About Milner Gardens

Mission Statement

To preserve and enhance the Milner Gardens and Woodland to educate and inspire

Description of Woodlands, House, and Garden

The garden is a sensuous delight. Old growth Douglas firs and cedars frame breathtaking views of the Strait of Georgia. The garden lawns slope gently to meet a precipitous bluff which plunges to the beach below. Beyond the strait, the Coast Range Mountains of the British Columbia mainland can be seen. To the north, Denman, Hornby, Lasqueti and Texada Islands are visible.

The gabled house includes features of a Ceylonese tea plantation house. For example, each bedroom has a bathroom with a screened door leading into the garden. Its covered veranda looks out on both garden and sea views and serves as an outdoor room. Wisteria vines with soft, plump flower clusters cling to the walls. It is believed that the house was started in 1928 and completed in 1931.

Bald eagles patrol the beach head and circle above their feeding grounds, their distinctive cries carrying across the forest. Blue herons fish the shore, while the dappled shade of the garden shelters songbirds. Purple finches and wrens nest in the camellias near the house. The garden features 500 varieties of rhododendrons, whose colours and textures grow against the majestic forest trees. Blue-green hostas, fragrant honeysuckle, and delicate lace-cape hydrangeas soothe the eye. The forest shelters wildlife.

The significance and complexity of the estate go beyond this aesthetic richness, however. The property is located within the coastal Douglas-fir biogeoclimatic zone. These forests were dominated by towering Douglas fir, western red cedar, and Grand fir. Development and logging have taken their toll and very few old growth forests remain. The estate is one of a group of properties (totaling 140 acres) which comprise one of the last of such forests. As a result, the estate has a very high conservation value.

The garden lies on the sheltered eastern shore of Vancouver Island and is protected from severe weather conditions sweeping in from the Pacific Ocean by Mt. Arrowsmith to the west. It is further protected by the mild Japanese current. Summers are warm and winters are mild. January temperatures average from 8-12 C. while July temperatures average 23-25 C. The average annual rainfall is 140 cm. Freely draining, sandy soil is a result of retreating glaciers which covered the area thousands of years ago. This soil is covered by a thin layer of forest loam typical of the region and supports a wide range of plants.

Today the multi-layered forest canopy casts a dense shade over much of the garden area. The understory includes the extensive collection of rare rhododendrons as well as fine specimen trees. There are several formal areas with lawns and edge plants, a small orchard, berry and vegetable gardens. The garden includes specimens of Japanese maples, Davidia, Stewartia, beeches, laburnum, Katsura, dawn redwood, birches and Spanish chestnut.

Of the total 28 hectare (70 acre) Milner Garden and Woodland property, 4 hectares (10 acres) is developed garden, 24 hectares (60 acres) is forest. The property includes a swimming pool and pool house, tennis court and cottage.

History

Background of Milner Gardens & Woodland

Horatio "Ray" Milner was born in Sackville, New Brunswick in 1889. He attended Kings College, Nova Scotia and was graduated at age 20. He was called to the bar in 1911 after receiving a law degree from Dalhousie University. After serving in WWI, he was made Kings Counsel.

Ray Milner retired in 1969 at age 80 after an exceptional career. A renowned philanthropist and businessperson, he had been the chair and director of several companies as well as a partner in the law firm Milner and Steer. As one of his many achievements, Mr. Milner was a founding director of Canadian Utilities and was instrumental in the formation and growth of the company. He was made a companion of the Order of Canada in December, 1969. Three universities awarded him honorary doctorates.

The 28 hectare (70 acre) estate at Qualicum was Mr. Milner’s retreat from his busy business life in Alberta. He purchased the estate in 1937 and began to work on the garden with his first wife, Rina. Both loved the garden and forest. Sadly, however, Rina passed away in 1952. More extensive work on the 4 hectare (10 acre) garden portion of the estate was started in 1954 after Ray’s marriage to his second wife, Veronica. Veronica named the estate "Long Distance". In her words, "We called this house this name because it was so far away from my old home, and because the telephone was always ringing for him!"

Mrs. Veronica Milner was a fascinating person. Born of the British aristocracy, she was the widow of Desmond Fitzgerald, 28th Knight of Glin, County Limerick, Ireland. Her mother was a cousin of British Prime Minister Winston Churchill. Both Churchill and Mrs. Milner were descended from the First Duke of Marlborough, and thus were related to Diana, Princess of Wales. Indeed, the Prince and Princess of Wales visited the garden in 1986. Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip stayed at the estate for three days in October, 1987.

