Warning! Picture-heavy post!
Hot summery weather arrived this past weekend. Temperatures soared into the 80s. We're loving it! This evening I took a walk in Butchart Gardens. These are some of the sights I saw. There are plenty more and I'll share the rose garden on its own.
Hanging baskets, rows and rows of them, adorn one area of the garden. The fuschias and begonias hang at about 6 feet, maybe a bit more, enabling great views of the blossoms.
When I got to the Sunken Garden a grin formed on my face and didn't leave. I had the entire thing TO MYSELF! At the height of summer the paths are streams of people, oohing and aahing and clicking away. It's great to see everyone enjoying the sights, but to have it to myself was so special. I felt like I could be wearing a trailing gown and swanning about like the Crawleys of Downton Abbey. What a gift!
Even the garbage and recycling containers have flowers on them.
Fragrant Sweet Williams wafted their scent on the air. Mass plantings of white with purples, lavenders and dark pinks made striking beds.
Half a dozen American Robins busied themselves on a patch of lawn. As I began snapping photos, this friendly robin scuttled closer and closer. I think he wanted to show me his catch. See how the worms are wrapped all around his beak? Will he eat them, or is he taking them home for Mrs. Robin to prepare for dinner?
This Eight-Spotted Skimmer (Libellula forensis) posed most obligingly for me on a plant along the path. I watched her for a long time, admiring the shimmery lines on her wings.
Evenings are long these days - this was taken around 8 pm. Shadows lengthen, but above the tree line the sun still shines brightly.
One clematis, of a type I don't recognize, but striking for its geometry and colouring.
Just one rose, glowing in the evening light.
As I drove out of the gardens, I met a tour bus going in - cruise ship passengers are in town and Butchart Gardens is one excursion. The staff in the gift shop told me they were expecting them. They'll have a wonderful stroll.
What a beautiful garden to visit and a big bonus you had it all to yourself. The climbing plant you thought was a kind of clematis, is Passiflora ( Passion flower ) I had a beauty in my garden in England and brought a couple of cuttings here to France, which I grew on at our first house to cover our patio pergola. I went back a few years ago to visit an old neighbour. only to find the new owners of our house had cut it all down. I was so disappointed, I should have taken a cutting before we left. Look forward to seeing the roses.
ReplyDeleteThere are 'lucky' women and then there is you who can take an evening walk at Butchart Gardens. You're living the good life. Gorgeous photos. :-)
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for taking us along on your lovely stroll through the garden, Lorrie! Pure delight! I must seek out something similar around here...I'm thinking Mill Creek gardens in my hometown. Road Trip!!
ReplyDeleteWhat a beautiful place. Wish I could go there and just enjoy it for hours. Those are very nice pictures. I especially love the first one with the light shining from behind. Great shot.
ReplyDeleteNow that really was an impressive garden and what a bonus for you to have it all to yourself. You certainly took us on a beautiful stroll, stunning.
ReplyDeleteJust glorious photos, Lorrie...the lighting is perfect! What a beautiful place to visit!
ReplyDeleteWow! Now that's a garden. So lush! And that clematis is amazing! Great capture of the robin loaded up with worms.
ReplyDeleteGorgeous!! What a lovely garden. The picture of the yellow roses in the sunlight is stunning! Oh, yes, wandering about with a long flowing gown would just complete the picture. Glad you missed the tour bus, and enjoyed the quiet.
ReplyDeleteWhat lovely photos! Would love to revisit those gardens again sometime!
ReplyDeleteIt is a stunning garden!! So lovely to take an evening walk with you to get to see the beautiful plants. The tour group must have loved it! xx
ReplyDeleteOh, what a lovely stroll you have taken us on! Beautiful gardens and such interesting flowers. This garden is on my bucket list....glad you had it all to yourself before the cruise passengers arrived! That looks like a very happy Robin! x Karen
ReplyDeleteOh lucky you to have the garden to yourself. The photo of the pond looked like a Monet painting. All so gorgeous!! I keep thinking I want to come in early fall and stroll the garden again. If I do it would be just a day trip over and back.
ReplyDeleteSo beautiful. And how cool to have the place to yourself. That's where we were for our 25th anniversary. It's nice to see it again.
ReplyDeleteHow I enjoyed strolling through Butchart Gardens with you, Lorrie, imagine having that amazing place to yourself!
ReplyDeleteYour photographs are wonderful, beautiful captures every one of them.
What a lovely place for an evening walk! (Or any other time as well!!!). Beautiful!
ReplyDeleteVery, very lovely...and perfectly captured.
ReplyDeleteWhat a lovely place to walk about. Gorgeous photos.
ReplyDeleteHugs,
Meredith
Beautiful captures here. What a lovely place !
ReplyDeleteLorrie! What a gift! Time by yourself in this stunning garden!
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing it with us!
Lorrie, I love the photo walk through the gardens. So beautiful! The place almost looks magical. What a treat to enjoy it all by your lonesome!
ReplyDeleteI've only been to the garden twice. How wonderful to be able to go often in the different seasons. We missed the very hot weekend in the Pacific N.W. as Dear was in Chicago and I was in Southern California. Never thought it would be hotter here than in southern California!
ReplyDeleteHow glorious to have the garden to yourself for a while. Love the trash and recycling areas with flowers - and all the flowers are simply divine - I could almost smell them. Love your header - so summery!
ReplyDeleteI really hope to be able to see Buchart Gardens one day! I've always been enthralled at the amount of flowers there and how every season it looks so beautiful! I have been so busy with "end of the school year" events and grandchildren doings, plus trying to get our gardens in shape now that frost danger is over. Now tp watch it all grow!
ReplyDeleteThe gardens are wonderful. Such beauty. I am sure that you may have found some things that you might want to add to your garden. I am always so inspired, but often don't follow through. Finally it is warming up here. I am ready for the heat.
ReplyDeleteWhat a gorgeous place to stroll and enjoy, Lorrie. Your flower photos are so beautiful, you capture them so well I can almost catch the scents!
ReplyDeleteHelen xox
Oh, how I love, 'picture-heavy posts'
ReplyDeleteYour photo's are lovely, the gardens amazing and the number of worms caught by the robin there - a feast!
All the best Jan
Beautiful! Lucky you to get the gardens to yourself before the crowds descended!
ReplyDeleteYour picture of the sunken garden left me wanting to be there. Wasn't it fortunate that you had it all to yourself, a place of contemplation, before the bus unloaded? A gift.
ReplyDeleteHow lucky you are to be able to take an evening walk like that! Isn't it hard to believe such beauty? I love that detail on the spotted skimmer and the clematis!!
ReplyDelete