Canadian spring is in the air and gardens

By STAN PINNEGAR

Look left, look right, and left again. Yes, of course, Canadians drive on the right-hand side of the road (and they are careful and courteous, which is why I didn't get run over).

Look right again, look upwards, and straight ahead. Then look behind lest you were dreaming, for it is spring in April and Mother Nature has recruited the eager people of British Columbia to tend to her work.

One wonders what Shakespeare might have written for one of his best-loved sonnets had he been born in this province. Somehow, "the darling buds of April" doesn't have quite the same ring.

Yet by April 1, the official first day of spring, winter's dying gasp has left the gardens of this beautiful land carpeted in snowdrops and crocuses, and awakening warmth has adorned the flowering cherries and plums and roused the daffodils and tulips by the hundreds of thousands from their sleepy beds.

There is a joie de vivre in the streets. Everywhere through Vancouver City and the capital, Victoria, is shouted the joyous arrival of rebirth. .

Look for a blade of grass out of place, an unkempt hedge, a weed ... you will need to look hard - the people of British Columbia take a fanatical pride in their gardens.

Nowhere is this philosophy more apparent than in Victoria, at the world-famous Butchart Gardens, part of which was once a quarry, now long transformed into a magical sunken garden and trout-filled lake.

If there is an English country garden look about many British Columbian homes and institutions, at Butchart, the Italian garden and particularly the Japanese garden captivate the visitor.

The Japanese garden was designed in 1906 by landscape artist Isaboru Kashida, his plan implemented by Scottish gardener Hugh Lindsay, with the help of Chinese labourers borrowed from the Butchart family's Portland cement company. The magnificent originally planted copper beeches stand at the red lacquer gateway to the Japanese garden, and tall maples wave in greeting at the top of the path.

The Japanese garden has been added to over many years and now includes lanterns, ornaments, streams and bridges.

Plans for the sunken garden came into being in 1908, after limestone from the quarry was exhausted. The more formal areas were designed by landscape artist Raoul Robillard and built by English landscaper William Westby.

It was a huge task - the 1.4ha quarry needed draining, tons of topsoil had to be brought in from neighbouring farmland and rock found to form beds. The quarry was lined and allowed to fill with water from a natural spring, forming a lake 12m deep in places. The sunken garden was completed in 1921, after the Butchart family had collected rare trees and flowers from around the world.

In 1926 an old tennis court was turned into the Italian garden, the most formal of its settings.

In summer the gardens glow at night with thousands of coloured illuminations. Visitors can wander softly lit pathways and breathe the delightfully scented air.

There are song and dance performances, too, along with buskers, Dixieland jazz and Celtic melodies, and, billed as unforgettable, a spectacular musical fireworks display, lighting up the night sky every Saturday from July 1 to September 2.

The cuisine at the Butchart restaurants is highly recommended, ranging from coffee or tea at the Quarry Coffeehouse to one of the many simple delights - a picnic on the lawn, with wicker baskets, food and wine, checkered tablecloths, linen napkins, silver cutlery and wine glasses. A basket for two costs $C60 ($90). E-mail: email@butchartgardens.com

CASENOTES

GETTING THERE: Air New Zealand and Air Canada provide a twice-daily service to Vancouver from Auckland. From October 1, Air Pacific will provide a twice-weekly service to Vancouver. From November, CANADA 3000 will provide a twice-weekly service.

PUBLIC TRANSPORT: User friendly but most attractions and shopping are within walking distance of downtown hotels.

VICTORIA: A 1 hour and 40 minute trip by BC Ferries and costs CDN$9. Ferries leave every hour on the hour from 7 am to 11 pm during summer, with a reduced service during the rest of the year.

Pacific Coach Lines provide a Vancouver to Victoria service. Vancouver: (001604) 662 8074, Victoria (001250) 385 4411.

WHAT TO DO: Butchart Gardens open year round 9 am to 10:30 pm. Admission is CDN$16.50. Campbell River on Vancouver Island can be reached by bus or rental car from Victoria or by ferry from Vancouver to Nanaimo. There is also a plane service from Vancouver harbour to Campbell River with BC Air.

MORE INFO: Call the Canadian Tourism Commission at 0800 226 232.

* Stan Pinnager flew to BC as a guest of CANADA 300 Airways and the Canadian Tourism Commission.