Butchart Gardens in the Spring! May 10th

Today is the day we decided to visit Butchart Gardens to see all of the spring blooms. We still have our "Christmas Light" tickets that were unused due to the weather last Christmas and decided to use them today. A fabulous sunny and warm day.

We were out the door by 6:50 am heading to Victoria. Fortunately traffic is great, other than the beginning of the so called Colwood Crawl. Ray decided we should take a "backwoods way" avoiding the traffic. We took the exit at View Royal and followed the windy country roads behind Prospect Lake to Brentwood Bay.  A lovely drive. Don't know if it's any faster, but it's definitely prettier than stop and go traffic on Highway 1 through Victoria.

According to Google, the gardens do not open until 9am. We arrived at 8:20 am and waited 10 minutes for them to open up the gate so we could park. As well, they actually open up the gardens at 8:45 to start walking the paths. This is great, as we were the first people there and Ray got a lot of pictures before the masses of people showed up. By 11 am there were 4 busloads of people dropped off. The lighting for pictures would have been better at noon, so there were less shadows but a lot more people in your way. lol

The colours of the tulips are amazing. Lots of varieties. Half of the rhododendrons and azaleas are also blooming, not to mention the blossoms on the trees. It definitely is a sensory overload with all of the colours and scents in the air. We had a lovely 2 1/2 hour stroll around the gardens.

Pretty trippy reflections

Saw this guy hanging onto a lily pad and croaking like mad. lol

Interesting fact is that all the bulbs that are "spent" are composted with all of the other clippings and made into soil. They plant new bulbs every year mostly with only a few that can be planted for one more year only. They reuse their "grey water" for all their irrigation. Their crews were already taking out some tulips that are done for the season and started on planting early summer flowers in some of the beds.

After we finishing our walk, we stopped for tea and a treat at the coffee shop before heading out of the gardens. We'd been invited to lunch at Ivo and Sara Olivotto, parents of a friend (and Godmother) of Kristi's from med school.  They have a delightful home with a fantastic view. We haven't seen them since my 65th birthday party last summer. Nice to catch up.

This is their view from their deck.

We had a visitor on the tree right in front watching us. 

This crow kept badgering the eagle so it finally took off. Must be a crows nest close by.

Back home by 3 pm. We relaxed on our sundeck for the rest of the afternoon.