Mother’s Day Musical Garden Tour

Saturday, May 11 and Sunday, May 12, 2024
10am to 4pm

Join us for the Victoria Conservatory of Music’s signature fundraising event!

This beloved self-guided garden tour celebrates mothers, music, and our rich garden culture right here in the City of Gardens. Now in its 42nd year, this year’s tour features ten springtime garden gems from all over Greater Victoria – each one unique and sure to inspire.

Tickets are $45 (plus service and mailing fees when purchasing online).

Your ticket includes two days of exclusive access to ten private gardens, musical performances by our talented students and faculty, and master gardeners at select locations.

All proceeds raised through the Mother’s Day Musical Garden Tour keep music education, performance, and wellness accessible in our community. Thank you for your support!

Please note: There will not be a Plant Sale this year.

Presenting Sponsors:
Newport Realty logo 600px

Where to buy tickets

Online

Online mail order tickets are available from March 1, 2024 to April 29, 2024 at 3:00pm.

Purchase Now

In Person – As of April 1

Tickets will be available for purchase at the Victoria Conservatory of Music Box Office at 900 Johnson Street (250.386.5311) . Credit cards, debit cards, and cash accepted; no cheques.

Tickets will also be available at these ticket outlets:

*Location accepts most payment types

Downtown Victoria Conservatory of Music Box Office at 900 Johnson Street (250.386.5311)*
Brown’s the Florist: 757 Yates Street (cash only)
Oak Bay GardenWorks: 1916 Oak Bay Avenue*
Jenning’s Flowers: 2508 Estevan Avenue (cash only)
Saanich GardenWorks: 4290 Blenkinsop Road*
Wildwood Outdoor Living Centre: 4660 Elk Lake Drive (cash only)
Colwood GardenWorks: 1859 Island Highway *
Brown’s the Florist: 102-2972 Jacklin Road (cash only)
Sidney Tanner’s Books: 2436 Beacon Avenue (cash only)
Brown’s the Florist: 2499 Beacon Avenue (cash only)
Saanichton Patio Gardens: 6536 West Saanich Road (cash only)

Gardens

Slip behind the garden gates and visit these ten hidden backyard gems!

Read on to find out more about each stunning garden. Addresses are provided when you collect your tickets, so be sure to buy early and visit each stop!

Garden Descriptions

Garden 1
Surrounding this elegant Rockland home is a large English-style garden integrated with native West Coast plants and trees. Wander by the waterfall flowing into a serene pond, a functional kitchen herb garden, a magnificent ancient magnolia, full rhododendrons, and azaleas.

Garden 2
Located in a steep rock outcrop, this older garden has been revitalized over the last five years. The front features many perennials, shrubs, and grasses while the back boasts an exciting plethora of fruit trees, roses, perennials, alpines, whimsical sculptures, and unique trees. Note: This property has a very steep driveway and may not be accessibility friendly.

Garden 3
Rhododendrons welcome you into this well-established garden, which features a wide variety of trees, including dogwoods, a weeping pear, a handkerchief tree, ginkos, locusts, and more. As you walk down the developing moss lawn, you’ll find garden beds filled with perennial interest and a sculpture garden.

Garden 4
Located next door to Garden 3, this property shows how similar topography can be interpreted by different garden owners. The woodland front garden provides privacy, while the back garden delights with colourful trees and shrubs including towering palms, Japanese maples, hydrangeas, blue spruce, and weeping birch. Accessibility note: the back garden contains uneven terrain.

Garden 5
This property works its architecture into the landscape, creating a unique garden that plays with levels. The front garden features tall grasses and pink dogwoods while the back boasts a perennial garden with ponderosa pines, a reflecting pool, and a bamboo garden. Note: This garden is not accessibility friendly.

Garden 6
This half-acre garden is filled with whimsy, with uniquely shaped Garry oaks, two ponds, and paths lined with eclectic art and glass sculptures. Here you’ll find an exuberant mix of shrubs, bulbs, and perennials, including rhododendrons, clematis, roses, ferns, hydrangeas, blue bells, tall grasses, and more.

Garden 7
A formal English garden is located to the side of this property, while a rose-lined path takes you to the lower Mediterranean garden. Complete with an olive tree, palm trees, and succulents, this garden features a grapevine-laden gazebo, a greenhouse, park benches, streetlamps, and ocean views.

