We were expecting Butchart Gardens to be nice, but we weren’t expecting THAT! The first picture is of the sunken gardens.
It’s an old limestone quarry (the source of the Butchart fortune). They took an entire old spent limestone quarry and turned it into a garden! And that’s just one of the gardens. There is a rose garden, a Japanese garden, an Italian garden, a bog garden, and many other minor gardens, like entire sections of just dahlia blooms, or just hanging fuschia baskets.
The ambiance perfectly matches the visuals. The Ross fountain
…is constantly changing dancing waters, kind of like the Bellagio fountain in Las Vegas, but without the music and noise. It is peacefully naturally majestic. There is an enclosed carousel with barely whispering music that doesn’t travel beyond the building.
The gardens abut a cove.
…and those green canopied ten-person tour boats (electrically powered), take you out of the cove into the surrounding bays with deer on the banks, harbor seals, and river otters. This is a well-established garden.
There are giant coastal redwoods that were planted as seeds! Every flower bed is at the peak of bloom; nothing looks like it is just about to, or just has, and there is no visible workforce keeping it that way. They work a Disneylandesque magic, with an army of staff that has from dawn to opening at 9am each day to perform their miracles. Yes. Butchart Gardens is impressive.
It’s an old limestone quarry (the source of the Butchart fortune). They took an entire old spent limestone quarry and turned it into a garden! And that’s just one of the gardens. There is a rose garden, a Japanese garden, an Italian garden, a bog garden, and many other minor gardens, like entire sections of just dahlia blooms, or just hanging fuschia baskets. The ambiance perfectly matches the visuals. The Ross fountain…is constantly changing dancing waters, kind of like the Bellagio fountain in Las Vegas, but without the music and noise. It is peacefully naturally majestic. There is an enclosed carousel with barely whispering music that doesn’t travel beyond the building. The gardens abut a cove.…and those green canopied ten-person tour boats (electrically powered), take you out of the cove into the surrounding bays with deer on the banks, harbor seals, and river otters. This is a well-established garden.There are giant coastal redwoods that were planted as seeds! Every flower bed is at the peak of bloom; nothing looks like it is just about to, or just has, and there is no visible workforce keeping it that way. They work a Disneylandesque magic, with an army of staff that has from dawn to opening at 9am each day to perform their miracles. Yes. Butchart Gardens is impressive. 
