Gardens BC has expanded their website that features seven new garden-centered travel itineraries. In Victoria, special spots include Butchart Gardens in Brentwood Bay. Courtesy of Gardens BC

Blossoming Gardens BC itineraries help garden lovers plan their B.C. travels

June 5, 2024 // by Chadd Cawson

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Gardens BC continues to blossom.

Since first launching their online resource gardensbc.com last May, the organization has expanded its website to feature seven new garden-centred travel itineraries including Chilliwack, Abbotsford, Harrison River Valley, Vancouver’s North Shore, Langley, Prince George, as well as Parksville and Qualicum Beach.

“We are very excited to have expanded our website and to now be offering a broad range of itineraries for our communities and visitors to enjoy,” says Gardens BC president Geoff Ball. “These will help Gardens BC to promote visiting and experiencing British Columbia’s diversity of gardens and garden experiences.”

Thanks to the expansion of BC Gardens’ website, garden groupies can easily find treasures in bloom throughout the island and province. According to Dr. Richard Benfield, who spoke at the 2023 International Garden Tourism Conference, garden visits account for one of the largest segments of the world’s tourism industry, with 1.5 billion visitors to more than 5,000 gardens annually.

Victoria Butterfly Gardens in Brentwood Bay offers a tropical garden experience. Courtesy of Gardens BC

“The launch of our refreshed website has been an important step to help showcase the richness of garden tourism experiences throughout the province,” Ball says. “People from across B.C. and beyond can now more easily plan out garden experiences into their trips.”

Gardens BC’s self-guided itineraries make filling up one’s senses on foliage and flowers easier than ever before. Included are lists of garden experiences in each destination, as well as suggestions for dining, accommodations, and available amenities at each location, such as gardening education, on-site cafés and gift shops, picnic spots, pet-friendly areas, and wheelchair-accessible grounds. All itineraries have been developed in collaboration with tourism partners and supported by Destination BC. Garden visitors can also anticipate an exciting array of blossoms that will soon be in bloom including cherry blossoms, magnolias, rhododendrons and tulips, to name just a few.

“We hope that users come away inspired to explore gardens that are new to them and to recognize the wealth of gardens across the Island and throughout B.C.,” Ball says.

READ MORE: An Island of Gardens

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