Butchart Gardens Logo

What To See in May

Bookmark and Share

Throughout the seasons there is always something of interest in the garden: from the fragrant, winter blooming shrubs, to the fresh delights of spring, to the abundance of summer colour, to the grand finale of autumn.

This collection highlights those plants most often asked about at our Plant Identification Centre. It is neither a complete list, nor may all the plants listed necessarily be growing at The Butchart Gardens when you visit. Naturally, weather conditions may alter the blooming time by as much as several weeks.

Place your cursor over the underlined plant name to see a photo.

The bulb display peaks this month and deadheading of the spent flowers takes up a great deal of our time. Plants having finished blooming by this time of year are typically pruned.  This is also the month when the formal planning takes place for next year's spring display and orders are placed for next year's bulbs. As the spring bulb display completes its cycle the planting of summer annuals begins. All bulbs are dug by hand and removed from the garden, cleaned, then stored in a cool dry location.

Arts & Entertainment crew: Construction and assembly of props on the fireworks field is the beginning point for the fireworks show. The installed summer light fixtures in the gardens are aimed and focussed, and colours chosen, for maximum effect for the Night Illuminations.