Butchart Gardens

BUTCHART GARDENS is a 20-ha landscaped garden 21 km north of VICTORIA, open to the public. The gardens feature 700 varieties of flowering plants, as well as seasonal fireworks, concerts and displays of coloured lights. Work on the gardens began in 1904 when Robert BUTCHART, a wealthy cement manufacturer, and his wife Jennie established a home, Benvenuto, next to a limestone quarry at TOD INLET. As Butchart's company used up the stone, Jennie decided to beautify the quarry site by laying down soil and planting a sunken garden. Over the years the Butcharts added a Japanese garden, an Italian garden and an English rose garden. By the 1920s the property had become a major TOURIST attraction. Robert Butchart died in 1943, his wife in 1950, but the gardens remained in the family. In 2004 it was designated a National Historic Site.