photos as I can to give you a flavour.
The garden is now over 100 years old and attracts a huge number of visitors annually. One of the early invitees was our own Queen Elizabeth, as a young 12 year old, with her parents, the King and Queen.
The garden remains in family hands and is being lovingly maintained and developed in the Butchart tradition. If you are ever this way be sure to visit.Read more