I recently visited the Abkhazi Garden in Victoria, British Columbia. [For those who don't know ...] It's a largish city lot, with lots of rocky outcrops, a small lawn, a pond, many borders, shrubs, vines, small trees, etc. It was first planted in the 1940s, I believe, so it's a mature garden now. Very large tree-form rhododendrons, many "layers" of shrubs and plants as undergrowth - just beautiful. The original owners had plenty of time - and clearly, the inclination - to seek out interesting plants from all over the world, and to establish each in just the right place. I saw scores of plants that I could not identify. This was both thrilling, and frustrating. Does anyone know if there's a list available anywhere that identifies the plants at Abkhazi? (The garden did have a small display of cut flowers and twigs of things in bloom at the time, but that wasn't enough for me.) Or does anyone participate in this board who is familiar with what's growing at Abkhazi?
I agree with Ron. I'm friends with one of The Land Conservancy's regional managers, and I vaguely recall a conversation with her about the difficulties in identifying everything on the Abkhazi grounds.
Most of them can be figured out, and it is certainly a nice enough garden. To me the sad thing is that part of the property was sold and developed. The remaining piece would be less hemmed in if it was all still there.
Would think the previous gardeners {for Princess Abkhazi} and owners , the Balls I think, would be the most familiar with the plants. Maybe some members of the Victoria Rhododendron Society would have some information concerning the garden or a list.
