(With apologies to the musical Oliver!.)
Last weekend I visited Vancouver Island as part of a six-day trip to meet friends of the Faculty of Science. A highlight of the trip was the woefully short 30 minutes I had to tour Butchart Gardens (just north of Victoria).
The gardens were a visual orgy of colour; a sight for sore eyes. To put this into context, you need to understand that Edmonton has had an awful spring. March and April featured almost daily snow, and it is only in the past week that the weather has become consistently nice. But now the white snow is being replaced by the brown grass. Because spring was delayed, we have yet to have leaves emerge on the trees or any flowers bloom. Even a short visit to Butchardt was enough to excite the soul and inspire the imagination.
So, for all you colour-starved Albertans, enjoy the magnificent flowers of Butchart Gardens.
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| Part of the Sunken Gardens, a former limestone quarry. |
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| Another view of the Sunken Gardens. |
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| Even garbage containers are an excuse for a flower pot! |
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| The dancing water show in the Sunken Gardens. |
