These beautiful gardens were begun in 1904 by Mrs. Jennie Butchart, the wife of a cement manufacturer. When her husband moved west to quarry limestone near Victoria, Mrs. Butchart began to design a new garden, which would stretch down to the water at Tod Inlet. When the limestone deposits ran out, Mrs Butchart decided to add to her burgeoning garden by landscaping the quarry site into a sunken garden which now boasts a lake overhung by willow and other trees laden with blossom in spring. A huge rock left in the quarry was turned into a towering rock garden. Today visitors can climb stone steps to see stunning views from the top. As their popularity grew, so the gardens were filled with thousands of rare plants collected from around the world by Mrs Butchart.

Today, the gardens are arranged into distinct areas. There is a formal Italian garden with a lily pond that features a fountain bought in Italy by the Butcharts in 1924. The rose garden is filled with the scent of hundreds of different blooms in summer. During the summer the gardens are illuminated and play host to evening musical performances.