The Eye-Popping Sunken Garden at The Butchart Gardens!
In August 2024 I achieved a personal milestone (a.k.a. Bucket list) that I added to my to-do list in 2013 - more than 11 years ago. In July of 2013 my family and I took a one-day ferry tour to Victoria, British Columbia from Vancouver, B.C. As part of the tour we went to the gorgeous and expansive Butchart Gardens for a mere two hours. Anyone who has visited a botanical garden with me, let alone Butchart Gardens, knows that is not nearly enough time to enjoy it. And that was even before I became interested in photographing anything besides my friends and family. In short, my eyes nearly popped out of my head when I first saw the Sunken Garden in 2013 and while I was grateful to be able visit The Butchart Gardens at all, my heart has longed to go back ever since then. That dream has eluded me until a recent trip to Seattle.
I accompanied my son to Seattle, as he was presenting at a conference. Since yours truly was paying for the trip, I decided to go along and took the liberty of arranging a little side trip to Victoria for myself. The idea just popped in my head one night as I was settling down to sleep. Let’s just say I had the entire side trip planned by the time I retired to bed the next night - the ferry route and tickets, the hotel (I had been saving some Hilton hotel points for something extra special), The Butchart Gardens ticket, the ground transportation and tours - all of it. I was so excited I planned the whole 3-day, two- night side-trip in less than 24 hours. I admit I didn’t get enough sleep that night, but who cares? There’s a big ol’ world to explore! 🤪😉🤣
Anyway, I made it! I spent the whole glorious day at The Butchart Gardens! And to top it off, the weather was absolutely beautiful that day - not too hot, not too cold, not too humid, with just enough breeze to be just perfect. Did I mention I LOVE the weather in Victoria? 😉❤️😉
I booked myself a bus trip called the Butchart Gardens Express Shuttle that departed from the nearby Fairmont Empress Hotel. It was only two blocks from my Doubletree hotel so it was an easy and convenient spot to walk to the first full morning in Victoria. (Buy tickets early - before you go to Victoria. The bus tour can sell out quickly in the summer! I arranged for an Uber driver to take me back to Victoria at 10:00 that night as the last bus left the gardens in the afternoon.
It turns out the bus was a double-decker bus (fun!) and just before the bus tour left two women vacated their front row spots on the top deck. I asked my nearby travelers if they knew if the women were coming back. The man behind them kindly told me it looked like the seats were mine. With delight, I hopped in the front row and proceeded to enjoy a brief tour of Victoria and British Columbia from a prime photo taking spot on the top level of the bus. The scenery was beautiful, and I discovered that many folks who live outside of the city in British Columbia have local specialized farm products for sale. There is a tax break to encourage that, apparently. I enjoyed both the scenery and picking out the different types of small businesses available by reading the signs on their properties. There were eggs, flowers, fruit, produce, honey, and much more. It proved to be kind of an I Spy game!
Upon arriving at the gardens and seeing just the entrance area, I knew I wanted to spend the whole day there. I discovered the gardens were open that night until 10 PM and there was also a free concert. I canceled my restaurant reservation in Victoria and happily planned out my day.
The Butchart Gardens Website is a wealth of information! ⬇️
I started with an early lunch in the café called The Blue Poppy. The café has a wide variety of foods that you can select from behind glass cases (Does anyone remember Bishop’s Buffett?). I chose to eat a good meal because I knew I would be in the gardens the rest of the day. The food was very good! I also stocked up on ice cold water from a dispenser, which was fabulous. I’d recommend you bring a large refillable water bottle, a few cereal bars or very small snacks, sunscreen, a light jacket, and a sun hat for each person if you go there.
Yes, I took a bite out of the dessert and THEN decided to take a photo. 🫢🤷♀️🤣
I started out on the main walkway that intersects the gardens (the starting point on the map below) and stopped every few feet to take photos. It was slow going as there were so many amazing photo opportunities I could hardly believe it! Brightly-colored flowers, incredible hanging planters, artwork, trellises, mature trees, and creative and beautiful landscaping was everywhere I turned.
Downloadable PDF Map of The Butchart Gardens ⬇️ Trust me. It’s bigger than it looks!
