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~