Most beautiful post of the year: University of Victoria Finnerty Gardens

When people think of Victoria. British Columbia, they immediately think of Butchart Gardens. It may be the biggest horticultural attraction in Victoria, possibly even in the entire province of British Columbia, but it’s not the only game in town.

On our recent University of Victoria college tour with daughter #1 we visited Finnerty Gardens right on campus. From their web site I knew that:

One of Canada's best collections of rhododendrons is on display at Finnerty Gardens on the University of Victoria grounds.

The garden contains over 4,000 different trees and shrubs with more than 1,500 rhododendron and azalea plants, including 200 collected rhododendron species, and a spectacular range of companion plants artistically displayed on a 2.6 hectare (6.5 acre) site at the southwest corner of UVic’s campus.

Complementing the plant life are three tranquil ponds, an inviting network of winding paths and dozens of benches, each with its own distinctive view of the gardens' ever-changing splendour.(1)

But I was not prepared for the spectacular beauty we would find.

Our visit had a very auspicious beginning. Even before we entered Finnerty Gardens (free admission seven days a week; free parking on Sundays) we found these Pacific madrones (Arbutus menziesii) in full bloom right in the parking lot. I was so excited, I took more photos than I realized, but to me the combination of the peeling reddish bark and bell-shaped white flowers is breathtaking.

160410_Victoria_UVic_FinnertyGardens_0002

160410_Victoria_UVic_FinnertyGardens_0007

160410_Victoria_UVic_FinnertyGardens_0003

160410_Victoria_UVic_FinnertyGardens_0005

Arbutus flowers are similar to manzanita (Arctostaphylos) flowers. Both genera are in the heather family (Ericaceae).

160410_Victoria_UVic_FinnertyGardens_0006

The main entrance to Finnerty Gardens is at the Interfaith Chapel on the southwestern edge of campus. Parking is in lot 6 off Ring Road. 

160410_Victoria_UVic_FinnertyGardens_0008

160410_Victoria_UVic_FinnertyGardens_0009

Here is some history on the gardens as per one of the interpretive signs:

160410_Victoria_UVic_FinnertyGardens_0056

Right after you walk through the gate you find yourself in a different world. At 6½ acres the gardens aren’t excessively large, but the criss-crossing trails create the illusion that you could easily get lost in this forest wonderland. Wherever I looked, I found something worth photographing.

160410_Victoria_UVic_FinnertyGardens_0010

160410_Victoria_UVic_FinnertyGardens_0021

160410_Victoria_UVic_FinnertyGardens_0020-Wiederhergestellt

160410_Victoria_UVic_FinnertyGardens_0017

White skunk cabbage (Lysichiton camtschatcensis)

I’m sure Finnerty Gardens is a great place to visit at any time of year but spring has got all the other seasons beat when it comes to color.

160410_Victoria_UVic_FinnertyGardens_0011

I felt so lucky that our trip coincided with the peak of the spring bloom.

160410_Victoria_UVic_FinnertyGardens_0012

Much of the color is from the garden’s world-class collection of rhododendrons. Since rhododendrons are hard to grow in the Sacramento Valley and you don’t see them all that often, I consider them somewhat exotic. I had certainly never experienced such a profusion of rhododendrons in such a riot of colors. And I learned a lot of interesting facts I’d never known.

160410_Victoria_UVic_FinnertyGardens_0013

There are over 1,000 different species in the genus Rhododendron and countless named cultivars. Most are native to Asia but some are native to the U.S., notably the great laurel (Rhododendron maximum) found in eastern North America and the Pacific rhododendron (Rhododendron macrophyllum) found in western North America.

160410_Victoria_UVic_FinnertyGardens_0014

If you’re like me, you’ll probably wonder how azaleas fit into this. Azaleas are actually rhododendrons, too. Here is an article you might find of interest. It mentions the rule of thumb I learned at the Abkhazi Garden in Victoria (the garden we visited after Finnerty Gardens): true rhododendrons have ten stamens while azaleas have five or seven. But all of them are in the genus Rhododendron.

