The Butchart Gardens

Recently I had the great experience of visiting the Butchart Gardens, fifty-five acres of breath taking floral display located on Canada’s west on Vancouver Island just north of Victoria. You can stroll down winding paths and around each corner you will delight in spectacular views of waves of color and lush green plants. The Butchart Gardens have been in bloom for over 100 years, started in 1904 by Jeannie Butchart. The Butchart Gardens are truly one of the most spectacular gardens and corners of the world. I have posted a few of these spectacular views over at The Garden Shed main site shoud you want to take a look.

In 1888 Robert Pim Butchart began manufacturing Portland cement. Near the turn of the century he had become a highly successful pioneer in his North American industry. Attracted to the West Coast of Canada by rich deposits of limestone which is vital for cement production, he built a new factory at Tod Inlet, on Vancouver Island. There in 1904 he and his family established their home.

As Mr. Butchart exhausted the limestone in the quarry near their house, Jeannie, his wife conceived an unprecedented plan for refurbishing the bleak pit that resulted. She requisitioned tons of top soil from near by farmland and had it brought to Tod Inlet by horse and cart. She used this topsoil to line the floor of the abandoned quarry. Little by little, under Jeannie Butchart’s personal supervision, the abandoned quarry bloomed as the spectacular Sunken Garden. If you love gardening or simply enjoy breath taking views of grand floral display, I highly suggest you visit the Butchart Gardens. Take a look at some of the pictures I took of the Butchart Gardens posted over at the main site of The Garden Shed.