While The But hart Gardens has several distinct gardens within it, I decided I wanted to see the Ross fountain at the back of the Sunken Garden and work my way back to the original path. I passed a large rose garden on my right as well as a concert area. I then headed to the left and passed through a wooded area and a bog garden. As I walked, I could see glimpses of the fabulous flowers and landscaping in the sunken garden. I could hardly contain my excitement! I arrived at the Ross fountain and discovered the fountain emerged from a small lake and had two viewing levels. I climbed down a short path to the closest viewing area and had a seat on a nearby bench. The fountain was beautiful and made unique patterns in the air. It was a very peaceful and relaxing place to rest until a young visitor appeared. Funny story - I recorded a short, live Facebook video while resting despite a young girl kicking gravel in front of me in every direction. I looked around for her mother or father and didn’t see anyone so I did my best to ignore her, but it wasn’t easy. I have to admit I asked her where her mother or father was, but I don’t think she spoke English. Instead, she yelled what sounded like a word for mother at the top of her lungs. Her mother came down from the level above and spoke to her briefly, observed her kicking gravel, and then went back to the top level. The girl continued kicking gravel everywhere, including in my direction, glancing at me out of the corner of her eye. I think it might have been a challenge. 😉🤣😏 I was not terribly thrilled as I had intended to start my live video soon. I gave her a brief “teacher look“ but alas, it did not do any good. Since this was not my first rodeo, so to speak, I ignored her and proceeded to record my live video with gravel flying about 4 feet away. 🤷♀️ However, I was distracted and managed to sit squarely on my hard plastic water bottle in the middle of the video, burst out laughing, and throw my recording off. 🙄 So I guess she was successful after all! 🤣🤣🤣 Really, I was more amused by this turn of events than anything. That little girl is going places someday! I would bet money on it! 😉😉😉
I spent the rest of the afternoon in the Sunken Garden. It is easily the most beautiful garden I have ever been in. It was a former quarry so you descend into the garden from above. The flowers and landscaping were so bright, varied, and impeccably cared for that I began to dream about purchasing a home or apartment in British Columbia. I kid you not.
I spent a good deal of time taking photos of flowers and offering to take photos of other people (so they could all be in the photo together) and just being in the moment, accompanied by whiffs of delightful floral scents at every turn. I met some wonderful people from around the world by offering to take their photos. For instance, I offered to take photos of one young Muslim family with three energetic children, as the husband was not in the photos because he was the photographer. He just beamed when I offered to take a few photos. His little 2-3 year old boy was obviously getting tired and was getting impatient with the idea of holding still to have his photo taken. His parents got this look of slight parental dread in their eyes because they wanted nice family photos. Just as the little boy was getting wiggly, I exclaimed, “Look at that!” It surprised the boy enough I had time to take 4 or 5 nice photos with the beautiful backdrop. I handed the phone back to the father and told him to take a look to make sure they were happy with them. He was just ecstatic when he saw the first one and thanked me several times. I smiled and told him I do this all the time and to have a beautiful day. I walked away to find new scenes to photograph, thinking nothing of it. The man came literally running back to me and thanked me so sincerely it almost made me cry. He said it meant a lot to him. Almost everyone likes family photos with their whole family present, particularly when they want to remember a special moment or place. I think we could probably achieve at least a modicum of world peace if we could just bring out our families and offer to take photos of each of our family groups together in a beautiful place. I may be oversimplifying things quite a bit, but I think it would remind all of us how much we share in common. Just try it yourself when you have a chance. Prove me wrong. I dare you. 😉
If you are brave enough to take my dare, all photography skill levels are embraced, by the way. No one cares as long as everyone is in the photo. Like so much in life, perfection is not expected or required. (Took me a loooonnnngggg time to learn that little life lesson. Don’t wait as long as I did.) Be brave enough to suck at something new, especially if it makes the world a better place. 🫶
One final Sunken Garden tip: If you are in the Sunken Garden and find an open set of stairs going up, even a rather hidden set, put on your explorer hat and climb them. As I climbed up the back stairs of the Sunken Garden, my jaw continually dropped. The Sunken Garden is even more beautiful from above, especially in late afternoon light. The photos I took convey it all. When I reached the top of the stairs and noticed folks on the top of other tall landscaped areas in the Sunken Gardens. They had been explorers and found some secret stairs! I had missed them! Darn, I’ll guess I’ll just have to back soon!!!!! 🤣🤣🤣🤣😎
Tired, a bit disheveled and warm, wearing a wonky hat but I didn’t care one bit. I loved every single second I was there and am already thinking about my next trip! ⬆️
Well, without more waxing philosophical, here are a few of my best Sunken Garden photos plus The Butchart Gardens webpage. I’m working on some video clips and more Butchart Gardens blog posts, so stay tuned for more! If you EVER get the opportunity to visit, JUMP at the chance!!! I’m so glad I made it a point to go back. 👏👏👏
In short, my time that afternoon in the Sunken Garden at The Butchart Gardens was absolutely heavenly and completely blew away my already-high expectations. THIS is seriously why you travel!
For you to plan YOUR trip! 👏🫶⬇️