I have only one thing to say about Butchart Gardens. Go see it!

But if you think I’m going to stop after saying one thing, you obviously don’t know me vey well. I pared my pictures down to a list of the very best, and concluded that I needed to do a lot more pruning. No doubt I should have cut even more, but be assured that it could have been worse…

Tulips were a dominant theme today. All colours and kinds of tulips. I could have filled an entire blog post with pictures of tulips, but mercifully I’m not going to do that. I’ll just show you one, and assure you that this really doesn’t do it justice. But it will have to do.

I promise you there were more tulips than anything else, so the next set of pictures should give you some idea of what you are missing.

Butchart Gardens was built in an abandoned limestone quarry. Ironically, the old quarry creates an interesting backdrop for the gardens.

This next picture isn’t even a flower. It’s a tree where the leaves emerge reddish pink before they change to green.

There are so many flowers and flowering trees, that they create a broad canvas of colours.

And, of course, the different plants offer a palette of colours and textures. This picture includes a mix of tulips, flowering shrubs, flowering trees, and leaves in a range of colours. The overall effect is stunning.

We woke up this morning to a light drizzle and mist on the hills, before the sky began to clear as we headed over to Butchart Gardens. But signs of the rain were everywhere, including on here, where you can see the water drops on the flower and the grass.

It’s well worth a visit.