Embark on an immersive garden odyssey next June 6-13, 2025, exploring the lush landscapes of Vancouver, Bowen Island and Victoria. Join Garden Liaison, and Published Garden Photographer Doreen Wynja, with a professional tour leader, to delve into this harmonious blend of Old and New Gardens. Visits include Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden, VanDusen Botanical Garden, and University of British Columbia’s Gardens. A full day on Bowen Island for curator lead tours of private, whimsical, home and rewild gardens. Onto Victoria, for three days to visit the Butterfly Garden, have afternoon tea and time for self-exploration at the iconic Butchart Gardens. An exciting exclusive tour of two project sites with Hatchet and Seed, focusing on Food Forestry and Edible Landscapes. Tour a landscape restoration of a 7000 square foot home of Samuel Maclure – featured in Modern Home Magazine. Conclude the journey with more intimate private home garden, visits with talented and adored, local gardeners of British Columbia. End with a private tour and tea at Abkhazi Gardens. Sponsored by Pacific Horticulture.
Are you concerned about food security and not sure where to get started? The past few years have highlighted the fragility of our food system, and many people are feeling urgency to take greater responsibility for their food and where it comes from. In light of drought and fires, supply chain challenges, the pandemic and lockdowns, unemployment, workforce limitations, and rising food costs, we are witnessing an unprecedented interest in food security, local supply chains, health & wellness, and immunity. People want to take action, but where to begin?!
This online workshop sponsored by Edible Landscapes Design based in Victoria, BC, focuses on edible plants that are particularly useful in the context of emergencies. We will focus on widely-available wild plants, nutrient-dense “weeds”, and fast-growing annual plants that ensure a quick and abundant harvest. Our lead instructor, Joshua Clae Wagler, is a passionate and sought-after instructor, having offered his educational services to over 2500 students since co-founding Edible Landscapes Design in 2013. He helped developed the Food Forestry curriculum for the Growing Young Farmers Society, and has been invited to speak at the Horticultural Centre of the Pacific, for the Victoria Hardy Plants Group, Victoria Seedy Saturday Speaker Series (2018, 2019, 2020), The Haven on Gabriola Island, and the Victoria Master Gardeners Association.
The workshop is on Zoom on January 27 at 1 pm Eastern, and is $25. Register through Eventbrite HERE
THIS WORKSHOP MIGHT BE FOR YOU IF:
– You have always WANTED to start growing your own food, but don’t know where to start
– You want fresh, nutrient-dense food, as quickly as possible
– You are looking for plants that are easy-to-grow and provide an abundant harvest
– You have no space or limited space for a garden, but still want to take responsibility for your food
– You want a personal food security plan that works in both urban/rural contexts
– You are interested in widely-available edible wild plants
– You are seeking a diverse approach to food security
– You want to deepen your connection to nature and engage your environment in a new way
– You want to feel more prepared and self-reliant in case of food shortages or supply-chain breakdowns
IN THIS WORKSHOP, WE WILL EXPLORE:
-Creating a food security strategy that integrates with your current lifestyle
– Psychological strategies for resilience
-Quick-turn-around crops
-Easy-to-grow edibles for bold beginners
-High-yield plants that produce throughout the season
-Resources for continued ongoing education
– Strategies for long-term food security
-Solutions for urban environments, including apartments and condos
– Growing food indoors and in small spaces
-Edible wild plants & weeds with recipes & resources
Capture colors and textures of autumn with this container garden floral design class with Betsy Williams at Tower Hill Botanic Garden on Septembver 19 at 10:15 am. Fill a 14″ pot with brilliant mums and asters, richly colored kales, variegated ivy, heucheras and other hardy plant material. With proper care your autumn container garden will brighten your doorway or patio until Thanksgiving. Plants in containers often make it through the winter if kept in a sheltered location and can be planted outdoors in the spring.
All materials are included in this program. If you register as a pair you will receive ONE SET of supplies.
Instructor Betsy Williams teaches, lectures and writes about living with herbs and flowers. A lifelong gardener, herb grower and cook, Betsy trained as a florist in Boston and England. She combines her floral, gardening and cooking skills with an extensive knowledge of history, plant lore and seasonal celebrations. An entertaining lecturer, she weaves stories and legends throughout her informative talks and demonstrations. Her gardens, floral work and retail shop have been featured in many books, national magazines and newspapers, including The New York Times, The American Gardener, Victoria, Better Homes and Gardens, Country Living Gardener, Colonial Homes, the Herb Companion, and Traditional Homes.
$85 Member Adult; $100 Adult; $115 Adult Pair (Registration includes admission to the Garden) Register at www.towerhillbg.org.
Potpourri, French for rotten pot, is a fragrant, often beautiful, mix of scented plant material with a long and fascinating history. In this Tower Hill Botanic Garden in-person program on February 27 from 10:30 – noon, we’ll discuss the history of potpourri and the importance of fragrance through the centuries, then learn the basics of creating a modern potpourri: how to dry herbs and flowers, use essential oils, and select fixatives. Each attendee will make a quart of sweetly scented Potpourri that welcomes the coming of Spring and the joyful return of the growing season! All materials will be provided. This program will be held indoors in one of our well-ventilated classrooms. Group size (10 people) will not exceed current state restrictions. $50 for THBG members, $65 for nonmembers. Register at www.towerhillbg.org.
