The Butchart Gardens began in humble fashion when Jennie Butchart nurtured a few roses and sweet peas adjoining her simple home near a quarry and cement plant. Even in its modern day, with a staff of upwards of 550 staff and close to a million visitors per year, the gardens remain true to their beginnings. They remain much as anyone's private garden would, but on a much larger scale. Only the roses are labeled, just as Jennie Butchart did to help her remember which variety was which. It is the artistry of the gardeners using, for the most part, readily available plants, shrubs and trees that delivers the “wow factor.”

• The Butchart Gardens has an online worldwide following with 194 countries being logged on its web site in the last year.
• Trip Advisor has, at the time of writing, 2,494 reviews of The Gardens with an 80.4% Excellent rating and a 94.1%
• Condé Nast Traveler in its story "The World's Most Beautiful Botanical Gardens" named The Gardens as one of "14 stunning botanical gardens around the world."
• CNN Travel in "What a Wonderful World - 12 fabulous gardens" included The Butchart Gardens.
• USA Today and 10Best.com readers chose The Butchart as the third best garden in North America.
• In the National Geographic's 320-page Four Seasons of Travel book The Butchart Gardens was named one of the Top 10 Magnificent Gardens.

Contact: Graham Bell either at the Iceland convention or via grahambell@butchartgardens.com