Butchart Gardens

Introduction

The Butcharts had come to the area to run a cement plant, and Jennie started planting the worked-out quarry, later working with landscape architects on a series of garden rooms. The Sunken Garden, a bowl reached by winding steps and filled with flowering shrubs, tulips and annuals, remains the centrepiece. The Rose Garden, Japanese Garden, designed by Isaburo Kishida in 1906, Italian Garden of 1926, Mediterranean Garden, Children's Pavilion and Rose Carousel followed. The gardens hold more than 900 plant varieties and bloom year-round, draw about one million visitors annually, and are a National Historic Site of Canada. Summer Saturdays bring evening fireworks, and holiday lighting runs from December into early January. Autumn 2026 adult admission is CAD 36.75, with lower winter rates. October hours are about 9:00-16:00; Bus 75 runs from downtown Victoria, roughly 30 minutes away.