VanDusen Botanical Garden facts for kids
VanDusen Botanical Garden is a beautiful public garden in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. You can find it in the Shaughnessy neighborhood, at the corner of 37th Avenue and Oak Street. This amazing garden is named after Whitford Julian VanDusen, a local lumberman and generous person.
The idea for the garden started in 1970. The Vancouver Foundation, the British Columbia government, and the city of Vancouver worked together. They agreed to provide money to build a public garden on an old golf course. The garden officially opened its doors to visitors on August 30, 1975.
Today, the Vancouver Park Board and the Vancouver Botanical Gardens Association (VBGA) manage the garden together. It's a bit like how the nearby Bloedel Conservatory is run. Many people help keep the garden wonderful. There are about 1200 volunteers who help with many tasks. There are also full-time gardeners and seasonal helpers. The VBGA helps with memberships, finding volunteers, education, and raising money.
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Helping Hands at VanDusen
Volunteers are a huge part of VanDusen Garden. They have been helping for over 45 years! These dedicated people often feel a special connection to the plants.
What do volunteers do?
- They lead tours for visitors. They share facts about the plants and the garden's history. You can take these tours on foot or in golf carts from April to October.
- They collect seeds from plants. They clean and package them. These seeds are then sold in the garden shop and online.
- They work at the information desk.
- They create beautiful dried flower arrangements.
- They help with a big plant sale every spring.
- They write self-guided tours for visitors.
- They help prepare compost and manure for sale to local gardeners.
- They work with staff to put up signs that name the plants.
Exploring the Garden's Features
The VanDusen Botanical Garden is very large, covering 22 hectares (which is about 55 acres). It's home to plants from all over the world! You can also find a big collection of native plants from British Columbia. There's even a special program to grow native plants. The goal is to put them back into Vancouver's local parks.
The garden is designed to be a place for everyone to enjoy plants. Early on, it was decided not to focus on scientific research. This allowed more money and energy to go into building the garden itself. However, the VBGA does support "citizen science" projects. They also work with local schools and groups who want to do research there.
Visitor Centre: A Green Building
The garden's Visitor Centre is a modern building. It opened in November 2011. This building was designed to be very eco-friendly. It meets a high standard called LEED Platinum. Inside, you'll find a gift shop, a special plant library, a restaurant, and a coffee shop. The Visitor Centre project is also working to get a "Living Building Challenge" certification. This means it's designed to be super sustainable.
Many experts helped build this amazing center. These include landscape architects, building architects, energy consultants, and engineers.
Special Attractions and Fun Spots
Beyond the plants, VanDusen has many other cool things to see:
- There are lovely water features throughout the garden.
- You can see carved totem poles.
- There are large stone sculptures.
- A beautiful Korean Pavilion.
- Kids especially love the fun maze! It's right next to the garden's heirloom vegetable patch.
The Education Centre is at the back of the garden. It holds a seed bank. This is also where volunteers for the Vancouver Festival of Lights meet. Seed collectors and dried flower arrangers also use this space.
Amazing Plant Collections
VanDusen is famous for its incredible plant collections.
Rhododendrons and More
May is a great time to visit for Rhododendrons! The garden has nearly 1,000 different kinds of these colorful flowers. Some rhododendrons bloom almost all year. You can see intense blooms in the Sino-Himalayan garden during late winter.
Other notable plant collections include:
- Different kinds of European Beech trees.
- Collections of Sorbus (mountain ash) trees.
- Ash trees.
- Magnolia trees.
Unique Garden Areas
The garden also has special themed areas:
- A Heather garden.
- A "black" garden (with dark-colored plants).
- A seasonal "Laburnum Walk" (a path with golden chain trees).
- A majestic group of giant sequoia trees.
- A peaceful cypress pond.
- A formal perennial garden.
- A heritage vegetable garden (seasonal).
- A fragrance garden (seasonal) filled with sweet smells.
- The large Sino-Himalayan garden, which covers about eight acres by itself.
Garden Design and Recognition
The beautiful design of VanDusen Garden is thanks to many people. R. Roy Forster was a key designer of the gardens and their plant collections. He received the Order of Canada on April 14, 1999, for his amazing work. He built upon earlier landscape work by Bill Livingston. To show their thanks, the VBGA recently renamed the Cypress Pond to the Roy Forster Pond.
Visiting VanDusen Garden
The garden is open to the public every day of the year, except on Christmas. There is an admission fee for daily visitors. You can also buy memberships if you plan to visit often.
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