The Butchart Gardens:

Over 100 years in Bloom -- open every day of the year

When Robert and Jennie Butchart came to live at Tod Inlet on Vancouver Island (Canada) they named their home “Benvenuto” (welcome in Italian). With great vision, Jennie transformed the barren limestone quarry (excavated to supply the cement factory owned by her husband nearby). Now 22 hectares of breathtaking gardens on the 53 hectare estate are visited by close to a million people each year. In 2004 during 100th anniversary, the Butchart Gardens, still family owned, was designated a National Historic Site of Canada. The Gardens , through the skilled mixture of rare and exotic shrubs, trees and flowers, often collected by the Butcharts during their extensive world travels, continually expanded over the years to become the world famous Sunken, Japanese, Rose, Italian and Mediterranean gardens.