INDOORS TODAY: Morning Yoga in the Gardens (Thursdays)
2025-08-28 10:00 - 11:15 (America/Vancouver) | Horticulture Centre Of The Pacific, 505 Quayle Rd., Victoria, BC, V9E 2J7, Canada
Adult Community Education | Health & Wellness| 60-75 minute Session

INDOORS TODAY (Classroom) DUE TO RAIN
Come and enjoy an outdoor Hatha Flow practice, lead by Hayley from Cedar and Soul Movement. Hayley is a passionate instructor who believes everyone can benefit from the teachings of yoga and nature. Yoga brings our bodies, minds and souls into alignment helping us to navigate life with more clarity and ease. Combined with the beauty of nature, this is sure to be and experience that will leave you feeling grounded and nourished.

Hatha Flow is a foundational style of yoga where we focus on alignment and breath control while moving at a steady and consistent pace. This balanced approach to yoga helps to stretch and strengthen the entire body while keeping you in the present moment. These classes will be one hour long and are for all levels of experience.
Please arrive before class with enough time to park, pay the drop-in fee at the front desk, walk 2-5 mins to that day's garden location, and get yourself set up and settled. Bring a yoga mat and a water bottle as well as any other props you may need. Layers are suggested so you can remain comfortable during class. Drop-in price includes yoga session as well as entrance to the gardens so you are welcome explore and enjoy the beautiful surroundings after class.

Time & Location
Thursdays, 10:00-11:15 am (beginning June 19, 2025)
Various locations at the Gardens at HCP, 505 Quayle Road, Victoria BC
Registration & Fees
Registration is not required. Please pay at office upon entry to the gardens.
Drop-in fee includes admission to the garden on the day of the class.
$16.00 HCP Members
$20.00 Non-Members Interested in Membership?
If you have any questions please email Hayley at hayley@cedarandsoulmovement.com

Plant Identification & Culture with Jane Tice
2025-08-30 13:00 - 16:00, 2025-09-27 13:00 - 16:00
Adult Community Education | 3-hour class
This is a monthly class in which participants will be introduced to 20 new plants in each session.
If you are a new gardener, new to Victoria or just want to brush up on your plant knowledge, this is a great place to get started. This is a monthly class where participants will be introduced to 20 new plants which fit with our local climate. Plants are selected for our local growing conditions and the value they bring to the garden. Part of the class will be in the classroom and part will be out in the gardens to view the plants for that month. Dress for the weather and bring something to take notes.
You registration includes all-day admission to the Gardens at HCP (9:00 am-3:30 last admission)
Please register ahead - minimum enrollment is required.

Last Saturday of each month – 1-4pm.
HCP Members $40.00 per session
Non-Members $50.00 per session

Location
Meet in The Classroom, located in the parking lot to the left of the cafe - 505 Quayle Rd, Saanich.
Please dress for the weather as part of the class takes place outdoors in the Gardens at HCP.
2026 Drop-in Session Dates
Click a date below to register online, or call 250-479-6162.
Jan 31, 2026
Feb 28, 2026
Mar 28, 2026
April 18, 2026 **Note earlier than usual date for April**
May 30, 2026
June 27, 2026
July 25, 2026
Aug 29, 2026
Sept 26, 2026
Oct 31, 2026
Nov 28, 2026
Dec 12, 2026 **Early class prior to winter garden closure**

Cancellations:
This class requires a minimum of 6 registrants in order to run. If the minimum is not met, the class will be canceled or postponed.
Please contact communityed@hcp.ca if you would like to cancel your registration. Registrations less than one week prior to the class date are not eligible for a refund.

Morning Yoga in the Gardens (Thursdays)
2025-09-04 10:00 - 11:15, 2025-09-11 10:00 - 11:15, 2025-09-18 10:00 - 11:15
Adult Community Education | Health & Wellness| 60-75 minute Session
Come and enjoy an outdoor Hatha Flow practice, lead by Hayley from Cedar and Soul Movement. Hayley is a passionate instructor who believes everyone can benefit from the teachings of yoga and nature. Yoga brings our bodies, minds and souls into alignment helping us to navigate life with more clarity and ease. Combined with the beauty of nature, this is sure to be and experience that will leave you feeling grounded and nourished.

