It is Friday, so time for another garden tour with friend of the GPOD Cherry Ong! Today she’s taking us to Tofino Botanical Gardens, on Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada.
The 12-acre garden has different garden rooms, many with unique themes and beautiful pieces of garden art. According to the garden’s guide, many of the garden spaces celebrate the various cultural groups that have lived in the area now and in the past, particularly the Nuu-chah-nulth First Nations, early Japanese fishing families, and, more recently, hippies!
At the edge of the gardens are the Tofino Mudflats, which are exposed at low tide and always filled with life.
The garden allows well-behaved, leashed dogs, so Cherry was able to tour the garden with her beloved dog Broccoli.
I’m not sure if this is a bench, a sculpture, or both, but it is beautiful.
Hauntingly beautiful wooden figures keep watch in the lush green of the temperate rainforest.
The garden ends with stunningly beautiful views of the water and mountains beyond.
Raccoon Island, visible here, is only an island at high tide; at low tide it is connected to the mainland by mudflats.
A whimsical sculpture honoring the hippies who have been part of the local community.
A water garden is filled with the leaves of countless waterlilies (Nymphaea sp.).
I love the simplicity of this piece of art.
OK, this may be my favorite! This gazebo looks like it is about to get up and walk around, or like it is out of a Dr. Seuss book.
All around, the garden highlights the natural beauty of this unique part of the world.
“Swept Away” by Peter Clarkson is a memorial to the Tohoku Tsunami and was made using many pieces of debris that were swept away by the tsunami.
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