Many home gardeners have visited the world-famous Butchart
Gardens in Victoria, Canada. Yet it’s likely that not many of us
have visited upstart Minter Gardens in nearby Challiwack, British
Columbia.
Many home gardeners have visited the world-famous Butchart Gardens in Victoria, Canada. Yet it’s likely that not many of us have visited upstart Minter Gardens in nearby Challiwack, British Columbia.
The Garden Writers Association – an organization of nearly 2,000 garden columnists, radio/TV garden show hosts and industry professionals – recently visited both of these Canadian attractions as part of the organization’s annual symposium in Vancouver, Canada. Vancouver isn’t as far as you think – just a two-hour drive from Seattle. This will be the first of a two-part series on gardens in Vancouver.
First of all, did you know that Vancouver is a city of verdant parks, shimmering harbors and soaring glass towers? It is the largest city in Western Canada, located exactly halfway between Western Europe and the Asia Pacific countries. This proudly cosmopolitan city shows the strong influences of each of these diverse areas.
For instance, did you know Vancouver has the second-largest Chinese community in North America? Vancouver’s Chinatown is second only to San Francisco. You can’t walk a block in downtown Vancouver without seeing restaurants offering everything from dim sum and sushi to spicy Thai fare. Vancouver also is a city of glass towers and European-style hotels, of Asian markets and world-class shopping.
Yet it’s also similar to both Seattle and Portland, Ore., in its great natural beauty, with mountains cropping up just beyond the city’s edge and the waters of the ocean lapping onto the city’s popular public beaches. Indeed, if not for the occasional Canadian accent, it would be easy to forget you were in Canada.
And like New York City’s Central Park and San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park, Vancouver has Stanley Park right downtown. Situated on more than 1,000 acres, Stanley Park offers beaches, forests, rose gardens and Vancouver’s most-visited attraction – the awe-inspiring, colorful totem poles. On a beautiful Saturday afternoon, there were a number of wedding parties virtually fighting over specific areas in Stanley Park where they wanted to take wedding photographs.
Besides Butchart Gardens and Minter Gardens, the writers group also visited Van Dusen Botanical Garden, the University of British Columbia Botanical Garden and private gardens. As mentioned, while Butchart Gardens in nearby Victoria usually gets most of the credit when it comes to garden beauty in British Columbia, Minter Gardens – less than 90 minutes from downtown Vancouver – shouldn’t be overlooked.
The brainchild of Brian Minter, Minter Gardens features a floral tapestry of color, scent and design with 32 acres set against a magnificent mountain backdrop in what is known as the Fraser River Valley. There are 11 themed gardens, including the fragrance garden, lake garden, rose garden, arbor garden, meadow garden and formal garden.
Look for more on Minter Gardens and the other gardens near Vancouver next week.
