A year at Butchart Gardens

René came up with the idea of taking a year's worth of pictures at Butchart Gardens - that is, a picture every month of the same view. I missed starting at the beginning of 2010 so I had to extend into this year. My choice was the obvious one, the sunken garden.

January 16, 2011

February 1, 2011

March 14, 2010

April 29, 2010

May 22, 2010 (Happy Birthday, Mom)

June 10, 2010

July 30, 2010

August 24, 2010

September 9, 2010

October 22, 2010

November 19, 2010

December 22, 2010

These pictures reflect what I think are the two best visiting times at Butchart's (special occasions such as the Christmas light-up and Spring Prelude indoor garden aside):
1. Late April into May at tulip time.
2. Late October (often the week of the 24th and best in the Japanese Garden) for fall colour.

That was fun. Thanks, René. Maybe my next assignment should be to take photos of something other than flowers! :-)

Butchart Gardens March 29, 2011

Outside

At last, some early tulips make an appearance in the garden.

Inside

This was our last visit to the Spring Prelude indoor garden, which finished at the end of March.

A lone illuminated flower.

Wondeful wisteria.

I don't know the name of this tiny pink flower.

Ah, the springtime fragrance of hyacinths.

Government House March 26, 2011

No snow this time at Government House, just some spring flowers.

I suppose even grape hyacinths - Muscari (not my favourite) have their place.

Butchart Gardens - New arrivals

March 23, 2011

A whirligig (is that what they're called?) salesperson must have come to Butchart's and done quite well. I found three of these things back near the carousel. They rotate in the wind.

Butchart Gardens March 23, 2011

Outside

Crocuses! So nice to see in the ground, in pots, anywhere.

And a splash of orange in a planter.

Inside - the Spring Prelude garden

Swans at the lagoon

March 17, 2011

In the mix of the usual Mute Swans was one Trumpeter Swan (right), which is not uncommon at this time of year.

Butchart Gardens March 13, 2011

This was our first visit this year to the historical display, although we have been other years. One thing I missed this year was the old-time croquet set, which was left stored away because people had been handling it too much.

The bone-shaped pieces were for testing the quality of cement. (Before being transformed into a garden, this property had been used as a limestone quarry for the family's cement factory back in the early 1900's.) We were told that these pieces can still be found on the beach of the inlet by the gardens.

Above: a photo I had not seen before and some old standards - the billiard table and a couple of music boxes.

It was cold and wet outside so back in we went to the Spring Prelude garden.