George “Rebel” Mowat Was Jennie Butchart’s Favorite Tour Bus Driver

George “Rebel” Mowat (died September 1968, full name: George Neilson Mowat) was a sightseeing tour bus driver for Gray Line of Victoria who regularly drove sightseeing trips to Butchart Gardens for several decades. By all contemporary accounts, he was Jennie Butchart’s favorite tour bus driver. He became friendly with Jennie Butchart and his stories of …

We Have Finalized The Title Of The Butchart Gardens History Book And Have Obtained The ISBN

The title of our Butchart Garden History will be From Devastation To Beauty: The Creation Of The Butchart Gardens. We have obtained the ISBN for the book and we are planning a digital eBook, a sift cover edition, a hard cover edition and possibly an Audio Book. We plan to use this 1921 photo of …

Our Butchart Gardens History Book Has Gone To The Copy Editor

My Butchart Gardens History book has gone to the copy editor. I will keep you posted on its progress. I’m thinking of using this photo of Jennie Buchart (taken by Victoria photographer Harry Upperton Knight) as the cover photo of the book. Any thoughts? Here is a photo of Jennie Butchart’s Private Garden today. Would …

Butchart Gardens Concert Featuring Bernard Turgeon, July 1955

In the early 1950’s the Butchart Gardens started hosting evening concerts. Here is a July 1955 newspaper advertisement for Butchart Gardens concerts on 14 July 1955 and 21 July 1955 featuring Canadian Opera Company singer Bernard Turgeon (1931-2016). This concert was also the first time the Victoria Symphony Orchestra performed at Butchart Gardens. Here are …

Canada Post Corporation “Public Gardens Series”, 1991

On 22 May 1991, Canada Post Corporation issued a collection of five 40 cent postage stamps known as the “Public Gardens” series. These postage stamps honoured five Canadian public gardens, including the Butchart Gardens.   The other four gardens commemorated in the Public Gardens series stamps were: the Royal Botanical Gardens in Hamilton, Ontario; the …

The Difference Between Cement And Concrete

Robert Butchart was in the Portland Cement business and the land that is now the Butchart Gardens was used by the Vancouver Portland Cement Company to produce Portland Cement between 1904 and 1921. For those who don’t know the difference between cement and concrete, here is a video which should clear it up for you: …

Spode Butchart Pattern 2/9165

Spode Butchart Pattern In 1937 Spode named one of its existing patterns “Butchart” to honour the Butcharts and the Butchart Gardens. Our thanks to Spode collector Bill Coles for the above photo from his collection. Here is an excerpt from our Butchart Gardens History: “…..In 1937, the Butcharts were honoured by the Spode chinaware of …

Butchart Gardens Concert Program, 5 July 1965

The photo below is a Victoria newspaper advertisement about the Butchart Gardens Concert Program on 5 July 1965. The Victoria Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Otto Werner Mueller, performed a program which included: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart – Serenade in G major KV 525, Eine Kleine Nachtmusik; Edvard Grieg – Peer Gynt Suite 1 & 2; Mozart …