Victorian Garden Gate Manor Bed And Breakfast And Gardens, Nature Walk

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Enjoy

~Darlene~

Victorian Garden Gate Manor Bed And Breakfast And Gardens, Delicious

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Enjoy

~Darlene~

Smelling The Sayward Roses, By Terri Hollo

 

 

Smelling the Roses

The Huber's labour of love includes gardens which stretch up a bluff and over 250 rhododendrons

 

 

"Slow down and smell the roses," I've been told as I race along the Sayward trails.

 Until now, I laughed back, "What roses?"

A trip to Sayward's own Victorian Garden Gate Manor B&B and Gardens has changed all that.

I did slow down and did smell the roses. You can't help it.

 

 

I was curious to some extent by the colourful sign on the corner of Community and Sayward Roads advertising the Gardens. I thought that a garden would not really be any interest to me.

However, the Victorian Garden Gate Manor Gardens are much more than just a pretty flower garden.

Talk about sensory overload! New fragrant aromas with each scenery change.

Check out over 250 rhododendrons, 124 roses started on site this year alone, and delphiniums that grow seven feet tall.

 

 

My personal favourite is the Nature Trail. The trail built entirely by owners Karl and Darlene Huber is a true labour of love.

The Nature Trail meanders gently up a natural grade, switch backing around the steep rock bluffs behind the manor home. There are no planted species; everything is "au natural."

 

 

 

 

The trail alone is worth the visit. The Huber's will offer to accompany guests, pointing out features like the living wall of moss with ferns growing out of a vertical rock cliff, views over the valley, the married tree and the tree given the name "Bowing to Nature."

The traditional-expected garden area consists of more hand-crafted trails with steps heading, up and down the side of the rock bluff.

Don't forget the large pond with bridge and the apple and plum orchard.

 

 

Projects are ongoing with the Huber's. Karl is constructing a gazebo from timber taken from a cedar felled almost a hundred years ago when the area was logged.

 

 

The gardens are open June to September, but maintenance is year round. Last year's winds played havoc causing a mud slide.

One of the bigger threats is the Roosevelt elk. They love the gardens as much as the tourists do. But tourists don't destroy the plants.

 

 

There are no sprinklers on site. Darlene confesses to hand watering everything herself with a fire hose.

Is she nuts? Perhaps, she says, but it is so therapeutic!

The Hubers have lived on the 40-acre property for over 30 years but it wasn't until 2003 that the gardens officially opened.

 

 

 

 

Now listed on the Vancouver Island "Garden Trail," the gardens have seen visitors from all over the globe.

A visit to this paradise in our own backyard, garden buff or not, it is highly recommended. Don't wait for out-of-town guests, treat yourself to a visit

When your out of town guests do arrive, you will be guaranteed to have something you will want to show them. Non garden buffs should allow at least two hours. Garden nuts?

Well there aren't enough hours in a day so you will likely be making several trips throughout the changing seasons.

By Terri Hollo

 

Enjoy

~Darlene~

Victorian Garden Gate Manor Bed And Breakfast And Gardens by Jackie Ward

 

 

 

Raise your hand if you think a 'garden tour' just means wandering sedately through manicured paths, admiring the beautiful display of colourful 

flowers. Raise your hand if you think it's the Lady Clairol crowd who would only be interested in garden tours. Well, if your hand is in the air, you owe it to yourself to set the record straight by taking a tour of the gardens a Victorian Garden Gate Manor B & B and Gardens.

    It's true that when you drive onto the property of Karl and Darlene Huber, you are greeted with an astonishing display of every kind of flower and shrub imaginable. And it's also true that the variety of colours and textures planted in their main garden behind the house will astound you. But from there, the tour just begins.

    Take your walking stick in hand, and begin the exploration of the magically transformed rock bluff that rises behind the house. Built entirely by Karl and Darlene, the woodland trail rises firstly as an easily walkable gravel trail. It snakes upward into the forest, offering an unexpected rhododendron or hydrangea or any number of other surprises along the way. When the road narrows to a single trail, you will begin a winding decent down a path of bark mulch with cedar steps and handrails. To call this trail delightful would be an understatement. Beside you will be a seasonal waterfall, a cliff face blanketed with moss and clinging ferns, a huge tree stump with a springboard cut that tells of early logging methods, small paintings of wildlife tucked into hollows and crevices. And then you're finally back at the house, admidst the more familiar explosion of colour, fragrance and texture.

    Darlene and Karl have worked tirelessly over the past 30 years, adding a new garden here, or a pond and bridge there. They have chipped away rock where a Rhodie could live. They have carried pails of bark mulch by hand up the trail only accessible on foot. Even now, after three decades of building this 'northern corner of paradise', Darlene's eyes still sparkle as she outlines her next gardening project. It is a small wonder that this amazing corner of Sayward has been welcomed into the Vancouver Island Garden Association. "We would be honoured if you would consider joining us." the VIGA wrote as we feel your garden would truly compliment the other gardens in the association."

    At the hub of this incredible property is the two storey home where bed and breakfast guests are treated to the luxury of an immaculate setting.Victorian finery and exquisite cooking. 

    With the task of building and maintaining the grounds, while hosting their bed and breakfast, how could Karl and Darlene possible find spare time for themselves? They must have more hours in their daily clock than you or I, for Darlene takes part in craft fairs selling her own pot pourri and dried flower arrangements, sells cut flower arrangements in season and propagates and experiments with all manner of growing things

    "We love it here," explains Karl. "It's really good to be able to share it with others."

You can reach Karl and Darlene at www.saywardbb.com

~By Jackie Ward

 

 

Enjoy

~Darlene~