The Victoria Conservatory of Music (VCM)’s annual Mother’s Day Musical Garden Tour is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year. The tour gives people access to 10 private gardens and one public garden, as well as entrance to a plant sale.
“It’s a nice opportunity to be able to spend some time outdoors, appreciating the hard work of other people and other peoples’ gardens,” says VCM director of marketing Tereza Anderson. “It just makes for a really enjoyable weekend.”
Anderson says the event is primarily volunteer-led, with the exception of a few staff members who are involved. This is the VCM’s major annual fundraiser, and all the proceeds raised go directly to the VCM’s operating fund.
“As a non-profit, being able to have a balanced operating fund allows us to provide scholarships, to keep tuition low, and to offer music outreach programs,” says Anderson. “So it really just helps to keep all of those things thriving.”
The tour includes 11 different gardens located all around Victoria, with each destination featuring musical performances by VCM students and faculty. The performances are volunteer-based, and Anderson says many of the musicians are students from Camosun’s joint program with the VCM. As for the gardens, this year they will be adding some new ones to the list, while also holding on to some old favourites.
“Some of the gardens that we will be featuring are repeats, but, of course, over time gardens evolve and they change and there’s new plants and so everything is always kind of new,” says Anderson.
This year, for the first time, the tour will feature a food-production garden.
“This one focuses on some innovative techniques that maybe some other gardens haven’t done, like using only rainwater collection, and the house uses solar panels to heat itself up,” says Anderson. “It goes from that to the other end, where there’s a rare collections garden that spans over two lots in Oak Bay. So you’re going to see a wide variety of things and hopefully feel inspired to get out and do some gardening yourself.”
In celebration of the tour’s 40th anniversary, an additional event will take place on Saturday, May 7. At 7 pm in the Alix Goolden Hall, the VCM is hosting a panel with speakers covering an array of garden-related topics.
“Our volunteer committee helped us to organize this event, which is really around the love of gardening in Victoria,” says Anderson. “We have three speakers and they’re all speaking about local plants grown on the island or in BC. The idea is that hopefully if you are working on your own garden or want to learn a bit more about those specific plants to come and hang out with other like-minded people.”
Thankful for the event’s ongoing support and volunteer involvement, Anderson looks forward to continuing the legacy of the Mother’s Day Musical Garden Tour, which was born out of a love for gardening, music, and community. And they are excited to be able to celebrate the milestone in person after holding the event remotely for the past two years, says Anderson.
“This year is our 40th and I think that’s probably one of the most exciting things about it, and to be able to be in person for it feels really special,” says Anderson.