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in the garden
Abkhazi Garden, a National Treasure
By Georgie Kennedy, Lake Simcoe South Master Gardener
In the summer, our Master Gardener meetings are
socials rather than business meetings. We enjoy the
opportunity to explore each others’ gardens and
converse like the friends we have become. In August,
when I told the group that I was booked to fly to
Victoria to visit my parents, one of our members
suggested that I take my mother to a special garden,
one that a friend had highly recommended. I had
been planning to go to the much larger, more wellknown
garden outside the city, but Dad was
concerned about tiring Mom out. From the flyers and
the website, Abkhazi seemed so appealing that my
mother, 87, and I felt it would be ideal for an outing.
Abkhazi Garden was easy to find. It is in a beautiful
shady neighbourhood of gorgeous Victoria, near the
sea. It is actually on Fairfield
Road, which goes through
downtown and then loops around
to connect to Beach Drive. One
thing I learned that day: always
check a garden’s hour of
operations. Thinking that a
garden looks best in early
morning when the light is softer,
we arrived at 10 am, but we had
to occupy ourselves for another
hour as it did not open until 11.
Abkhazi operates eight months
of the year, from March 1 to
October 31. There is plenty of
parking near a wide sidewalk,
perfect for the citizens of B.C.’s capital city, many of
whom sport walkers and canes. There is an
admission fee for those who are not members of The
Land Conservancy, with $1 off for those who arrive
on foot or by bike or bus.
At one time the land was privately owned. It was
originally the home and life project of Marjorie
(Peggy) Pemberton-Carter and an exiled Georgian
prince, Nicholas Abkhazi. The story of their lives and
marriage is incredibly daring and romantic. Friends
before the war, they each survived prisoner-of-war
camps in World War II and reconnected afterward.
For over 40 years they nurtured the property and gave
it a unique shape. Now the garden is managed by The
Land Conservancy, which has taken out a large
mortgage in order to pay for the renovations needed
to get it in shape for public viewing. According to its
website, TLC is a charitable land trust modeled after
the British National Trust. With a little research I
learned that this garden has been featured as the TV
show, Recreating Eden, in an episode appropriately
entitled The Garden That Love Built (2004).
A few days ago I asked my mother, for her
impressions of the garden.
She told me that she liked
the location, size and layout,
as well as the relaxed
atmosphere and the lunch. A
city garden is convenient for
urban seniors. The
arrangement of the property,
on just over one acre, was
just right for her: the small
garden rooms with winding
pathways were easily
manageable.
Photo: Jeff de Jong
We explored just three of the
six spaces. The sheltered
Rhododendron Woodland Garden is right at the
entrance. The walkways are mulch covered but easily
navigable. Around each corner is something
deliberately placed to attract the eye, a little clump of
hardy cyclamen or a large, exotic hosta. My mother
felt that the most fascinating and memorable features
here were the old Garry Oak trees, twisted and bent
in unusual shapes. From this area, we came to the
South Lawn, an open and sunny space alive with
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