Garden 8
Just under half of an acre, this property was designed to provide year-round interest with something always in bloom and providing a home for local wildlife. Featuring a variety of trees, shrubs, and perennials, this garden also is proud of its creative use of containers throughout.

Garden 9
Owned by a Master Gardener with a love for unusual plants, this property features a springtime garden in the front and an eclectic garden in the back. Here you will find Japanese hydrangeas, a spectacular viburnum, hostas, heritage perennials, various blooming shrubs, and forty varieties of fern.

Garden 10
A stone’s throw from Mattick’s Farm, this extraordinary owner-designed garden is full of variety. Built from scratch by the owners over nine years, you’ll find incredible crevice gardens, award-winning alpine troughs, tufa gardens, rare perennials, trees and shrubs from all over the Southern Hemisphere, and greenhouses bursting with succulents and cacti.

Garden Tour two student musicians talk underneath a pergola of flowers

Call for Volunteers

If you enjoy plants and gardening, like working with the community, and want to join a fun bunch of volunteers, we want you!

As a thank you, volunteers will be offered one complimentary ticket for the tour.


Learn more about volunteering

Nurtured by generations of volunteers, the Mother’s Day Musical Garden Tour has grown to be one of the most loved and successful fundraising events in Victoria.

We are currently searching for volunteers to fill the following positions:

  • Garden Sitters
  • Traffic control

Learn more and sign up to volunteer for the event below:

Sign up now

History of the Garden Tour

The Garden Tour has been a treasured annual event in the community since 1982, bringing music lovers together to enjoy beautiful private gardens and delightful music from students of the Victoria Conservatory of Music.

About Ann and George Nation
Ann and George Nation_Garden Tour

Ann and George Nation created the Mother’s Day Musical Garden tour as a way to raise funds for the Victoria Conservatory of Music. The couple, along with a dedicated group of their friends and volunteers, organized every aspect of the tour – coordinating the gardens, publicity, sponsorship, plant sale, and offering tea and music to the hundreds and thousands of visitors who have attended the Garden Tour over these many years. George, an avid gardener, grew every single plant and cutting that he submitted every year to the Plant Sale; there are many people today who can look at their own magnificent gardens to see what is now a beautiful tree or plant that was created by the hands of George Nation!

The Nations nurtured the tour to become one of the most loved and successful annual charitable fundraising events in Victoria. They also continued the work started by Ann’s mother by providing very generous, loyal financial support that helped sustain the Conservatory over all of those many years. Their enormous contribution was recognized by naming the “Ann and George Nation Conservatory School of Classical Music” as a lasting legacy when the organization celebrated its 50th Anniversary in 2014.

George passed away on March 12th 2017 at the age of 97, and Ann passed away on June 1, 2019. We honour them for their energy, spirit, and unfailing support of and dedication to music education.

Times Colonist House Beautiful Features

Many of the Mother’s Day Musical Garden Tour homes and gardens have been featured in the Times Colonist House Beautiful feature. Look back at a few of our favourites:

May 2, 2015 | Sounds of Music in the Gardens

July 23, 2016 | Kid-friendly character in the Uplands

May 6, 2017 | Modern vintage in Fairfield

May 5, 2018 | A heavenly abode of heritage in Gordon Head

April 27, 2019 | A ship-shape seaside garden

May 10, 2019 | Mid-century Rockland gem

May 9, 2020 | Son of Victoria gardening legends has passion for landscapes

April 24, 2021 | From debris to delight, Sunnymead garden takes shape over 3 decades

April 30, 2022 | Spectacular water feature the beating heart of verdant landscape at Ten Mile Point home

Sponsors

Presenting Sponsors
Newport Realty logo 600px
Newport Property Management logo 600px
Garden Sponsors
The Market Stores logo 300px square
Splashes Bath & Kitchen logo 300px square
Munro's Books logo 300px square
MAC Renovations logo 300px square
Canadian Tire logo no tag 300px square
Notable Sponsors
Atria Retirement Canada logo 300px
Costa Verde logo 300px square
Parker Johnson Industries logo 300px square
Bartlett Tree Experts logo 300px square
Patio Gardens logo stacked 300px square
Garden City Tree & Landscape logo 300px square
Parkwood Place Optima Living logo stacked 300px
In-kind Sponsor
DoubleTree black Logo
Used.ca logo 300px