Gardens
Flowers
Qualicum Beach is known as Vancouver Island's "garden village."
The temperate climate produces an extraordinarily long growing season with upwards of 280 frost-free days annually. Local officials and residents are dedicated to keeping the town verdantly green and authentically pretty, and Milner Gardens & Woodlands is a seaside garden with winding paths, afternoon tea and gardens with rhododendrons, trilliums and much more.
Communities in Bloom Winner
Many Qualicum Beach avidly tend their own gardens while also volunteering for civic beautification projects that continue to make Qualicum Beach a perennial winner in the "Communities in Bloom" competition at provincial, national and international levels.
The downtown streetscape is a riot of colour with more than 200 hanging baskets are watered daily. Adding to the fragrant charms are curbside displays, back alleys lined with shrubs and flowering trees and an old-growth Heritage Forest near the town centre.
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Milner Gardens & Woodland
Milner Gardens & Woodland (2179 West Island Hwy) is a 28ha/70ac heritage property now operated as a teaching facility by Vancouver Island University's horticulture department. From the parking lot, stroll through a thick old-growth forest before reaching a splendid garden famous for its rhododendrons.
Milner House, at the ocean's edge, is open for tours. Enjoy scones and afternoon tea (served from 1-4pm) in a home that over the decades has hosted British royalty, including Queen Elizabeth II, Prince Charles and the late Lady Diana Spencer. Milner Gardens is open from April to Thanksgiving and hosts a number of special events.
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Things To Do
Parks & Wildlife