Glendale Gardens turns 30

Yesterday I attended the 30th anniversary celebration of Glendale Gardens, which is also home to the Pacific Horticulture College.  I have been visiting the gardens every couple of months for the past few years and had no idea it had such a rich history and vibrant back story.

The event was well attended (admission was free) and featured guest speaker Murray Coell (Minister of Labour and BC Liberal MLA for Saanich North) as well as a number of local and provincial politicians including; Ida Chong (Minister of Healthy Living and Sport),  Gary Lunn (Minister of State and Sport), Mel Couvelier (former Mayor of Saanich) Mel was mayor of Saanich when the initial proposal for the Pacific Horticulture Centre was drafted back in 1978, the current Mayor of Saanich Frank Leonard and Dr. Keith Martin (MP for Esquimalt Juan de Fuca).

Joanna Drewry (President of Glendale Gardens) announced the creation of a new Urban Garden, a garden that will be a huge draw for young and old alike who want to learn more about growing their own food.  It is made possible through a generous $10K donation received from TD Bank and Telus to help the Centre  increase its focus on youth.  The students of the Pacific Horticulture College are building the Urban Garden as their group project. You can see the full text of the speeches from both Roger Charles and Joanna Drewry.

The Back Story

I learned that the original name “Horticulture Centre of the Pacific” (HCP)  was changed to the current Glendale Gardens & Woodland in 2006. However, I can’t say the I have ever heard anyone refer to it using the “& Woodland” portion of the name. Glendale comes from the name of the valley area which includes the Vancouver Island Technology Park, run by the University of Victoria, Camosun College and the Pacific Sports Complex.

The gardens were developed over time with the help of many dedicated volunteers and philanthropic donors including the Doris Page Winter Garden, the Takata Zen garden (my personal favourite) and of course a Rhodo garden. Any garden worth its salt in Victoria has to have a good Rhodo garden.

Gardener’s Garden

They call Glendale “the gardener’s garden” and I guess that’s what I love most about it. I have taken home many gardening ideas, as well as plants, they sell plants at a good price. The plant labels are very helpful and so are the gardeners and volunteers that I’ve talked to along the way.

The other nice thing about Glendale is the Pacific Horticulture College which offers a number of courses, lectures and programs. We found out about the college two years ago when we enrolled our, then 6-year old daughter, in the Junior Master Gardener camp. What a wonderful experience it was for her to learn about the earth, soil, plants, where our food comes from and how it’s grown. You just cannot get that from a book. She loved planting her own vegetables, weeding the gardens and making compost. She has since created her own garden space in our backyard and tries growing new vegetables each year.

I have taken several classes at the college and would love to find the time to take the 16-week Master Gardener Course. Until then I’ll have to get my fix from occasional visits and working in my own garden.

Garden facts:

• 9 acres of spectacular gardens showcase over 10,000 varieties of plants, the majority of which are labeled.
• 34 different areas are designed and planted to demonstrate landscaping techniques suitable for the Pacific Northwest.
• Some gardens are cared for by local clubs including: Heather, Rhododendron, Lily and Hardy Plant
• Year-round interest includes the renowned Doris Page Winter Garden

Images below: Left - Roger Charles (Executive Director) and Joanna Drewry (President) talk to Dr. Keith Martin. Right - a bench being fashioned from clay and straw.

If you’d like to see more photos of the event and Glendale Gardens check out my photo album on Facebook.

I would love to hear your comments about Glendale Gardens. Please use the comments box below to share your thoughts or story.

Tags: Garden, Victoria