Attracting over 1 million visitors each year, the Butchart Gardens (布查特花園或寶翠花園) is a world-renowned attraction on British Columbia’s Vancouver Island, Canada. Designated by the Canadian government as a National Historic Site of Canada, the Gardens is always teeming with a wide variety of beautiful lush greenery and colorful blooms.
Spanning an area of 22.3 hectares (55 acres), the Butchart Gardens was in fact transformed from an abandoned quarry originally run by Robert Butchart and his wife, Jennie Butchart. After their cement plant exhausted the limestone deposits in the quarry, Jennie Butchart came up with an idea she was passionate about in 1912. She envisioned a grand garden in the quarry and started to move topsoil by horse and cart to make the quarry pit gradually become a magnificent garden.
Please watch the following video of the Butchart Gardens on Canada’s Vancouver Island.
Over the years, the family continued to develop more gardens and expanded the Butchart Gardens to what it is now. The Gardens is still owned and run by the Butchart family, and is the world’s most gorgeous garden destination to amaze and inspire.
Having over a million bedding plants in more than 900 varieties, the Butchart Gardens encompasses five separate gardens: the Sunken Garden, Rose Garden, Japanese Garden, Italian Garden, and Mediterranean Garden. With meticulous design, the Gardens always has something in bloom year round.
The Sunken Garden (下沉花園), as its name suggests, is situated below the road level, and visitors must walk some flights of steps leading down to the picturesque garden area. It’s an amazing view to overlook the Sunken Garden from above before stepping down the stairs.
In the Sunken Garden, there are many beautiful flower beds, a lovely waterwheel, and a man-made pool with a small canal winding through part of the garden.
Other highlights of the Sunken Garden are the peaceful Bog Garden, and the graceful Ross Fountain with spectacular water displays. Visitors can also see some remnants of the original cement plant there.
The Rose Garden (玫瑰花園) is the most fragrant area of the Butchart Gardens. With 30 beautiful rose arches, the Garden has 2,500 rose plants of 280 varieties in seven types, which are in full bloom during summertime. The roses throughout the garden are truly a treat for the senses.
The Japanese Garden (日本庭園) was designed by famous Japanese landscaper Isaburo Kishida from Yokahama. It is a tranquil setting featuring lush greenery. With a grand Torii gate (神社牌坊) and a small bridge, the Japanese Garden covers an area of one acre with 500 rhododendron and azalea bushes, 74 Japanese maples, and over one-tenth of a mile of flowing streams.
The Italian Garden (義大利花園) is a fantastic garden designed by famous architect Samuel Maclure, which was completed in 1926. It is a tennis court turned garden with a cross-shaped pond. Ornamented with a bronze-cast statue, there are 85 varieties of plants in 15 beds in the Italian Garden.
The Mediterranean Garden (地中海花園) is not so big, but there are many lush exotic plants from around the world. Along with a large bronze statue of a boar named Tacca, there are bronze statues of a donkey and foal installed near the entrance. They are popular objects for photography, especially for kids. The bronze boar’s snout has been polished to a golden gleam, as many visitors like to rub it for good luck.