A Trip to the Centre

I love taking the kids to see various public gardens, but my enthusiasm for such ventures is not often matched by the kids. Nothing (or at least nothing that they might want) to buy, no rides, no monkey bars, et cetera et cetera. However, I have to say that once there, the kids are usually just as happy as I am.

This was certainly the case last Friday when Damon and I took our kids and a couple of their friends to The Horticultural Centre of The Pacific, known to many as Glendale Gardens. This is a gorgeous 103 acres in Saanich, of which 9 acres are landscaped with public demonstration gardens. Admission is free for kids under 12, and $11 for adults (members are free). Also on the grounds are a library, garden shop, bistro, and the Pacific Horticultural College. The Centre offers children's summer camps, as well as many courses and workshops for adults.

The most heavily cultivated part of the garden is laid out in a loose grid pattern, culminating in a gorgeous round patio, or gathering place. All of these gardens are on a slope which looks down across a field to a large, sparkling pond, of the Beatrix Potter ilk.

The first garden we looked at, and my favourite, is the kids garden. The best thing about it is this teeny play house with a planted roof that the kids are welcome to play in. Other features of this garden are a rain stick, gumboots overflowing with flowers, a little angel on a swing in a shrub, and various planted wheelbarrows.

There is also a bird and butterfly garden, vegetable garden, dry garden, Mediterranean garden, fruit trees, hardy plants, roses, hardy fuschias, a winter garden, zen garden, heather garden, ornamental grass garden, an orchard, an ethnobotany trail, and more. And the best part is that almost all of the plants are labeled, making it a great place to learn which plants work well in which environments. I would suggest that anyone looking to create their own garden should go here after analyzing the specific attributes and liabilities of their own site.

The kids, of course, don't care much about the attributes of their site...but they played tag and hide and seek to their hearts content, stopping only to devour the summer fruit, cheese and cracker snack that we had packed for them. They picnicked in the Zen garden, which, while not as breathtaking as the Japanese Garden at Hatley Castle, is lovely and peaceful to be in, and features a raked stone garden as well as a stream, koi pond and tea house.

This was a great way to spend the afternoon with the kids, and definitely worth the price of admission.