Butchart Gardens

On our second day in Victoria, we went to the famous Butchart Gardens.  First off, our friends rented a car, went to breakfast at the Blue Fox (not that great), then we picked up some groceries for a picnic at the gardens, stopped at a local cupcakery, and then headed off.  There are picnic tables outside the gardens near the parking area where you can eat.

The cupcake place was called Pink Sugar Cupcakery. The cupcakes are dairy and egg free. They tasted like chemicals. Not so great tasting but the place was decorated very well and the frosting looked pretty.

The weather was light rain, on and off, alternating with bright sunlight.  Earlier on, it was rainier, and that made it difficult to take pictures.  The garden had umbrellas free for use that we borrowed to supplement our supply.  By the time we decided to break for lunch, it was raining again, and getting windy and cold, so we actually decided to just eat our lunch in the rental car.  We had gone through most of the Sunken Garden by that point, so afterward, we had the Italian Garden and Japanese Garden.  The Rose Garden was not in bloom at this point, so there wasn't too much to see there.

The sunken gardens are very cool.  The whole area used to be rock quarry, and there are mounds of limestone remaining that were inferior grades.  These are all covered over in flowers, bright and colorful.  At the far end of the sunken garden is the Ross Fountain in a large lake.  We all split up and roamed the sunken gardens on our own and then periodically met up to walk together.

The garden had mostly tulips and other early bloomers but the most interesting find was the blue poppy. This plant is not easy to grow but it is very pretty. The color is so unique. One visitor commented that she heard the trick is to have circulating water when you water them but I don't know if that is true.

The Italian Garden is a smaller garden, more architected rather than flowing with the underlying landscape.  Again, lots of bright, colorful flowers, but with at lot more straight lines and traditional fountains.

The Japanese Gardens are traditional, but quite compact and small, at least compared to the Japanese Garden in Portland, which we both prefer.  Still, it is well manicured and there is lots to look at.  At the far end of the Japanese Garden is Butchart Cove, where several small boats were anchored.  We stayed in the gardens all the way to closing time, and then some.  It was nice to do the final walk through with almost no one around, however the gift shop was closed by the time we made it back and we were hoping to get one or two things there. Oh well.

The previous night, while wandering the town, we had made a reservation at a very nice looking Italian restaurant, Il Terrazo, that we happened across in an alley.  They kept our reservation and seated us quickly.  The food was excellent and we were all satisfied, but the place was really expensive.  We all shared a single dessert, the triple creme brulee, three different creme brulees; one vanilla, one orange, one chocolate. Tasty!