Looking for gardens/plant nurseries to visit on Salt Spring Island

I am looking for some plant nurseries and/or public gardens (or even private, if possible) on Salt Spring Island to visit while I am there. I will be there in 3 weeks. I know of Fraser's Thimble Farms, and while I was surfing this forum, found out about The Plant Farm. That sounds pretty cool, but I contacted them twice by e-mail with no reply yet. Does anyone have info on them? I also found out, from this forum, about the Bamboo Ranch. Looks like they only have a phone number. Maybe I'll contact them when I'm there. Does anyone have any more info on these places, or know of any where else that is nice? Does anyone know of Bananna Joe? Is his place open to the public? Does he accept visitors? I haven't found any contact for him, so I'm guessing not.

 

This is not going to be so helpful, since I can't remember the name, but I tried to go to a garden center that I was told specialized in native plants. It was pretty much on the north tip of the island. By the time we drove up there it was 4:30 and it was closed. Anyways, I'm pretty sure it was the tourist information centre that told me about it. They were super helpful.
Their numbers are:
250-537-5252 Phone
866-216-2936 Toll-free
Good luck!
k

 

If it was at the most northern tip of the Island, it would have been Fraser's Thimble Farms.

I was hoping there might be people on this forum that might have been to the Island, and been to places that fit these categories. Has anyone been to The Plant Farm or the Bamboo Ranch? I'd love to see gardens with palms, bananas, tree ferns, etc., but don't know where they are, or even if there are any. Tourist info usually can't help with those kind of specifics. Banana Joe would be my first guess, but I'm pretty sure he doesn't open his garden to the public, although I can't be sure. I am leaving in one week, so if you have any ideas, let me know soon! Thanks.

 

Anyone??

 

Don't know whether you went of not. I am interested in the bamboo farm too. I'm headed to Saltspring on Thanksgiving Sunday. Chances are it will be closed. If you went please let us know what it was like. If it's open when I go I'll try to remember to let you know my thoughts!!

 

I'm leaving on my trip on the 11th, and won't be back until the 23rd. I'll be on Salt Spring from the 19th to the 23rd. I haven't called the Bamboo Ranch yet, but will when I get there. The Plant Farm says they are open, so I'll check that out, but I just want to know if there is anything else I should see while I am there. I don't know if I'll have internet access while I'm away.

 

Well, if I hear of any other exotic locations for you to check out, I'll let you know!

 

I'm back! It was a great trip! Beautiful weather too! So, I got to FTF and The Plant Farm. Fraser's Thimble Farms is great, even if you're not shopping. Lots of tree ferns to look at. I was also impressed with The Plant Farm. 4 acres of landscaped gardens! I didn't see many redwoods on my trip, but they have 2 - one of them is a 'blue' redwood. Never seen one of those before. The Bamboos are amazing! I also saw my first ever Garry Oak ecosystem. Very interesting to see the immediate change from thick Douglas Fir/Hemlock/Arbutus forest to very open Garry Oak meadow. I'd like to see that in the spring of summer to see the wildflowers blooming.