The Rites of Spring

Butchart Gardens, Victoria, British Columbia: Hundreds of thousands of flowers burst into bloom at this horticultural wonder, still owned by the descendants of its founding family. Flowers such as pansies, scillas, daphnes and forsythias come out to play around March; as spring progresses, catch crabapples, fritillarias, flowering dogwoods,

poppies, peonies and fuchsias. Nearly as interesting as the gardens themselves is their history: A one-time limestone quarry is now the Sunken Garden, for instance, while the Butcharts’ former tennis court is now an elegant, tulip-filled Italian Garden.