Today Morgan and I ended up at the Gardens at HCP, a lovely botanical garden in Saanich. Despite the snow, and despite the fact that much of the flora still laid dormant, we got to see lots of trees about to bloom, lots of snowdrops, a few irises, some tulip bulbs coming up, and all the marvelous signs that spring is *almost* upon us here! We both wore sturdy footwear, paid our student ticket price ($9!) and headed in!

The Gardens were way more affordable than the Butchart Gardens, and even though there wasn’t much blooming yet, I feel like during the later spring/summertime it would be a marvelous way to experience some gorgeous gardens on a budget! The way that the Gardens are landscaped gives you multiple paths to wander, lots of different areas to explore (a Japanese garden, a winter garden, an herbs garden, etc.), and many benches/sunny spots to sit and take in all the beauty that is naturalia. They have lovely little posts in the soil that tell you what species you are looking at, and I have to say that even the smell of the earth was amazing. Morgan and I both agreed that we wanted to come back when more things are active- but we did have the whole gardens to ourselves!

If you want to learn more about the Gardens at HCP check out their website!