Thursday, May 15, 2014

Beauty and Renewal at Butchart Gardens

Life's been a little crazy for me lately. Change is afoot. The school year is winding down to an end. For some reason, the 5th Grade will now have Physical Education daily for the rest of the year, greatly increasing either the laundry load or the the stink-o-meter reading if my child re-wears his uniform without washing. My youngest child's birthday is coming up, and I'm starting to wallow in sentimentality. This is the last year I'll have a kid with an age in the single digits. My oldest is just shy of hitting 6 feet (2 meters) tall. Where has the time gone?

I'm thinking back to our big summer trip of 2007. It was significant for a number of reasons. This was our first family vacation with 3 kids purely for fun, not to visit relatives. It was also the first time we traveled internationally as a family, making the trek from Texas to Canada. I also remember what a nervous traveling mama I was back then and realize how much easier it comes to me now that I have miles under my belt. Canada seems like a piece of cake compared to Tibet.

Butchart Gardens is an inspiration for the Canada Pavilion at EPCOT in Walt Disney World

Butchart Gardens on Vancouver Island was one of my favorite stops. I really wish I could get my yard to look like this.


Look at that riot of color in the Sunken Garden! It's organized but not too rigid, kind of like me. The flower beds sweep around in a fluid design inviting people to stroll through the paths for a closer look. Even my young boys were enthralled. My girl, on the other hand, was fast asleep in her stroller until almost the end.

Before it was a garden, this area was a limestone quarry. After a few decades, the Butcharts had dug all the limestone out of the ground that they could, and Jennie Butchart transformed the giant hole in the ground over the course of 12 years into the gorgeous Sunken Garden that you see above.


Shade Garden
There were more restful areas, too, where different shades of green with pops of yellow combined to form a garden that was anything but monotonous.


Butchart Gardens
Ross Fountain
What did you hope to get for your 21st birthday? The Butcharts gave their grandson, Ian Ross, this beautiful garden estate which he ran until he died 58 years later. (My kids should in no way expect anything on this scale from me when they hit that age.)


Don't pick the flowers
In Malaysia, I'm accustomed to seeing frangipani, hibiscus, and ginger plants. The blooms in this Canadian garden seem so exotic to me.





Butchart Gardens
Totem Pole
Totem Poles carved by the Tsartlip and Tsawout First Nations amazed my oldest boy.


Butchart Gardens
Broccoli Trees!
I heard my son exclaim, "Broccoli Trees!" before I looked up to see what made him so excited.


We've entered a new stage of travel this year. I'm so confident that I can take on whatever the kids send my way, that we let the children each propose a vacation destination and put it up to a family vote. They're helping us plan what to see and are even trawling TripAdvisor to make suggestions on hotels.

In some ways, this reminds me of Butchart Gardens. It went from being a quarry to a woman's beautification project to a National Historic Site of Canada. I'm passing through phases, too. Hubby and I traveled the world before we had kids, then reinvented what travel involved when the children came along. Now, we're letting the children take the lead. I can't wait to see what's next.


This post is part of the following Link Ups. Check them out for more around-the-world travel inspiration.

32 comments:

  1. The gardens look beautiful! Just the kind of place I love to wander around :). Good luck with all that extra washing, by the way....I don't envy you that!

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  2. Oh my, I am envious of your green gardens! I'm feeling like the air I'm breathing is fresher just by looking at them.

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  3. Oh I wish I got a garden when I turned 21....especially one like this. Can't wait to hear what it's store with you guys and travel this year, it sounds exciting:) Happy Friday!

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  4. This is one of my very favorite gardens ever. They have a fabulous Christmas lights display and it is just bursting with color in spring!

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  5. Loved your writing about the sentimentality of mothering and beautiful flowers to compliment it :)

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  6. Lovely garden and family memories. "Broccoli Trees" - darling!

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  7. What an excellent post, I enjoyed reading about the garden and how you tied it into your own family and experiences - I hope it will be an amazing traveling year for your family...great post.

