Springtime and flowers: gardens to visit in North America

Springtime in England means blossom on our trees and flowers in our gardens; it also turns our minds to holidays and for the gardeners among us, perhaps the need for inspiration from gardens around the world. Here are some ideas of gardens to visit in North America.

The Butchart Gardens in Victoria BC are for me one of the most spectacular in scale and imagination.  They were created over 100 years ago from a limestone quarry dug to satisfy San Fancisco’s demand for Portland cement.  The quarry exhausted, the owner’s wife,  Jenny Butchart, brought in fertile soil from the surrounding farmland and so began one of the world’s most visited and spectacular gardens. Over a million visitors each year can still see the chimney of the original kiln but of more interest are the swathes of bedding plants, cherry trees, over 300,000 bulbs, glorious camelias and rhododendrons as well as great spires of delphiniums…