Butchart Gardens is a perfect choice for Mother’s Day

Our favourites were the fringed tulips

by Keith and Heather Nicol

      Butchart Gardens has a well deserved reputation for its colourful and varied gardens and receives an amazing 1,000,000 visits a year! The gardens have been running for over 100 years and started when Jennie Butchart decided to rehabilitate a limestone quarry which had been used to supply her husband’s cement plant! And a perfect time to take in the gardens is for Mother’s Day which is coming up this weekend. The tulips are in full bloom and are a highlight of the gardens at the present time. They come in some many colours and shapes—and keep an eye out for our favourite – the colourful fringed tulips. Also in bloom are a variety of cherry and other trees as well as rhododendrons. 

More tulips grace the foreground of the fountain viewpoint

 The temperatures when we visited on Sunday, May 6^th were ideal. Just warm enough to enjoy the sunshine while walking through the colourful display of flowers spread over 55 acres. We were visiting with my brother and his wife Mary Ellen and they enjoy coming to the gardens since they can also take their dog, Keita. One of the staff we spoke to said they thought the gardens were about 2 weeks behind this year due to cool weather which might be an advantage since it means that the tulips are still in good shape.  We have visited the gardens on a few occasions and are always impressed with the work that has gone into the magnificent flower displays. We go away inspired to make our own home garden abit more colourful. We finished our garden tour with a gelato cone which we enjoyed at a shady table in the Italian garden.  There are special Mother’s Day events planned at Butchart Gardens for May 13 so check out: https://www.butchartgardens.com/ for details. 

We enjoyed a gelato in the Italian Garden

Tulips are currently featured in many of the flower beds