By Brian Nixon, Horticultural Manager

There is a magnificent change taking place in The Gardens right now. While colourful summer annuals and perennials are slowly fading away, the autumn colour palette of scarlet red, fiery orange, golden brown, and shades of yellow begins to develop in many of the trees and shrubs. The glow of these beautiful colours, paired with the cooler days provide what I would call “a picture-perfect time to visit The Butchart Gardens”.

Transitioning into October, the Japanese Garden is the highlight among the formal gardens. The winding pathways take you on an autumn journey you may never want to leave. The magnificent colours of Japanese Maples draw your attention to the tree canopy directly above. The filtered light radiates through the leaves creating a welcoming glow. If there is one garden that you must see during your autumn visit, it is our beautiful Japanese Garden.

Japanese Maples full of vibrant fall colour fill the Japanese Garden

Autumn is one of my favourite seasons to admire, and as much as I enjoy the warm summer temperatures, I welcome the comfortable cooler days. This season’s colours began developing in mid-September and as the temperatures were relatively warm it was a smooth shift from summer to fall. Weather and daylight dictate the timing and intensity of the colours developing in the leaves. The best colours are produced when the weather is clear, cool, and dry. Thankfully the weather in September has co-operated setting up what will be a spectacular show of autumn foliage throughout The Gardens. We are often asked, “When is the best time to visit during autumn?” This a difficult question to answer as each year is a little bit different, but I’d be safe to say that October is typically one of the best times to enjoy the vibrant autumn colours.

While many summer annuals and perennials begin to fade away, the Dahlia border continues to attract plenty of attention. As you wander the main path near the Concert Lawn, you can truly admire the Dahlia and their vast assortment of colours, shapes, and sizes. Their delightful flowers are truly captivating, and with their proximity to the pathway, you can get close and personal with these garden gems. One of our giant Dahlias is called ‘Penhill Yellow Queen’, which has reached an impressive 9 feet 10 inches and stands tall on each side of the path leading into the Dragon Fountain.

‘Penhill Yellow Queen’ Dahlia standing 9 feet 10 inches tall

A tremendous amount of planning goes into our autumn season. Our gardening team is continuously looking for opportunities to create pockets of fall colour, and to succession plan for the future of our trees.  The vibrant trees create beautiful backdrops for the lush green lawns and colourful flower beds and are invaluable to the future of this garden. Our team of Arborists take immense pride in caring for all trees located within the 55 acres of formal gardens, ensuring optimal tree health for generations to come.

Chrysanthemums are a true sign of the change in season, often showing up outside many flower shops in early September. At The Gardens Chrysanthemums are meticulously planted en masse in select flower beds throughout and are also used individually in seasonal displays located next to the Rose Carousel, and across from the Information Center. Grown in the Exit Road field, these “mums” are planted directly in cultivated soil as rooted cuttings; they are the only crop we grow outdoors from start to finish. The Chrysanthemums will grow in the field from the time they are planted in June, through September when they are hand-dug as mature plants, and transplanted throughout The Gardens.

A stunning display of chrysanthemums

The pumpkins and gourds which are used in all of our autumn displays are grown “in-house”. Years ago, we began growing pumpkins and gourds on our compost piles to provide weed suppression. Soon after implementing this practice, we discovered endless possibilities for utilizing the fruit produced from these plants. Our pumpkins and gourds are also used by our culinary team and for our staff pumpkin carving contest!

This year we harvested a bumper crop of pumpkin and gourds as we have completely fenced all compost piles to keep the local deer out. In previous years we typically lost approximately 50% of our pumpkins and gourds to deer who have developed an enormous appetite for these plants. Thankfully, this is now a thing of the past! At the end of their growing season, after we have harvested all of the fruit, the foliage is pulled off the compost piles exposing weed-free soil, which in turn makes its way back into the gardens.

Pumpkins and gourds featured in our autumn displays

Another garden highlight, visible as you enter and exit The Gardens, is our Sunflower Field. This is the second year in a row we have planted this field with a stunning display of sunflowers. Did you know that sunflowers face eastward in the morning, and follow the sun to the west as it continues to move throughout the day? As the sunflowers grow, and the stems become stronger to support their large flower heads they will only face east, this is because they become more rigid as they mature. To hold up their large seed heads they produce lignin, the same material found in tree trunks to help support the significant weight of the plants.

Cheerful sunflowers growing in our Sunflower Field

While the rich autumn colours develop within The Gardens, so do the sounds of gardeners’ trowels piercing the freshly rototilled soil. Our largest job in October is preparing the annual beds for winter, and planting hundreds of thousands of tulip and daffodil bulbs that will blossom in the spring. Hard-working gardening staff plant each and every one of these flower bulbs by hand. The process of planting bulbs takes anywhere from 3-4 weeks to complete; it’s important to have the flower bulbs in the ground before the threat of snow arrives. You are more than likely to see our gardening staff hard at work planting bulbs from Canadian Thanksgiving until Remembrance Day.

There is something magical about visiting during the autumn season. With the long hot days of summer behind us, come and enjoy the changes taking place. The spectacular colours forming in many of the trees and shrubs produce an ambiance that only Mother Nature can create. We look forward to welcoming you during your next visit, and if a visit is not in your plans, I hope this blog provides a detailed account as to what is transpiring at The Butchart Gardens right now.

The Sunken Garden showcasing falls bounty