Victoria, the capital of British Columbia, Canada, is a place renowned for its tranquil beauty. And the crown jewel of Victoria is the Butchart Garden. Visited by about 1 million people every year, this 55-acre garden houses about 900 varieties of flowers  tended by 50 gardeners.

Two things are especially interesting about the Butchart.

The first, it is cultivated on the site of an abandoned quarry. Way back in the 19^th century, the Butcharts were into cement production–Robert Butchart had started manufacturing Portland cement in 1888 in Ontario, Canada. As his business grew, he and his wife Jennie Butchart decided to move to the west coast of Canada because it had rich deposits of limestone—a critical input for cement production. They started quarrying limestone there, in the Saanich Penisula on Vicotria Island. Jennie trained as a chemist and worked in the company laboratory.

The couple also decided to build a house there, and in 1904, established their home near the quarry.

Jennie was always interested in gardening. In 1907 Isaburo Kishida, a Japenese garden designer from Yokohama, Japan, came to Victoria to build a tea garden at the Esquimalt Gorge Park. Following this, Japanese-style gardens became the rage in the area. Several prominent citizens, including Jennie Butchart, commissioned Kishida to build Japanese gardens in their estates.

This was the start of Jennie’s horticultural journey. In 1909, the limestone quarry was exhausted. Jennie was devastated to see the degradation and destruction left behind. She set about turning it into what came to be known as the Sunken Garden.  She transported tonnes of topsoil by horse-carts and is said to have personally tucked ivy into any hole or crevice in the rock and the grim quarry walls, suspended in a boson’s chair. It was a long process to get the ravaged quarry to bloom, but the garden was ready in 1921. So rather than a wound on the face of the earth which the abandoned quarry might have been, thanks to the relentless efforts of one woman, the site houses a world-famous garden.

After this highly successful reclamation project, Jennie’s ambitions grew and in 1926, she converted their tennis courts into an Italian garden. In 1929, the kitchen garden gave way to a rose garden. 

The reclamation is one part of the story.

The other interesting aspect of the Butchart Gardens are that they family-owned but perfectly accessible to the public.

The gardens came up on land owned by Robert and Jennie. And since then, have passed from generation to generation. The couple gifted the gardens to their grandson Ian Ross on his 21^st birthday. He took the mission passionately forward, transforming the garden into an internationally-recognized landmark. Over the course of five decades, Ross not only enhanced the horticultural aspects, but added several performance features, like outdoor symphony concerts, a variety stage show, and in 1987 introduced a Magic of Christmas display.

When Ross died in 1997, his son Christopher took over, expanding the gardens and staff. The weekly fireworks, for which the Gardens are famous even today, were started by him.

After Christopher’s passing in 2000, Christopher’s sister Robin-Lee has been managing the legacy. Barnabas Butchart Clarke, the only child of Robin-Lee and David Clarke, and great-great-grandson of the founders, is next in line.

While the Butchart Gardens continue to be family-owned, they have been a designated a National Historic Site of Canada since 2004.

That the legacy has stood the test of time for almost 130 years is testimony to the fact that Jennie was a woman out of the ordinary. She cared more for her gardens and flowers than fashion, and was usually to be found dressed in overalls and a straw hat. She wanted people to see and enjoy the gardens, and even though there were thousands of visitors even in her lifetime, she was against charging.

The Butchart Gardens have always been at the forefront of taking up environmental causes. Even currently, their site features a campaign against improper disposal of biosolids (nutrient-rich, organic material that are produced as a result of wastewater treatment). They also support NGOs in their area through in-kind donations.

A legacy beyond flowers indeed!

–Meena