Victoria
Sifting downward, drifting like microscopic snowflakes in the atmosphere, white calcium carbonate skeletons settled toward the ocean floor. Remnants of life accumulated over eons of time. Almost weightless when viewed in solitude but in mass they were dense enough to compact the whole to rock. Formed in the South Pacific, rafted on a subducting lithospheric plate, the fossilized remains were accreted onto the southern tip of what we now know as Vancouver Island. Here this limestone treasure waited for 55 million years, waited for an erosive force to send it on a journey once again. Not wind nor water wore it down but man in a quest to grow and to build. Portland cement, limestone and clay or shale heated to 1400 degrees, gave mankind new roads and office towers.
What does one do with the void, with the gash in the earth left as the limestone is mined? As husband Robert cleared the land, dug quarries deep and wide, Jenny Butchart went to work creating a living masterpiece, filling the bare and empty canvas with vibrant colors. Tender care encouraged seeds to sprout and cuttings from around the world to root.
The word spread and visitors flocked to admire the masterpiece. Near one hundred years have passed and her portrait continues to grow. Butchart Gardens today welcomed us to wander the trails amidst the flowers or to sit and stare as water rippled and danced.
Sifting downward, drifting like microscopic snowflakes in the atmosphere, white calcium carbonate skeletons settled toward the ocean floor. Remnants of life accumulated over eons of time. Almost weightless when viewed in solitude but in mass they were dense enough to compact the whole to rock. Formed in the South Pacific, rafted on a subducting lithospheric plate, the fossilized remains were accreted onto the southern tip of what we now know as Vancouver Island. Here this limestone treasure waited for 55 million years, waited for an erosive force to send it on a journey once again. Not wind nor water wore it down but man in a quest to grow and to build. Portland cement, limestone and clay or shale heated to 1400 degrees, gave mankind new roads and office towers.
What does one do with the void, with the gash in the earth left as the limestone is mined? As husband Robert cleared the land, dug quarries deep and wide, Jenny Butchart went to work creating a living masterpiece, filling the bare and empty canvas with vibrant colors. Tender care encouraged seeds to sprout and cuttings from around the world to root.
The word spread and visitors flocked to admire the masterpiece. Near one hundred years have passed and her portrait continues to grow. Butchart Gardens today welcomed us to wander the trails amidst the flowers or to sit and stare as water rippled and danced.
