Tag Archives for " VanDusen Botanical Garden "

VanDusen Eggciting Easter Hop

By UBC Botanical Garden |

Bring the family to a unique outdoor Easter event

Enjoy an unforgettable Easter experience with your kids (0 to 5 years) at the VanDusen Gardens Eggciting Easter Hop! Kids can collect eggs near the maze area and receive a chocolate prize, and hop along to fun music on the great lawn.

Take a photo with the Easter bunny, and enjoy other eggciting activities at the garden. Please bring your own basket. Bunny ears and costumes are encouraged with prizes awarded for best costume during each session.

We will have food trucks on-site so you can enjoy tasty treats after the hunt. Tickets include entry to the entire 55-acre garden so make sure to enjoy a picturesque walk after the Easter activities.

• Tickets are available online only. No hard copy tickets will be available in advance or at the gate on event dates
• There are no refunds or exchanges offered
• This is an outdoor event and takes place rain or shine

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Times: 10am, 11am, 12pm, and 1pm
Dates: Friday, April 19, Saturday, April 20, and Sunday, April 21, .2019

Protip: After you finish hunting Ester Eggs at VanDusen, drop by the Bloedel Conservatory to see the stunning and rare, 3 meter tall, subtropical ‘Snow Tower’ plants blooming

Flow to Slow Yoga at VanDusen Gardens

By UBC Botanical Garden |

Join us for some Yoga at VanDusen Gardens this winter!

Join us for an energizing, relaxing yoga at VanDusen Botanical Garden. The first portion of class moves you through a gentle flow of active, dynamic postures that wake up your muscles and get blood flowing. We will then wind down to a slower pace, holding posture to help nourish your joints, relax your mind and release tension. Appropriate for beginners or experienced students looking for a new approach to their practice. Bring a yoga mat and a towel or light blanket. Some props are available to borrow but you are welcome to bring your own. Class takes place in the beautiful VanDusen Guides Classroom with garden views.

Drop in Member $18 / Non-member $20

8 Dates · January 14 – March 11, 2019

Monday January 14, 21, and 28: 10:15 AM – 11:30 AM

Monday February 4, 11, and 25: 10:15 AM – 11:30 AM

Monday March 4 and 11: 10:15 AM – 11:30 AM

Multi-passes start at $90 for 6 classes. Learn more at https://www.amilia.com/store/en/vanduseneducation/shop/multipass

About the instructor: Timothy Martin leads his classes from a place for both the light and dark aspects of yoga. He holds space for students to reconnect with their bodies on a deeper level than just only the mechanical with a focus on looking inward for answers. A colourful, vibrant personality you will find that Tim redefines what students think a yoga class, a yoga student and a yoga teacher should be. He meets students where they are and encourages acceptance and love through each and every breath.

You may also be interested in Tai Chi at the Vancouver Chinese Garden.

Vandusen 2018 Festival of Lights

By UBC Botanical Garden |

Experience a magical winter wonderland with over one million lights decorating 15 acres of VanDusen Botanical Garden from December 1 to January 6 for the Vandusen 2018 Festival of Lights.

Carousel

What else brings on more holiday cheer than a ride on a carousel amidst a beautifully lit setting. From grandkids to grandparents, it’s family fun for everyone.

All tickets include a free ride on the carousel.

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 Suitable for ages 2+ and children 36” and taller. Parents are not permitted to hold babies on the carousel. Other safety restrictions may apply.

Dancing lights

Be mesmerized by lights dancing to classic, disco, and soul music sets on Livingstone Lake, every 20 minutes.

Santa’s Place

Families, kids, and couples alike can take photos with Santa in the Visitor Centre halls until December 24. This is now a free experience included with entry.

Fireside Lounge

Gather around the fire pits and warm up with a specialty holiday beverage in this new outdoor licensed area.

Make-A-Wish® – Candle Grotto

Make a donation to our charity partner, the Make-A-Wish Foundation, and make a wish while you light a candle to fill this picturesque grotto.

Recycled rhythms

Let your kids have some fun making music with recycled instruments.

Tinsel tunes

Play the piano and sing along to holiday tunes in the garden.

