Well, here's a question.
Have you ever been to the world famous
gardens on Canada's Vancouver Island?
It's one of the largest and most
beautiful botanical gardens in the world.
Garden Master Jim Duthie took a trip there
last week and today on you can grow it.
He takes us on a tour of the gardens
and shows us how some of them beautiful
plants and flowers growing there,
many of which you can grow
right here in your own backyard.
Take a look.
When you're looking for inspiration
and ideas for your own garden at home,
there's no better place
to visit than Boise's.
Own Idaho Botanical Garden.
But last week I took a vacation
trip to Victoria on Vancouver
Island in British Columbia,
Canada, and made another visit to
the beautiful Bouchart Gardens
nearby for more than 100 years.
These gardens have attracted
visitors from all over the world.
All of the plants and trees and flowers
growing there are well suited for that.
Cooler wetter.
Pacific maritime climate.
But I found that many of them
will do very well here in our
own backyards in Idaho.
So let's take a quick tour
and see what we can find.
The boot chart gardens covers more than
22 acres of the boot chart family estate.
It all began in 1904 when Robert Bouchard,
a pioneer in the early
days of cement production,
came to Vancouver Island to develop a
limestone quarry for his cement business.
By 1906, the quarry was abandoned and
Bouchard's wife Jenny had an idea to
make something beautiful out of the.
Empty pit from nearby farmland.
She had tons of topsoil brought
in by horse and cart to line the
bottom of the old quarry.
Little by little it blossomed into
what is now the sunken gardens.
One of the main attractions here
at Butchart Gardens on summer
weekend evenings.
The garden stays open longer,
allowing visitors to see the garden
amidst dazzling light displays,
giving the gardens an ethereal glow
during the next 25 years,
the BOUCHARDS expanded the
gardens around their home,
creating a beautiful
Japanese garden bordering.
God Inlet they turned their tennis
courts into an Italian garden,
complete with statues and ponds,
several statues and fountains dot
the gardens, creating whimsical,
eye-catching and interesting displays,
including the snail fountain,
the Sturgeon fountain and this
beautiful Chinese dragon fountain.
The 12 point is * Pond was originally
designed for Robert Bouchard's
collection of ornamental ducks nearby.
As an expansive Rose Garden,
displaying more than 6000 rose bushes,
each individually marked by name and origin.
Straw beneath the Arbor covered walkway
and take in the beautiful colors,
textures and scents of the most
popular flower in the world.
A stroll down another path brings us
past the bronze statue of TACA the boar.
Over the years thousands of visitors have
affectionately rubbed TACA for good luck,
resulting in his shiny snout.
From here you enter the Mediterranean garden,
containing a rich assortment of
exotic plants from around the world.
This part of Vancouver Island enjoys
a very mild climate with warm,
dry summers and relatively mild.
Wet winters with very little
snowfall in the show greenhouse.
Seasonal displays of hundreds of
plants will give you all kinds of
ideas of what you might want to
include in your own garden at home.
Head over to the seed and gift store
where you can actually buy seeds and
bulbs to grow the same plants that
you've enjoyed seeing in the gardens.
Finally,
here are a few of my favorite plants
at Butchart Gardens that with a little
attention should grow well in my own
yard at home begonias make a showy
and colorful addition to your garden
in the landscape or in containers.
Especially tuberous begonias,
which have larger blooms and more colors.
Trailing begonias make spectacular displays
in hanging pots as stilbenes feathery
flowers are a great accent in the landscape,
especially along a walkway where
bordering the green lawn delphinium,
also known as Larkspur,
is an elegant addition to the flower garden
with their tall spikes of vibrant colors.
Fuchsias provide an exotic touch,
especially in hanging baskets with
a profusion of flowers and Reds,
pinks and purples.
Matthiola,
commonly known as stock.
Makes a beautiful mass display
along borders and paths.
They have a rich scent and are
great for cut flower arrangements.
The Dahlia Garden features hundreds
of dinner plate dahlias in spectacular
colors and designs including
this brilliant sunshine yellow.
A delicate pink an explosive hot pink,
this pale lilac color and this fiery blaze
finally lilies are attention grabbers.
Plant the bulbs in the ground or
in containers and you'll have
a splash of color from spring
until frost lilies are perennial,
so they'll come back from year to year,
multiplying their numbers.
I hope you've enjoyed this little tour
of the beautiful Butchart Gardens.
There are so many amazing
things to see there,
but here at the Idaho Botanical Garden,
you'll get just as much inspiration
and motivation to make a little bit.
Chemical garden of your own in your backyard.
Bridal's News Channel 7 I'm Jim duthy.
Beautiful flowers there and the
Bouchard Gardens is located about
10 miles north of Victoria,
BC on Vancouver Island
and it's open year round.
Now if you're thinking about making
a trip there, you will need a passport.
Of course, the Idaho Botanical
Gardens are open daily from 9:00
AM to 7:00 PM and they're located
in northeast Boise off Warm Springs
Ave adjacent to the Old Idaho Pen.