160410_Victoria_UVic_FinnertyGardens_0023

Many rhododendrons at Finnerty Gardens weren’t labeled. Some were, like this Rhododendron basilicum:

160410_Victoria_UVic_FinnertyGardens_0026

This is one of the big-leaf species sought after by collectors.

160410_Victoria_UVic_FinnertyGardens_0027_Rhodo_basilicum

160410_Victoria_UVic_FinnertyGardens_0028_Rhodo_basilicum

The flowers of Rhododendron basilicum are truly spectacular, not so much because of their color, but because of their shape and markings.

160410_Victoria_UVic_FinnertyGardens_0025

160410_Victoria_UVic_FinnertyGardens_0024

Another white-flowering species that was labeled, Rhododendron bureavii:

160410_Victoria_UVic_FinnertyGardens_0032_Rhododendron-bureavii

160410_Victoria_UVic_FinnertyGardens_0034_Rhododendron-bureavii

160410_Victoria_UVic_FinnertyGardens_0038

And my favorite among the red-flowering rhodies, a hybrid called ‘Malahat’:

160410_Victoria_UVic_FinnertyGardens_0050

160410_Victoria_UVic_FinnertyGardens_0047

160410_Victoria_UVic_FinnertyGardens_0042

While the rhododendrons took front and center stage, they weren’t the only players. There were flowering cherries…

160410_Victoria_UVic_FinnertyGardens_0052

…mahonias (Mahonia × media ‘Charity’ in this case)…

160410_Victoria_UVic_FinnertyGardens_0054_Mahonia-x-media-Charity

160410_Victoria_UVic_FinnertyGardens_0055_Mahonia-x-media-Charity

…woody spurges (Euphorbia sp.) and Lenten roses (Helleborus sp.)…

160410_Victoria_UVic_FinnertyGardens_0060

…and paperbark maples (Acer griseum):

160410_Victoria_UVic_FinnertyGardens_0063

But the rhododendrons were never far away:

160410_Victoria_UVic_FinnertyGardens_0059

160410_Victoria_UVic_FinnertyGardens_0066

Rivaling the rhododendrons in flower power were the many flowering cherries…

160410_Victoria_UVic_FinnertyGardens_0062

…and magnolias:

160410_Victoria_UVic_FinnertyGardens_0068

160410_Victoria_UVic_FinnertyGardens_0069

160410_Victoria_UVic_FinnertyGardens_0070

This white-flowering cherry is Prunus serrulata ‘Shirofugen’:

160410_Victoria_UVic_FinnertyGardens_0071_Prunus-serrulata-Shirofugen

More cherry tapestries, any of which I think would look fantastic as a large print on the wall:

160410_Victoria_UVic_FinnertyGardens_0073

160410_Victoria_UVic_FinnertyGardens_0074

160410_Victoria_UVic_FinnertyGardens_0075

160410_Victoria_UVic_FinnertyGardens_0076

But Finnerty Gardens has more than just trees and shrubs. The eastern third of the garden is more open, and that’s where I encountered the kinds of large-leaved perennials I forever associate with the Pacific Northwest. I have no idea what these are (no label), but they look primal—small-scale versions of what I imagine herbivorous dinosaurs munched on.

160410_Victoria_UVic_FinnertyGardens_0084

160410_Victoria_UVic_FinnertyGardens_0085

More water-loving perennials I would not be able to grow, at least not easily:

160410_Victoria_UVic_FinnertyGardens_0088

Summer snowflake (Leucojum aestivum) – confirmation needed

160410_Victoria_UVic_FinnertyGardens_0096

160410_Victoria_UVic_FinnertyGardens_0095

Brunnera macrophylla ‘Jack Frost’

160410_Victoria_UVic_FinnertyGardens_0097

160410_Victoria_UVic_FinnertyGardens_0128

Helleborus sp.

