Abkhazi Garden is in the seaside community of Oak Bay, one of thirteen communities that form the Capital Regional District of British Columbia. This spectacular rock garden was acquired by The Land Conservancy of British Columbia in the year two thousand. The property and garden were initially landscaped by the Marjorie Abkhazi, who was born in Shanghi, China, and her husband, Prince Nicholas, a Georgian noble, in nineteen forty-six. The TLC website describes their history and the landscape development of the garden. The rocky garden shows glacial striations in its granodiorite bedrock of Wrangellia Terrane. The garden is landscaped into distinctive garden rooms that include a rhododendron woodland, the south lawn, a Yangtze River, supported by three ponds, the summerhouse, the east path and the house terrace. There are many notable plantings in this garden such as the Spanish fir tree (Abius pinsapo), wood anemone, winter aconite and fawn lilies. The original family home hosts a Tea House with unique pastries and artwork. There is admission cost to enter this garden. Gonzales Hill Regional Park, Gonzales Beach Park, and Margaret Jenkins Elementary School Green Space, in Victoria, are nearby. The Branch Coffee Shop and Demitasse Café and Garden Center are also nearby.
Geographic Location N48º 24’ 56” W123º 19’ 33”
Abkhazi Garden can be reached from the Trans-Canada Highway. Continue along the Hwy 1 into Victoria as it becomes Douglas Street. Turn off Douglas onto Hillside Avenue to head east. Stay on Hillside Avenue as it becomes Lansdowne Road. Continue along Lansdowne Road to reach Foul Bay Road. Turn right onto Foul Bay Road and continue along Foul Bay Road to Fairfield Road. Turn left onto Fairfield Road and look for the garden is on the left at 1964. It is nestled between the residential homes. There is limited street parking in this residential neighborhood. City buses travel close to this park.
Walks in Your Backyard 