“Wild is the music of the autumnal winds amongst the faded woods.” -- William Wordsworth
===============================================================(in Brentwood Bay, British Columbia, Canada) Blankets of autumn colors can be discovered in Canada’s western regions, including Vancouver Island just off the west coast. The island's capital city of Victoria offers plenty of great attractions, including the serene and foliage-filled Butchart Gardens. Its famed Japanese Garden is a showcase of vibrant maples and golden chrysanthemums, peaking toward the end of the Fall season once the summer crowds have dwindled and the weather is pleasantly cool. There are plenty of outdoor adventures to be enjoyed in the remote areas nearby as well, including multiple hikes in Pacific Rim National Park. The Butchart Gardens is a comprised of a group of floral-display gardens --
near Victoria on Vancouver Island. The gardens receive more than a million visitors each "normal" year.
+ One woman’s vision forever transformed the area's concept of a garden. With a former quarry as a "canvas," Jennie Butchart envisioned transforming this space into a beautiful garden haven, overflowing with lush greens and colorful blooms. The result of her vision is The Butchart Gardens, which are still family-run to this day. Coming from Ontario in 1904, husband and wife, Robert and Jennie Butchart moved to Vancouver Island to build a cement plant on a rich limestone deposit at Tod Inlet on Brentwood Bay. As cement production exhausted the limestone deposits in 1912, Jennie envisioned a grand garden in its place and began transferring top soil by horse and cart. Little by little, the quarry blossomed into today’s Sunken Garden. Between 1906 and 1929, the Butcharts expanded The Gardens, designing the Japanese Garden on the seaside, the Italian Garden on their former tennis court, and the fragrant, overflowing Rose Garden. The Gardens were gifted by the couple to their son, Ian Ross, on his 21st birthday, who transformed them into the world-renowned attraction one finds here today, adding outdoor concerts and night lighting in the summers, and the Magic of Christmas in the winters. Beginning in 1977, great-grandson Christopher began producing a choreographed fireworks show every year. In 2009, his sister (and current owner of The Gardens), Robin, added the Children’s Pavilion and Menagerie Carousel. Two Totem Poles were carved in Classic Coast Salish style by Master Carvers Charles Elliot of the Tsartlip Nation and Doug La Fortune of Tsawout Band, and dedicated on September 9th, 2004 not only to celebrate the 100th anniversary of The Butchart Gardens but also in recognition of the rich cultural heritage provided by Indigenous People. (Today, The Butchart Gardens is a National Historic Site of Canada, where visitors find remnants of the original cement plant and millions of bedding plants -- in more than 900 varieties -- to be appreciated as they wander The Gardens.)
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