Welcome to the Gardens!
The University of Victoria Gardens contain a major collection of rhododendrons and other plants. The months of April and May are the peak blooming season and the best time to visit, but the gardens are always interesting. The gardens are open to the public every day during daylight hours. There is no admission charge. Allow at least one hour to tour the gardens.The entrance to the gardens is near the University Chapel, on the south-west edge of the campus. They encompass an area north of Cedar Hill Cross Road and west of Henderson Road. Proceed around the Ring Road to parking lot 6. Some metered parking is available, otherwise parking ticket dispensers are located in the campus directory booths. Parking is free after 6:00 PM weekdays and on weekends and holidays. Regular bus service is available as well.
The Univeristy Gardens were developed when, in 1974, the estate of Mrs. Jeanne Buchanan Simpson of Cowichan Lake was left to the University. She and her husband George, beginning in the 1920's, built up a notable collection of Rhododendron species at their Lake Cowichan home. Many were grown from seed obtained directly or indirectly from famous plant explorers of the day. Theirs was the largest collection in British Columbia.The Buchanan Simpson's gift transferred to the University the responsibility for the well-being of a significant collection of a popular genus among Victoria gardeners. The Univeristy decided to move many of the rhododendrons to the campus where they would form the nucleus of a new garden to be created on about three acres at the south end of the campus.
Several local rhododendron enthusiasts were asked to help plan and develop the gardens. This group formed the Friends of the University Gardens. They and their successors have continued to guide and finance the development of the Gardens.
The Simpson plants were up to 50 years old and presented a challenge to the transplanters. After the death of her husband, Mrs. Simpson had been unable to maintain the garden properly. The rhododendrons had to struggle for survival without the benefit of summer watering and in competition with the invading "jungle". You will recognize these sometimes distorted giants in the garden to-day. Most of them are Rh. decorum or Rh. fortunei. In their frowth-form they resemble these species growing in their native mountains of Asia.
As the gardens took form, several nurserymen and private gardeners gave hundreds of azaleas, rhododendrons, magnolias and other common plants to help the University achieve its objective of providing a garden that was attractive and informative. It was to be a graden for all seasons, that took advantage of the usually benign climatic conditions offered by Victoria.The initial plantings were an approximately 1.5 acre site inside the Ring Road. As the first stage reached completion, an adjacent area across the Ring Road was opened up. Environmental diversity was improved by the development of four ponds.
By 1988 it had become apparent that the soil conditions in the first section were not suitable for rhododendrons. These conditions proved impossible to improve. That summer it was decided to move the rhododendrons from the wetter areas to a nearby area that was well drained and attractively wooded. The move was begun in September and in three months the site had been prepared and more than three hundred rhododendrons and companion shrubs and trees had been transplanted.The move was a major task undertaken jointly by Anthony James, Curator of the University Gardens, and Dr. Herman Vaartnou, a valuable meber of the Garden Friends. That portion of the new garden area is now complete and the area from which the plants were moved has been replanted with trees and shrubs more suitable to the moist conditions. About a hundred rhododendrons were left inside Ring Road. They were on better drained locations and were thriving.
The collection now includes more than 200 species of rhododendrons and azaleas along with an extensive planting of hybrids, most of them of early origin. The accession list includes about 1600 entries for trees and shrubs. All are catalogued and identified by a number that refers to a master list which is available.
This is a garden in active growth. In it rhododendrons may be seen in flower from mid-January until late June. Companion plants such as Garrya, Chimonanthus, Hamemalis, Mahonia and Eucryphia extend the season through most of the year.