Saved from development Tucked away at the edge of the rainforest that rims the Pacific coast shore on Vancouver Island near Tofino is a wonderfully diverse gardenscape. Established in 1997, the 12-acre Tofino Botanical Gardens is the brainchild of its director, George Patterson, a transplanted landscape designer and nurseryman from the Boston area. Although originally a private garden, TBG is now open to the public and operates as a non-profit foundation. TBG is bordered on the south by a forest reserve. The shoreline, which can be viewed from various vantage points around the garden’s property, looks onto thousands of acres of protected migratory shorebird habitat. Beyond that are the Browning Passage and Meares Island, which has been declared a Tribal Park by the Tla-o-qui-aht First Nation. Also surrounding TBG are 850,000 acres of the Clayoquot Biosphere Reserve. “I was familiar with the Tofino area before I moved here,” explains Patterson. “This is where my former wife was born, so we would come back on occasion. I just fell in love with it.” The property had been slated for development, which is why Patterson bought it. He owned the land for eight years before he started his botanical garden. Time spent volunteering at Wilson Botanical Gardens in Costa Rica prepared him in part for what lay ahead. Says Patterson: “The Wilson Gardens are also next to a rainforest, so there are some similarities.” The main botanical collection at TBG focuses on the native plants of Clayoquot Sound. “About 60 species are found on the site,” says Patterson. “We’re also developing small pocket gardens along the paths that will offer some insights into comparative botany,” he adds. “Temperate rainforest plants from Chile, New Zealand, Japan and elsewhere have been sited next to natives that have something in common with the imported specimens. They may be from different families but have the same leaf shape.” This is known as convergent evolution, where plants that live in similar habitats resemble each other even though they are not related. For example, native evergreen huckleberry (Vaccinium ovatum) looks an awful lot like the Chilean guava (Ugni molinae). A kilometre of pathways connects 24 different areas, each constructed on a theme. There is a Kitchen Garden, for instance, where the chef from the garden’s restaurant finds plenty of culinary inspiration. In addition to vegetables, herbs such as thyme, tarragon and borage grow in abundance, while espaliered grape vines climb on the adjacent fence. “That garden was designed by one of our volunteers, the pastry chef at C Restaurant in Vancouver,” says Patterson. A local herbalist put together the Medicinal Herb Garden, which brims over with lush plantings of sea buckthorn (Hippophae rhamnoides), pennyroyal (Mentha pulegium) and marshmallow (Althaea officinalis). Beyond basic botany “In fact, over the past six years, the majority of the work in the garden has been done by volunteers,” boasts Patterson. “They’ve been really amazing. One of our volunteers from Mexico even created the map of the garden that visitors use on the self-guided tour.” A small collection of donated species rhododendrons occupies part of the garden. One cultivar, ‘George Fraser’, is named after a local rhododendron grower, and is a cross of the West Coast native Rhododendron macrophyllum and the East Coast native R. maximum. Other species include R. rex and R. sinogrande, both of which sport 50-centimetre-long leaves. Patterson’s pride and joy, the giant Himalayan lilies (Cardiocrinum giganteum), towers in another part of TBG. The lilies send up thick, 2.5- to three-metre-tall spikes with up to 20 creamy white 15- to 30-centimetre-long trumpet flowers—and grow at a rate of about 30 centimetres per week. Their strong fragrance is reminiscent of a blend of cinnamon and frangipani. The plants can take up to seven years to bloom; TBG’s bloomed in just two. In the Tropical Garden, visitors will find rice paper plant (Tetrapanax papyrifer), Japanese banana (Musa basjoo) and taro (Colocasia esculenta). But plants aren’t the only treasures found at TBG. A gazebo, along with other structures built by local artisan Jan Janzen, provides visual contrast to the foliage and offers much-welcomed shelter on a rainy day. A number of large, wooden sculptures by artist Michael Dennis also grace the property. Over in the Children’s Garden, young ones will be delighted to find a fort tucked away in the woods. Just above the high-tide line sits an 11-metre, double-ended salmon trawler, the Evian, an exhibit created to help visitors understand and appreciate the West Coast salmon fishing industry. Future themed gardens will also educate visitors beyond basic botany. Four cultural-historical gardens and exhibits are currently being developed. When completed, they will teach about the peoples who have settled and left their mark in Clayoquot Sound: the First Nations, the European settlers from the turn of the century, the Japanese fishing community and the 1970s-era hippies. Tofino Botanical Gardens is within a 20-minute walk or cycle of most of the community’s accommodations. In typical West Coast fashion, canoe and kayak arrivals are encouraged (best at medium to high tide). If you go: Tofino Botanical Gardens is located at 1084 Pacific Rim Highway in Tofino, B.C. For opening times and admission fees, call 250/725-1220 or visit www.tbgf.org.