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 HOME Speakers Schedule Activities Accommodations Travel Canadian Registration Form U.S. Registration Form Updated: May 29, 2009 |
PRE-CONFERENCE GARDEN VISITSAll the conference garden visits are self-guided and require a vehicle. For the Friday pre-conference garden visits, you will require your own transportation. For the Saturday and Sunday garden visits there is no organized transport offered, but there will be a means of indicating which conference participants would like rides and which are willing to give rides. To visit the pre-conference open gardens, if you are coming from the airport, the Swartz Bay ferry terminal, or the Mary Winspear Centre (Sidney), follow Highway 17 into Victoria, and take the turnoff to Highway 1. If you are coming from downtown Victoria, take Douglas Street out of town and follow signs to Highway 1. Driving time to the first garden will be 30-45 minutes, depending on point of departure, time and traffic. Note that traffic is heavy on Friday afternoons, especially on Highway 1, so please consider that in planning your visits to allow enough time get to the Mary Winspear Centre for registration (starts at 4:00 pm). From Metchosin, that could take up to 1 hour. Google Map of Gardens VIEW ROYAL GARDENCALVOR PALMATEER & GEORGE LOVICK540 Prince Robert Lane, View Royal Directions: Go west on Highway 1, take the Helmcken exit and go south on Helmcken Road. Turn right on the Island Highway (Highway 1A), left onto Prince Robert Drive at the Cambridge Motel and climb the hill. Prince Robert LANE is a cul-de-sac that comes off Prince Robert Drive. Please park on Prince Robert DRIVE and walk in along Prince Robert Lane, bear right, and come to the end of the lane (the cream stucco house with the green tile roof). Calvor and George initially set out to create a hummingbird garden, so this must-see collectors' garden is of special interest to those who wish to attract birds to their gardens as well as to those wishing to see the many rare and unusual plants collected over the years, including cyclamen, hellebores and lilies. The front and side gardens are terraced, with the flat back garden being developed for drought-tolerant plants. LANGFORD / METCHOSIN GARDENSThese 3 gardens are quite close together. If you're planning to visit all the open gardens, then from the View Royal garden, visit these 3 in the following order.LYNDA & MICHAEL DOWLING Happy Valley Lavender & Herb Farm 3505 Happy Valley Road, Langford Directions: From View Royal, take the Island Highway (Highway 1A) which becomes Sooke Road just before Royal Roads University. Continue on Sooke Road, then turn left on Happy Valley Road. (Note that the driving directions given on the Farm website are for the most direct route from Victoria, which is not the best route for seeing the other Friday open gardens.) Website: www.happyvalleylavender.com Happy Valley Lavender & Herb Farm is a loving "backyard project" of over 20 years featuring many varieties of sweet lavenders, a classic herb display garden and a huge vegetable patch. The lavender harvest should begin at the end of June. ROBIN HOPPER 'Chosin Pottery 4283 Metchosin Road, Metchosin www.chosinpottery.ca Directions: From Happy Valley Lavender Farm, turn left onto Happy Valley Road, then left on Metchosin Road. From Sue Gunnarson's garden, return to Metchosin Road and turn right. This award-winning, meandering 2.5 acre Anglojapanadian garden has been under development for 30 years. It is an artist's interpretation of the five basic Japanese garden styles within the form of a storytelling stroll garden. It includes many interesting structures, sculptures, ponds, artworks and a massive variety of largely Asian plants. The garden and gallery are also open Saturday and Sunday. SUE GUNNARSON 4191 Elna Road, Metchosin Directions: From 'Chosin Pottery, turn right on Metchosin Road, left onto Pears Road and continue to Elna. (Directly from View Royal, take the Island Highway (Highway 1A) which becomes Sooke Road. Continue on Sooke Road, then turn left on Metchosin Road, continue to Metchosin Golf and Country Club, turn right onto Pears Road and continue to Elna.) Please park on the street, not in the driveway. This 2-acre property in rural Metchosin was purchased 8 years ago and the garden carved from an impenetrable thicket of alder, broom and blackberries. One acre is deer-fenced formal garden framed by two large arbutus trees (one over 250 years old), a large Garry oak, conifers and young specimen trees. Growing conditions range from a dry native rocky area to the wet area by the large spring-fed seasonal pond. A large greenhouse stands on the hill in the middle of the garden and a new potager garden is being created at the back of the house. PUBLIC GARDEN - admission fee requiredHATLEY CASTLE & HATLEY PARK GARDENSRoyal Roads University, 2005 Sooke Road, Colwood www.hatleygardens.com Hatley Park, located on the grounds of Royal Roads University, is home to Hatley Castle and Hatley Park Gardens, which overlook Esquimalt Lagoon, the Straits of Juan de Fuca and the Olympic Mountains in Washington State. There are separate admission fees for the Castle and the Gardens - which include the Italian Gardens, the Japanese Gardens and the Rose Gardens - as well as parking fees. Consult the website for opening hours, fees, and guided garden tour schedule. |