For decades it’s been a fixture in the Inner Harbour.
The Welcome to Victoria flower garden has been planted each year since 1954 and has been seen around the world.
“It’s iconic and it’s wonderful in terms of sense of arrival for float planes and when whale watching companies return to the Inner Harbour,” says Destination Victoria CEO Paul Nursey.
“We get a lot of positive feedback from visitors as well as Victoria people,” says Colin McCrea, owner of Horizon Nurseries.
McCrea’s company has looked after the display on behalf of the Greater Victoria Harbour Authority since 2005. Horizon is also responsible for several major planting projects around Victoria, including Craigdarroch Castle and Government House. Even with such a dazzling resume, the welcome display is a favourite among McCrea and his team.
“We’re just really pleased to offer this and be a part of the downtown Victoria scene,” says McCrea.
So when the GVHA announced that the garden would disappear for a year due to the cancellation of cruise ship season, McCrea decided to step up. Horizon Nurseries will cover the cost of labour to plant the flowers, while CHEK will be covering the hard costs of the plant materials.
“It’s something that we just weren’t going to walk away from and let go,” says McCrea.
“It would certainly be missing if it wasn’t there and it was just dirt there, so this is a good news story all around,” says Nursey.
The garden will be replanted in May in time to welcome islanders and visitors to the Inner Harbour for the summer season. Horizon will also be supplying dozens of hanging baskets that will be placed along the lower causeway.
Cole Sorenson