160410_Victoria_UVic_FinnertyGardens_0094

Hosta sieboldiana

160410_Victoria_UVic_FinnertyGardens_0093

Variegated Pieris japonica

After being distracted by other plants, my eyes eventually jumped back to the rhododendrons:

160410_Victoria_UVic_FinnertyGardens_0103

160410_Victoria_UVic_FinnertyGardens_0098

160410_Victoria_UVic_FinnertyGardens_0105

160410_Victoria_UVic_FinnertyGardens_0106

I had almost given up hope of finding any bamboo when I spotted this small but exceedingly pretty grove of Phyllostachys bambusoides:

160410_Victoria_UVic_FinnertyGardens_0115

160410_Victoria_UVic_FinnertyGardens_0121

160410_Victoria_UVic_FinnertyGardens_0119

I’ll end this lengthy post with a photo I took at the entrance as we were leaving. It’s my favorite close-up at Finnerty Garden. I would never have known what tree this was if it didn’t have a few flowers that were already open. Want to venture a guess?

160410_Victoria_UVic_FinnertyGardens_0131

The answer: a pink-flowering dogwood (Cornus florida ‘Rubra’).

Through sheer luck, the timing of our visit to Finnerty Gardens turned out to be perfect. Daughter #1 will start as a year 1 student at the University of Victoria this coming September. I can’t wait to go back then to see what the garden is like in early fall.

RELATED POSTS:

Index: April 2016 trip to Victoria, British Columbia

Comments

  1. What a brilliant daughter to choose a university with such a great garden for Dad to visit! Autumn with foliage color should be fabulous. Rhodies are totally exotic to me also, as are Dogwoods and Hostas.

    Most beautiful post of the year, indeed.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I guess it's no surprise that we should find plants exotic that we can't grow. That's how people from the colder parts of the country must feel when they see succulent gardents.

      Delete
  2. Lovely pictures (as always!) and what a great garden! I admit I am pretty cavalier about Rhododendrons having grown up with them everywhere. Nice to see and appreciate them through "foreign" eyes!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I couldn't help but wonder if somebody from the PNW would have found Finnerty Gardens as spectacular as we did. I hope so.

      Delete
  3. I suppose gardeners in the PNW look at Rhododendrons like we look at Agapanthus here but I've always coveted them myself. This is a beautiful garden indeed. I like that the planting vignettes aren't as contrived as those offered by Butchart Gardens.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. There was no artifice at Finnerty Gardens. Just a serene wooded corner of the campus planted with an amazing collection of plants. Many of the rhododendrons are over a hundred years old. They came from the private collection of a British army doctor (the brother of Bram Stoker, the author of Dracula) who had collected seed on-site in India and the Himalayas in the late 1800s!

      Delete
  4. Oh it's so fun to see you geek out over the Rhododendrons!

    ReplyDelete
  5. How beautiful! And those cherry flower pictures would look great at large format on a wall... And the red of that rhododendron!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Seeing this garden made me realize once again that there is an entire world of plants out there that doesn't grow here. But honestly, I'm not sure I'd want to live in a climate where positively everything grows. It's nice to have a bit of plant envy.

      Delete
  6. What a splendid spring garden ! I distinctly remember how excited I was when we moved from San Diego to Napa, to find that there was a Rhododendron in the garden of my new house. I have since learned that yes, they grow here, but not like they do up yonder.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. There are nice-looking azaleas in Capitol Park in Sacramento. From what I've read, azaleas are able to handle the heat better than true rhododendrons.

      Delete
  7. If you played the soundtrack of me going through all your pictures it would probably sound X-rated. Lovely. Victoria is a couple of zones and one Mediterranean climate more hospitable to plants than Toronto. So while we can grow some of these things, they would never be as lush. Great garden. Again, I've written copy for UVic, but never about this garden. Thanks for the intro.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I had assumed that everybody in Victoria knows about Finnerty Gardens, but that doesn't seem to be case. Could it be Victoria's best-kept garden secret, LOL?

      The rhododendron collection is world-class, apparently. Quite a bit of the material came from the garden of a Dr Richard Stoker who had collected the seeds in the wild in the 1880s while stationed in Aghanistan and India as part of the Britical Army Medical Corps. Dr Stoker was the brother of Bram Stoker, the author of Dracula.

      Delete

Post a Comment