Victoria, B.C.: Visiting Butchart Gardens: An Experience Not To Be Missed

Have you ever planned to go somewhere for fun and ended up loving it so much you couldn't believe it wasn't the sole purpose of your trip?  That's how I feel about my visit to Butchart Gardens in Victoria, British Columbia.

For years I have heard about High Tea at the Fairmont Empress in Victoria.  It was featured in Victoria magazine once and I have been thinking about it ever since.  When I got this opportunity to visit Seattle with my husband, we both looked at the map and realized that Victoria, British Columbia was finally within reach.

Then when I started planning our Easter weekend getaway, several friends mentioned Butchart Gardens as a great addition to our trip.  Great, I thought to myself. Fresh air, a chance to walk around, maybe a few things will be in bloom.

I was not prepared for:

• the size of this garden, which felt as large as a grand estate in England and contains many gardens (bog, Japanese, Sunken)  
• the quality of the plantings, which included unusual varieties of bulbs (not the primary color swath that often happens in gardens for the public), gorgeous specimens of plants and blooms I'd never seen
• the quantity of the plantings, the planners have considered every inch. The open spaces, the smaller sweet gardens, the larger focal piece gardens. Everything felt beautiful and well-planned, not layered or phony like Disney World.

I actually need more time to think about my visit and expound a little more. I will write more in a day or so. For now, I will show you some of my favorite photos.

(near the rose garden)

(I loved these "floral dictionary" display where visitors could identify their favorite plants that were in bloom that day.)

(We sat on a bench and enjoyed this fountain display - the water pattern changed every once it a while and it was fun to hear the visitors react - "Oooh, look!")

Frank Lloyd Wright Home and Studio, Oak Park, Illinois

When Kim and I were visiting our friend Aberdeen in Riverside, Illinois (a suburb of Chicago), we had just enough time to visit the "Frank Lloyd Wright walking tour" area in Oak Park.  The building above is the Frank Lloyd Wright Home and Studio, where Wright lived and worked during the first twenty years of his career (1889-1909).

It is a really interesting building, though I didn't get to tour it and really explore.  My request was to stop in the Frank Lloyd Wright gift shop (you know my weakness for paper buildings and museum gift shop fare), but the crowd was so thick it was difficult to really shop and in the end I gave up trying to buy a paper FLW Home and Studio 3D pop-up card, due to the long check out line. I have added the link to shop the store and feel better now that I know that I can buy it online.

What was the one item in the gift shop that surprised me? Lego.  Did you know that you can buy Lego sets of Frank Lloyd Wright buildings? I thought that was really interesting.

I completely understood the crowds.  It was a gorgeous Fall day in Chicago and the home and self-guided walking tours were just where I would want to be if I had more time.

As we walked down the street from the FLW Home and Studio, we saw the Arthur Heurtley House (1902) - look that the giant planters built into the facade of the house.  The lush and colorful plantings are a great natural compliment.  

This gray and black home is the Hills-DeCaro House (1906/1977).

This is the Nathan-Moore House (1895/1923) - imagine how heavy that enormous A-line roof is.  It feels like a Swiss gingerbread house to me.  

When you are in an area with this many architectural treasures, you have to go exploring on foot.  What a day.