Instructor Betsy Williams teaches, lectures and writes about living with herbs and flowers. A lifelong gardener, herb grower and cook, Betsy trained as a florist in Boston and England. She combines her floral, gardening and cooking skills with an extensive knowledge of history, plant lore and seasonal celebrations. An entertaining lecturer, she weaves stories and legends throughout her informative talks and demonstrations. Her gardens, floral work and retail shop have been featured in many books, national magazines and newspapers, including The New York Times, The American Gardener, Victoria, Better Homes and Gardens, Country Living Gardener, Colonial Homes, the Herb Companion, and Traditional Homes.
The American Horticultural Society with hosts Erich Veitenheimer and Drew Cariaso and Tour Leader Kiloran McRae of Beneficial Travel have planned another exquisite trip September 5 – 12 in British Columbia. Highlights includetThe charming city of Vancouver, including a guided tour of the green oasis of Stanley Park, The University of British Columbia’s Nitobe Memorial Garden, among the world’s top five Japanese gardens outside Japan, and UBC’s Botanical Garden, with a walk into the tree canopy along an aerial trail system. Also included is the Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden, which embodies the philosophy of yin and yang and was named the world’s top city garden by National Geographic and the VanDusen Botanical Garden (below), a 55-acre oasis whose features include a majestic stand of giant sequoias and a Sino-Himalayan garden. You will see the Vancouver Art Gallery, whose spectacular photography collection includes images by Ansel Adams, Cindy Sherman, and Henri Cartier-Bresson, and enjoy a wine tasting at the organic Garry Oaks Estate Winery. There will be the opportunity to tour organic farms, including the Salt Spring Apple Company’s orchard, the Salt Spring Island Cheese Company’s farm, and Foxglove Farm, created by organic-farming pioneer Michael Ableman. Private homes and gardens to which AHS has kindly been granted access, including a property named Canada’s best residential garden.
Top-rated Accommodations are: OPUS Hotel, a charming boutique hotel in Vancouver that TripAdvisor named one of the top five trendiest hotels in the world. Hastings House Country House Hotel, a small luxury resort on 22 waterfront acres that is a member of the prestigious Relais and Châteaux hotel group. The Magnolia Hotel and Spa, a luxury boutique property two blocks from Victoria’s picturesque Inner Harbour that is consistently selected as one of Canada’s top hotels. For more information and to make reservations, please contact Susan Klejst, Director of Development & Engagement at (703) 768-5700 ext. 127, or Laura Popovich, Development Coordinator, at (703) 768-5700 ext. 132, or email development@ahsgardening.org. Our fax number is (703) 768-8700.
Join the Pacific Horticulture Society for a special opportunity to visit gardens in Australia when it’s springtime down under.
Our tour starts in the vibrant city of Sydney and continues on through the Blue Mountains and scenic highlands of New South Wales to the capital city of Canberra. Continuing to the state of Victoria, we’ll visit charming townships like Daylesford, Dunkeld, and Sorrento, and Grampians National Park. The tour will end in the cultural city of Melbourne. Tour attendees may want to add a few days to their trip and take in the Melbourne Garden DesignFest, taking place the following weekend, before heading home or continuing their travels in Australia or beyond.
Throughout our tour you’ll take in a wide variety of interesting and enjoyable public and private gardens often using indigenous plants. You’ll see wildflowers and visit specialty nurseries like Lambley Nursery as well as gardens designed by leading landscape architects including Paul Bangay and Sam Cox. We’ll take in country estates, historic gardens, small urban gardens, wineries, galleries with sculpture parks, and important botanic gardens such as Royal Botanic Gardens Cranbourne. All carefully chosen to show you the best that Australia has to offer.
Most importantly, our tour emphasizes fun, quality experiences, and good food. You’ll meet the locals, be entertained in their homes, and leave Australia knowing what a dinkum Aussie is!
Powerful Vistas/Powerful Views: New Perspectives in Historic Landscape Preservation, the Alliance for Historic Landscape Preservation 2012 Conference, will be held in Victoria, BC, April 25-28, 2012.
The 34th annual gathering of the Alliance for Historic Landscape Preservation will discuss new perspectives in historic landscape preservation when it convenes in Victoria, British Columbia in April 2012. Suggested topics for discussion papers include challenges and approaches to the identification, sustainability and protection of historic landscapes and issues of cultural diversity, identity and meaning in landscape preservation. Our vistas will be Canada’s powerful, awe-inspiring West Coast landscape. The First Nations people knew it intimately. Emily Carr lovingly interpreted it in her paintings. Now you can see it for yourself.And Vancouver Island beckons you to engage in this kaleidoscope of ideas. The City of Victoria promotes itself as being “full of life” and we intend to inject as much of that into your conference experience as we can. Centered at the venerable Empress Hotel puts us alongside the Inner Harbour and in the heart of the city both convenient for exploring by foot or as a launching off point for bus tours. Field visits will look at aboriginal, colonial and multicultural engagements with the powerful landscapes of the Canadian west coast.And, as always, while we are not able to accommodate all that the Victoria region has to offer in the short time that we will be together, we’ll provide some ideas about interesting places that you might explore either before/after the conference (including Vancouver across the Georgia Strait or Seattle, if you are coming Stateside).
Learn more about the conference on the Alliance for Historic Landscape Preservation website, www.ahlp.org.
