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British Columbia Destinations
Minter Gardens
By Immalee Hurston
Minter Gardens is a 27-acre showpiece near Chilliwack that
features 11 theme gardens.
Lush gardens are a highlight of southwestern B.C.
With its mild, year-round climate, southwestern British Columbia
region is lush with forests, parks and gardens. It's no secret
that this region enjoys its fair share of rain, but summers
are warm and sunny, bringing brilliant colour to the luxuriant,
year-round foliage.
All types of plants co-exist -- those that are indigenous
to the temperate rain forest (the northern counterpart of
the tropical forest) such as enormous Douglas firs, red cedars,
giant thuyas, and western hemlocks, as well as countless European
and Asian plants that have been imported over the decades.
 In
downtown Vancouver, when spring arrives the air is scented
with Japanese cherry blossoms, vying for attention beside
the armies of daffodils, rhododendrons and tulips.
It is the numerous private and public ornamental gardens that
really capture Vancouver's passion for flowers.
The most resplendent of these include the VanDusen Botanical
Garden and Queen Elizabeth Garden in Vancouver, and Minter
Gardens, near Chilliwack.
Serious gardeners should also visit the research botanical
garden at the University of British Columbia, where 70 rambling
acres are planted with over 10,000 different trees, shrubs
and flowers, some growing largely as nature intended, while
others are more cultivated and formal.
The Living Forest at the Capilano Suspension Bridge is another
trove of discovery with its panels of interactive displays,
offbeat facts and naturalist's notes provide an intimate understanding
of the rainforest. The bug boxes of creepy crawlies at work
in the soil are especially fun.
The region's smaller creations are also among its greatest
treasures. The Nitobe Memorial Garden at UBC is an authentic
Japanese design, complete with a stroll garden, tea garden
and ceremonial Tea House, that reflects an idealized harmony
of nature. The Dr. Sun Yat Sen Chinese Gardens, the only one
of its kind outside of China, is an unexpected meditative
space in the heart of bustling Chinatown.
Further afield towards the mountains and the Sunshine Coast,
the landscape is largely untamed, except for private gardens
which showcase unexpected bursts of colour. In the Fraser
Valley, quite the opposite is true. Here you'll find a profusion
of dahlias at Fernhill Gardens in Mission, fields of lavender
and echinacea at Tuscan Farm Gardens in Langley as well as
Canada's largest collection of daylilies in Canada -- more
than 900 varieties -- at Artemis Gardens in Abbotsford (open
only in July during peak bloom time).
Don't miss the tiny Japanese Friendship Garden in Hope, an
anomaly in the wilderness, yet typical of the wonderful garden
surprises that the region offers.
For further information, contact the B.C. Vancouver, Coast
and Mountains Tourism Region,
250-1508 West 2nd Avenue, Vancouver, BC V6J 1H2. Telephone:
(604) 739-9011 or e-mail:
info@vcmbc.com. |
