UBC Botanical Gardens

The UBC Botanical Garden

The Botanical Garden at the University of British Columbia is the oldest botanical garden at a university in Canada.  It measures 110 acres and includes over 8000 different kinds of plants, that are found in five distinct gardens: an Asian garden, an alpine garden, a native plant garden, a food garden and a medicinal garden.

Alpine Garden

Medicinal garden

Nitobi Memorial Garden

The Nitobe Memorial Garden, which is part of the UBC Botanical Garden, is a traditional Japanese Tea and Stroll garden considered one of the most authentic Japanese gardens in North America and among the top five Japanese gardens outside of Japan.  Each tree, stone and shrub has been deliberately placed and is carefully maintained to reflect an idealized conception and symbolic representation of nature.  There is harmony among natural forms - waterfalls, rivers, forests, islands and seas - and a balance of masculine and feminine forces traditionally attributed to natural elements.

After we left the Botanical Garden we headed back to the city to pack our bags.  We enjoyed three days in this glorious city and were scheduled to leave early the next morning and head a bit further north to catch a ferry which would carry us to Vancouver Island and the provincial capital of Victoria.  
That evening as we looked north one last time to see the snow capped mountains, God blessed us with one of the most spectacular sunsets that we would see on our entire trip.