Butchart Gardens, National historic garden in Central Saanich, Canada
Butchart Gardens is a national historic garden in Central Saanich that covers 22 hectares and includes several themed areas such as Japanese, Italian, and Mediterranean sections connected by winding paths. Each area displays different planting styles with rotating displays that change with the seasons.
Jennie Butchart began transforming her husband's exhausted limestone quarry in 1904 by bringing in soil and planting thousands of specimens to create the Sunken Garden. The family expanded the site over the decades with additional garden sections and eventually opened it regularly to visitors.
Originally created from an exhausted limestone quarry in 1904, the site remains family-owned and continues to evolve with each generation adding new plantings and features. Visitors today experience a living tradition of horticultural care with regular evening summer concerts and nighttime light displays.
The site opens year-round with longer hours during summer months from June through September, while winter months offer shorter visiting windows. The winding paths cover varying terrain with inclines and stairs, so visitors should wear sturdy footwear.
The old quarry walls of the Sunken Garden rise 21 meters (69 feet) high and form natural terraces that were originally cut to extract limestone for cement. Approximately 700,000 annual bedding plants are set out by hand each year to create the rotating color compositions.
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