Government House Gardens

This is one of my favourite gardens in Victoria (you will see the other one in a future post). Government House is the official residence of the Lieutenant-Governor of British Columbia (the Queen's representative in the province).

The gardens are maintained by a group of volunteers who do an excellent job. One problem they have to deal with is deer. Some seem to live in the garden. After a while, you notice there are plants you would expect to see there, but are not. For instance, there is not a single hosta to be seen. I take it that it is because of the deer. I have only seen one or two dianthus,  probably because the soil is too acidic for their liking.

Let us go in by one of the main gates, checking the size of the tree on the right.

The garden is on a hill, and on one side of it there are paths on two different levels that overlook the city. Here are two cotoneasters.

The same two shrubs together in one picture. It is the section of the garden I find most attractive.

Erigeron karvinskianus

On the other three sides of the house, the ground is flatter. There is is a formal rose garden, with few blooms left at this time of the year.

There are also several perennial borders.

At the back of some of them are mature trees. You realize how big these trees are when you notice the bench, under the clump of bamboo in the middle of the picture (you can click on the photo to enlarge it).

This large gazebo is a favorite place to sit and contemplate the peaceful setting.

A small Japanese garden with a pond (hidden by the evergreen) sits at the base of one of these piles of granite that are to be found here and everywhere else in the city.