VanDusen Botanical Garden: A Vancouver Gem in Full Bloom
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During my summer vacation I spent a long afternoon wandering through VanDusen Botanical Garden in Vancouver, a 55‑acre oasis right in the heart of the city. Everywhere I turned, I noticed sculpted hedges, still ponds, and winding paths alive with late‑season flowers. Sunlight filtered through the trees, creating dappled patterns and that soft, dreamy light photographers chase.
Visiting VanDusen reminded me in many ways of my trips to The Huntington Library Botanical Gardens in Southern California—both are lush, thoughtfully designed escapes for plant lovers. Yet the two gardens offer quite different experiences. Southern California gardens often emphasize dry‑climate plants, succulents, Mediterranean flora, and sun‑loving species, creating a bold, sun-drenched landscape. By contrast, VanDusen showcases a cooler, temperate garden style, with a rich mix of deciduous and evergreen trees, shade-loving understory plants, and abundant moisture-loving blooms. I’ve tried to explore The Huntington in August, but the summer heat often made it challenging to linger and photograph everything fully. It’s not the garden—it’s stunning and I adore it—but perhaps poor timing on my part. Wandering VanDusen in August felt effortlessly pleasant: milder temperatures and the shade of many trees created cool pockets that invited me to slow down, explore, and savor the garden’s layers of flowers, trees, and art.
Floral Highlights
Every path overflowed with color—coneflowers, cosmos, crinum lilies, bell heather, honeywort, carnivorous plants, crocosmia, hydrangea, sunflowers, and water lilies each offered their own quiet spectacle. I lingered by the ponds, observing and photographing the lilies and their delicate reflections.
Garden Life in Motion
Life is always in motion at VanDusen. Bees hum along flower clusters, dragonflies glide over water, and even a humble snail makes a journey worth watching. The garden includes several ponds and water features—not only decorative, but ecological: the still water attracts dragonflies, supports aquatic insects, and creates moist edges where pollinators gather. High in a tree, I even spotted a hive, a quiet reminder that the garden is shared with creatures beyond our human visitors.
Art & Landscape
Art appears throughout the garden in playful and contemplative ways. Sculptures—figures on benches, heads, wooden carvings, and delicate wire forms—appear naturally along paths. Fountains, carved totems, and the hedge maze further enrich the garden’s design, blending art and nature seamlessly.
Arboreal Wonders
The garden’s trees each carry a distinct character: a European holly with glossy leaves, an oak sprinkled with acorns, and other species shaping the pathways with quiet elegance. Together, they soften light, offer cool shade, and create a layered canopy that feels refreshingly different from Southern California’s palms and Mediterranean evergreens.
VanDusen left a lasting impression on me—its flowers, trees, and art felt both vibrant and peaceful. If you find yourself in Vancouver, I highly recommend taking the time to explore this garden; every path offers surprises, quiet moments, and a chance to slow down and connect with nature in a truly special setting.
Thanks for reading—until next bloom! 🌼 Diana