The Butchart Gardens hosts autumn display through 31 October
Published on 10/18/2026 at 03:08 | Editorial responsibility: Rafael Müller, Editor-in-Chief AD HOC NEWS
The Butchart Gardens in Brentwood Bay is presenting its Autumn Display from 1 October to 31 October 2026. Seasonal foliage is joined by pumpkins, gourds, ornamental peppers and ornamental kale across the grounds.
The Butchart Gardens presents its Autumn Display through 31 October
The Autumn Display is the current seasonal programme at the gardens, with the operator listing the event for Thursday, 1 October, through Saturday, 31 October 2026. The display brings together plants and decorative produce as the foliage changes during the month.
The gardening team grows some of the pumpkins and gourds on the property, using a compost pile that helps provide nutrients for the plants. The resulting arrangements use pumpkins and gourds in different shapes, sizes and colours, alongside ornamental peppers and kale. The Autumn Display programme identifies the gardens as the venue and gives the event dates.
A former quarry frames the autumn display
The seasonal programme sits within a landscape that began in 1904, when Jennie Butchart started shaping a garden beside the family’s cement operation on Vancouver Island. The abandoned limestone quarry later became the Sunken Garden, now one of several distinct spaces linked by paths.
Parks Canada says the site has been open to visitors since 1904 and was designated a National Historic Site of Canada in 2004. Its historic area reflects the gardens developed under Jennie Butchart’s guidance between 1904 and 1939, including the Japanese Garden, Rose Garden, Italian Garden and Sunken Garden. The Parks Canada heritage record describes the site’s former quarry, seasonal planting tradition and Edwardian garden layout.
That history gives the October programme a specific setting: seasonal planting is not separate from the site’s identity, but part of a tradition of changing displays that has continued across the historic garden rooms. The Sunken Garden also makes the relationship between industrial land and cultivated landscape visible on the visitor route.
Brentwood Bay setting links Tod Inlet with Victoria
The gardens stand in Brentwood Bay on the Saanich Peninsula, beside Tod Inlet in British Columbia. The operator places the property at 800 Benvenuto Ave and describes it as 23 kilometres (14 miles) north of Victoria and 20 kilometres (12.5 miles) south of the Vancouver-Victoria ferry terminal at Swartz Bay.
The wider historic site includes viewpoints towards Tod Inlet and the surrounding hills. Within the grounds, the Sunken Garden is reached by a switchback staircase descending 15 metres (50 feet), while the Japanese Garden includes ponds, paths and bridges. These features matter for visitors planning to see the October arrangements because the display is encountered within a sizeable network of themed spaces rather than in a single exhibition room.
Visiting The Butchart Gardens: what travellers from Western Europe should know
- The Autumn Display runs at The Butchart Gardens from 1 October to 31 October 2026.
- The listed programme presents seasonal arrangements across the gardens, including pumpkins, gourds, ornamental peppers and ornamental kale.
- The venue is at 800 Benvenuto Ave in Brentwood Bay, on Vancouver Island, north of Victoria and south of the ferry terminal at Swartz Bay.
- The grounds include linked paths, viewpoints, ponds and bridges. The Sunken Garden route includes a switchback staircase descending 15 metres (50 feet).
- Canada’s official languages are English and French, and the national currency is the Canadian dollar.
- Entry requirements depend on your nationality; UK travellers can check the FCDO travel advice at gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice, Irish travellers the Department of Foreign Affairs at ireland.ie.
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Frequently asked questions about The Butchart Gardens
When does the Autumn Display take place at The Butchart Gardens?
The Autumn Display runs from 1 October to 31 October 2026. It features seasonal arrangements across the grounds.
Where is The Butchart Gardens and how do you get there?
The gardens are in Brentwood Bay on Vancouver Island, British Columbia. The operator lists 800 Benvenuto Ave, north of Victoria and south of Swartz Bay.
What is The Butchart Gardens?
It is a public garden on the site of a former limestone quarry, shaped from 1904 and designated a National Historic Site of Canada in 2004.