Mrs. Milner’s artist’s eye and horticultural expertise combined to shape the garden. She was an accomplished artist and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Art and Commerce. Her elegant pastel botanicals and rich oils cover the walls of the residence at Long Distance. Mrs. Milner was a member of the Founding Committee of the VanDusen Gardens in Vancouver, the University of Alberta Devonian Botanical Garden, the Royal Horticultural Society and a Fellow of the Garden Conservancy. She was also a member of the International Dendrology Society. The aims of this Society are "to promote the study of woody plants and shrubs, and to conserve and protect those that are rare and endangered." Mrs. Milner acquired many of the trees and shrubs at the estate when she accompanied her husband on his many business trips abroad.

The estate was acquired by Vancouver Island University in 1996. In May, 1996, the garden was dedicated as "The Milner Gardens" in recognition of Ray and Veronica Milner. VIU’s goal is to maintain the garden in perpetuity for education and the community’s benefit in Ray Milner’s memory.

Mrs. Milner passed away in her home at "Long Distance" on November 5, 1998.

In Veronica's Garden, the Social history of the Milner Gardens and Woodland by Margaret Cadwaladr is available at the garden Gift Shop, by phoning toll free 1-800-866-5504 or by email at inveronicasgarden@shaw.ca

Vision Statement

This vision of the Milner Gardens and Woodland has evolved from the vision of the garden’s founders and creators, Ray and Veronica Milner. While others, notably Ted and Mary Greig, contributed to the garden we see today, the garden is in very large part a living testament to the Milner’s knowledge, passion, persistence and unerring eye for beauty.

Veronica Milner saw the garden and forest as a single living organism, a microcosm of calm and tranquility that was vitally important both in its own right and as an oasis where people could experience a sense of renewal and fulfillment. The key elements in this original vision were the preservation and continued enhancement of the garden and forest, the use of the garden and forest to educate and, more broadly, to influence people through delight and inspiration.

These elements converge in the acquisition of the property by Vancouver Island University. VIU’s mission statement speaks of developing the full potential of students and of collaborating with the community "in providing programs and services that respond to regional needs". The Milner Gardens and Woodland provides a superb living laboratory for VIU’s horticultural students. It also offers an opportunity to develop relationships with a broad cross-section of the community through the activities of the Milner Gardens and Woodland Society and the corps of working volunteers, the Friends of Milner Gardens and Woodland. These organizations have been established and will play an important role in the success of this venture.

Both the garden and the forest will be preserved and enhanced; the garden because of its beauty, uniqueness and botanical variety; and the forest because Vancouver Island University is committed to the maintenance of a Douglas-fir forest typical of the dry east coast of Vancouver Island. The forest also plays a key role in circling and protecting the garden, creating a sense of calm and isolation from the world as well as physical shelter from the elements.

The garden will be a continual inspiration and challenge to Vancouver Island University’s students and faculty and will provide a strong rationale for additional horticulture oriented programs to provide higher levels of expertise and accreditation for students. An important priority over the last four years has been to research and record the development of the garden during its first half century and to rehabilitate both the garden and the infrastructure supporting it.

The forest requires judicious management to ensure its maintenance and enhancement as a rare example of coastal Douglas-fir forest. A Forest Management Plan has been developed and adopted. The purpose of the Forest Management Plan is to give an ecological description and inventory of the forest, describe the conservation significance of the forest and guide the use, management and conservation practices in the forest over the short (five year) term and set some general directions for a planning horizon encompassing approximately one hundred years into the future.

Goals

Provide learning opportunities in both the art and science of horticulture as well as other activities appropriate to the garden and forest.
Conduct research in horticulture and related fields in the garden and forest.
Preserve and enhance Milner Gardens’ historic character and unique spirit for the benefit of future generations.
Manage the forest as an example of a coastal Douglas-fir biogeoclimatic zone for the benefit of future generations.
Provide a world class display of rare and unique plants.
Demonstrate leadership in natural resource management.
Participate in and contribute to the larger horticultural community.
Ensure that the use of the Milner home is compatible with the Mission and other goals of the Milner Gardens and Woodland.

Staff

Administration: 250-752-8573
Volunteer Services: 250-752-7514
Fax: 250-752-3826

Geoff Ball
Executive Director

Kim Hammond
Nursery Grower/Grounds Keeper

Helen Reimer
Visitor Services Coordinator

Charlene Forrest
Shoots with Roots Coordinator

Carol Hansen
Tea Room Coordinator

General Inquiries