Holiday magic is in full bloom at Butchart Gardens

The thousands of lights are mesmerizing. Poinsettias -- a holiday plant standard worldwide -- are displayed by the hundreds in heated confines behind well-lit windows for visitor enjoyment. Carolers fill the chilled evening air with familiar holiday songs. Fresh evergreen garlands line all the walkways, dressed up with colored, twinkling lights. Lots of smiling faces brighten up the scene even more.

The 100-year-old Butchart Gardens on Vancouver Island just north of Victoria is noted worldwide primarily for its colorful, spring and summer display gardens, featuring hundreds of varieties of roses and 700 or so species of bedding plants.

Millions of visitors flock to the 55-acre gardens year-round to absorb the scents and color. The gardens are by far the biggest tourist destination on Vancouver Island. Tours run year-round from cities all over Canada and the United States.

Just before the holiday season, which usually is earmarked by short, dreary, gray Pacific Northwest winter days, the gardens are transformed into a magnificent display of lights and holiday pleasures. Hundreds of thousands of colorful lights drape practically every available tree and bush. And, for the 19th year, the visitors just keep coming. The gardens expect more than 100,000 visitors over the holidays this year.

Many of the colorfully lit displays this year represent the "Twelve Days of Christmas." Before you visit, be sure to bone up on which day of Christmas is which. Garden workers don't hand out cheat sheets (see our list).

JEFF LARSEN / P-I

Visitors photograph one of Butchart Gardens' pointsettia displays, set up by the hundreds in heated confines behind well-lit windows.

One visitor slapped his forehead after his wife and relatives grilled him about which day of Christmas a particular display represented. "This is too much brain work," he moaned.

To embellish the festive spirit this year even more, Butchart Gardens has added a 3,300-square-foot, outdoor ice rink open daily for visitors. Skate rentals are available at the information center nearby, but the size selection is limited. The rink is temporarily situated in the garden's main square, which will be thawed out and replanted after ice skating ends Jan. 7.

I tried ice skating once when I was a kid, but my ankles caved in all the time. I spent more ice time spread out face- or butt-first on the ice then I did on my skates, so I gave it up. I decided not to embarrass myself in a country in which ice skating is practically the national pastime. Skating at the gardens, by the way, is on a first-come, first-served basis. Don't worry; you won't run into to any hockey sticks.

Butchart Gardens is about 16 miles north of Victoria on the central part of the Saanich Peninsula. The gardens are easily accessible from Highway 17 -- the main thoroughfare -- either from Victoria or Sidney farther north.

JEFF LARSEN / P-I

A youngster takes a spill on the new 3,300-square-foot outdoor ice rink open for the holidays at Butchart.

In October eight garden staffers are assigned to begin the holiday-theme transformation. Two-dozen more are added in November for the final push to completion by early December. Technically, the task is complicated and requires an enormous amount of imagination and skill.

In 1904 Jennie Butchart began to carve out the now famous gardens on land that was part of a limestone quarry that produced cement products for her entrepreneur husband. Robert Butchart was a bird collector and quite admiring of his wife's horticultural skills.

The property, adjacent to Tod Inlet, was pretty well trashed by earth movers and heavy machinery when Jennie decided a garden would look good in its place. What she started became a family commitment to horticulture that has lasted through the generations.

To absorb the true inspiration behind all the displays and lights, the best time to visit is after dark. The gardens are open daily until 10 p.m. The narrow trails that meander up and down through the gardens are obvious during daylight and are clearly marked for nighttime navigation as well. Even though the trails are clearly marked, I ran into several visitors who were literally in the dark about where they were, relative to the gardens' entrance.

JEFF LARSEN / P-I

A visitor looks like he's trying to entice the brass pig to turn around. The pig is decorated for the holidays.

I even got a little turned around myself. It would be smart to orient yourself to the main entrance first before venturing out into the darkness.

After an hour or so in the dark and cold, I wandered back to the coffee shop near the main entrance to warm up with a hot chocolate and -- symbolic for the season -- a gingerbread man cookie. The coffee shop is open all evening until closing and features hot and cold drinks, sandwiches, pastries and cookies.

A section of the information center has been set aside for the winter to showcase the 100-year history of the gardens, including framed newspaper articles, artifacts and other memorabilia from the gardens' past. The display is fascinating stuff and worth a look.

With so many lights and inspirational holiday displays, Butchart Gardens truly is a masterpiece this time of year. And I'm already planning a spring-fling back to the gardens to see how the vibrant new plants match up to the holiday presentation.

If you go

• Butchart Gardens -- 800 Benvenuto Ave., Brentwood Bay; 866-652-4422; dining room reservations, 250-652-8222. Hours: through Jan. 7, 9 a.m.-10 p.m. Admission through Jan. 7: 18 and older, $18; ages 13-17, $9; ages 5-12, $2.50. www.butchartgardens.com

• Tourism Victoria -- Information Center, 812 Wharf St. Accommodation reservations: 800-663-3883. Information: 250-953-2033; www.tourismvictoria.com

• Victoria Clipper -- Special "holiday lights" special to Victoria from downtown Seattle; 800-888-2535; www.victoriaclipper.com

• Washington State Ferries -- Anacortes to Sidney, B.C., runs through Jan. 7. Service to Sidney suspended after that until April 2; 888-808-7977 or 206-464-6400; www.wsdot.wa.gov/ferries/.

• Coho ferry -- Port Angeles to Victoria; 360-457-4491; www.cohoferry.com

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