Selfie spots and photo ops

Look out for frames, sets, and other selfie spots throughout the show and make sure to share with #VanDusenFOL

View a map of all the highlights, vendors, and amenities  (1.1 MB)

While visiting, don’t miss Bloedel Conservatory’s Holiday Heights 2018, open from December 14 to January 6. VanDusen 2018 Festival of Lights and Bloedel Conservatory are closer than you think. You can visit both attractions in the same day and enjoy a scenic walk (18 minutes), bike (8 minutes), or bus ride via W 33rd Ave (18 minutes) in between. See map here: https://goo.gl/maps/xoFRUm4kHhx

VanDusen Botanical Gardens 40th Anniversary

By UBC Botanical Garden | Garden News

2015 was VanDusen Botanical Garden’s 40th anniversary! Come and see a special photo retrospective in the Visitor Centre’s Discovery Room featuring more than 500 photos that tell the story of the transformation of Shaugnessy Golf Course into the VanDusen Botanical Garden.

The Garden’s birthday was on August 16, 2015 with events and activities for the whole family. Featuring live music, historical and botanical talks and tours, an heirloom veggie harvest, family entertainment, photo booth, climbing wall, putting green, face-painting, tasty treats, and much more! All entertainment and activities are included with admission.

The Garden is jointly operated by the City of Vancouver Board of Parks and Recreationand the Vancouver Botanical Gardens Association, a charitable non-profit organization. Our two organizations have worked together for more than 40 years under a shared vision of making the Garden cherished locally and renowned internationally.

Bloedel Conservatory – A colourful escape, Montecristo Magazine

By UBC Botanical Garden | Garden News , In The Press

The Bloedel Conservatory, a jewel in the city perched atop Queen Elizabeth Park. Photo by Joshua McVeity.

The Bloedel Conservatory — A colourful escape.

Story and photos by Joshua McVeity

Dreaming of a warm getaway this winter? You need go no further than Queen Elizabeth Park. Truly an oasis in the city, the Conservatory can brighten any day with its tropical clime, colourful flora, and the vivid plumage of its inhabitants. The conservatory for exotic plants and birds was saved from closure four years ago thanks to Friends of the Bloedel, a non-profit association formed by concerned citizens. Now under the wing of VanDusen Botanical Garden, the triodetic dome— honoured with a Places that Matter plaque from the Vancouver Heritage Foundation in 2012—is home to over 200 free-flying exotic birds and 500 tropical plants from around the world.

The rest of the story can be read at: montecristomagazine.com/culture/the-bloedel-conservatory

VanDusen Botanical – Garden Visitor Centre Design in Bloom

By UBC Botanical Garden | Garden News , In The Press

Detail shot of the undulating “petal” roof. Photo: Courtesy of Perkins+Will Canada and Vancouver Park Board; taken prior to completion.

The VanDusen Botanical Garden Visitor Centre — Design in bloom.

Story: Amanda Jun

Rain is not unfamiliar to Vancouverites. And while many may grumble about wet weather for half the year, grievances are mostly forgotten come May, when we revel in the beauty of our verdant city. Perhaps, in that sense, no one appreciates the rain more than a gardener, and those at the VanDusen Botanical Garden have a new plant to tend.

A new Visitor Centre opened its doors this past October, housing the garden café, gift shop, library, interpretive exhibits, volunteer activity space and new educational and rental facilities. Informed by the site’s ecosystem and designed to generate its own energy and operate efficiently, in addition to having LEED Platinum status, the facility is expected to receive certification from the International Living Future Institute as Canada’s first Living Building. It’s magnificent to behold, contained by tall glass walls and a large undulating roof crowned with an oculus. Dramatic and arresting, it is the garden’s new herald, announcing its presence, which was formerly obscured by a shield of hollies.

Plans for a new facility at VanDusen have been in gestation since 2000, and in 2007, Vancouver-based architecture firm Perkins+Will Canada, in conjunction with renowned landscape architect Cornelia Hahn Oberlander, was commissioned by the Vancouver Park Board to create a signature building that would serve and represent the garden’s purpose while exemplifying sustainability. “We need to show by example that this kind of project can be achieved,” says Danica Djurkovic, the acting director of planning and operations at the Vancouver Park Board. “It’s our responsibility to make sure that we deliver, before we start asking others to do the same thing.”

The facility is designed to be net-zero energy, with a combination of solar and geothermal systems in place to generate heating and electricity. Additionally, a heat sink—the asymmetrical perforated aluminium panel installed inside the glazed oculus—aids natural ventilation.

The rest of the story can be read at: montecristomagazine.com/magazine/winter-2011/the-vandusen-botanical-garden-visitor-centre