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  8. Wow, I haven't been to Butchart Gardens for a long time - I was only in middle school when my family and I went there in Vancouver! The gardens are still looking gorgeous and very memorable! :)

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  9. Have to admit it has been decades since we went to Butchart Gardens - your photos make me realize it is time to put them back on the bucket list! Happy travels this summer. . .'The Scout' would approve of all that research you are doing!

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  10. Michele, I know what you mean! Kids....mine are all grown up. I get it. Anyway, I love Butchart! Took both girls and our Chilean Exchange student there. Beautiful!

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  11. Stunning gardens, especially Ross' b'day prezzie ;)

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  12. The gardens are lovely. I loved the smile at the end :)

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  13. We're looking forward to visiting these gardens some day soon. I can't imagine taking on such a huge and big hole, then changing it to the greatest garden ever. I'm still healing a blister on my hand from gardening without gloves in my very small flower bed.

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  14. Look how happy your son is! So adorable. And such beautiful gardens.

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  15. Beautiful colours in the gardens. Time does fly and your kids are very lucky to have had and be having these experiences with you x

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  16. Loved this post... We too are getting to the stage where the kids get a big say in where we go and what we visit (hence the cat museum in Japan choice last year!!)... Good luck with the downhill stretch to the summer hols too, we only have a few weeks left as well, and it's hectic to say the least! :D

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  17. Amazing place. I love gardens and I love the idea of a garden in a limestone quarry... and the broccoli tree looks fun!

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  18. Those gardens are so gorgeous! And yes, it does look like a broccoli tree haha! I'm so glad your family has bonded so well traveling about, and it is pretty exciting that your kids are helping to plan your travels now! You've definitely got them hooked! :)

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  19. I'd love to spend an afternoon wandering those gardens. It's so great you've all got closer from travelling, gives me such hope for my little family also. xxx

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  20. The gardens are gorgeous, and I so enjoyed your story of the kiddos growing older and now letting them take the lead when it comes to travel. Isn't it great to have all these fabulous photos to look back on!?

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  21. These gardens look amazing. I'm sure they spend a lot of time landscaping. We are traveling to Vancouver this summer and I would love to visit.

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  22. This is a beautiful garden. We have an old stone quarry turned campsite here in Croatia. And it really looks great too. Lot's of interesting corners to pitch one's tent. Great that you make your kids actively deciding on your next vacation destination.

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  23. Beautiful photos! The last time that I visited Butchart Gardens was the fall before we were married - I need to get back soon! Looking forward to hearing more about the travel plans that your kids come up with!

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  24. Hm, they do look a lot like broccoli! I probably wouldn't have thought of that myself. Such good imaginations :) I've been to Butchart gardens a couple times, but its been a couple of years now. I still remember how incredible the sunken gardens look though.

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  25. Very brave of you to let your children decide where to travel! Think it will be really good for them though. Fingers crossed they choose somewhere good!

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  26. I was just there in April and never get tired of visiting as there is always something new to see. Your photos really showcase the beauty of the gardens.

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  27. We do have some beautiful gardens in Canada. This one is on my list. The next time I make it to Vancouver I'm going to the time to go to Victoria. Your photos are gorgeous. Things are always changing. I guess that's what makes life so much, or at least challenging...haha!

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  28. Absolutely beautiful photos! Butchart Gardens is one of my favorite gardens. I've only visited during Fall and Winter. I love that your kids are taking the reins on this vacation. They did great with Italy. Good luck!

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  29. I love hearing about how your travel life has evolved as a married couple without kids to a married couple with kids. Jave and I are looking forward to making this transition in the near future, and it's always inspiring to see people traveling with their kids. It's a reminder that travel doesn't have to end when the kids come. I don't know why this scares me since my parents traveled with me and my brother. I guess it's just that people always say that everything changes when you have kids. And although our travel life may change, posts like this make me confident that it will still exist! Gorgeous photos of Butchart Gardens, by the way! ;-)

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  30. Hi Michelle, it's wonderful to read about the travel evolution that your family has gone through. Thanks for taking me on a virtual tour of Butchart Gardens. I missed it when I visited Vancouver. It certainly looks beautiful as they said. I love the broccoli trees! looking forward to read about your next family adventure.

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  31. wow, that´s a wonderful garden. :)

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