Hatha Flow is a foundational style of yoga where we focus on alignment and breath control while moving at a steady and consistent pace. This balanced approach to yoga helps to stretch and strengthen the entire body while keeping you in the present moment. These classes will be one hour long and are for all levels of experience.
Please arrive before class with enough time to park, pay the drop-in fee at the front desk, walk 2-5 mins to that day's garden location, and get yourself set up and settled. Bring a yoga mat and a water bottle as well as any other props you may need. Layers are suggested so you can remain comfortable during class. Drop-in price includes yoga session as well as entrance to the gardens so you are welcome explore and enjoy the beautiful surroundings after class.
An indoor location is available in the event of rain.
Time & Location
Thursdays, 10:00-11:15 am (beginning June 19, 2025)
Various locations at the Gardens at HCP, 505 Quayle Road, Victoria BC
Registration & Fees
Registration is not required. Please pay at office upon entry to the gardens.
Drop-in fee includes admission to the garden on the day of the class.
$16.00 HCP Members
$20.00 Non-Members Interested in Membership?
If you have any questions please email Hayley at hayley@cedarandsoulmovement.com

Clay and Foliage Workshop
2025-09-06 13:00 - 16:00
ADULT COMMUNITY EDUCATION | ARTS WORKSHOP | 3 HOURS
**This workshop is full. To join the waiting list, please email janet@hcp.ca.**
Enjoy a delightful afternoon working with clay, foliage and flowers of the HCP, with instructor Monika Burrell. Participants will be guided in the making of a mug or a bud vase with a garden theme. We can imprint stems, leaves and flowers into the soft clay to achieve individual pieces that will be uniquely yours. Capturing intricate veins and delicate textures of the vegetation in a process that is as satisfying as it is beautiful. This project is a hybrid of printmaking with the design of the clay surface and sculpture as we piece the form together to make a 3D object.
The projects created in this workshop will then be fired and glazed by the instructor and returned three weeks after the workshop. Your finished piece will be microwave and dishwasher safe, made with food-safe, non-toxic materials. All the materials and tools for this project are provided; however, please bring an apron or wear clothes that you don’t mind getting messy. No previous clay experience is necessary.
Your registration includes all-day admission to the Gardens at HCP on the day of the class (last admission 3:30 pm)
Date & Location
Saturday Sept 6, 1-4 PM
The Classroom at the Gardens at HCP, 505 Quayle Road, Saanich
Fees & Registration
$70.00 HCP Members
$80.00 Non-Members Interested in Membership?

REGISTER ONLINE or call 250 479 6162

Instructor Bio: Monika Burrell
My name is Monika Burrell and I primarily work in clay making both sculpture and functional pottery. Clay has had a central role in my life for over 30 years and I live and work on the Saanich Peninsula. My work in clay is shaped by the local seascape and landscape, as these elements often appear in the designs on my pots. As well as making pottery, I have thoroughly enjoyed teaching pottery classes and workshops for over 25 years. My work for sale can be found at www.Emburr.etsy.com and my clay process can be viewed on instagram http://instagram.com/emburrs/

Classic Wicker Basket with Joan Carrigan
2025-09-07 09:30 - 16:30
Adult Community Education | Basketry | Full-day Workshop
**This workshop is full. To join the waiting list, email janet@hcp.ca.**
Come spend the day with basketry instructor Joan Carrigan learning how to weave a classic round wicker basket. We will start with a radiating spoke base and weaving the sides with a focus on shaping and design elements and incorporating some natural materials with the natural and dyed reed on hand. This classic bowl shape will be ready to put on display and use for your fall harvest.
Your registration includes admission to The Gardens at HCP - bring your lunch and enjoy the grounds.
Tool List

Sturdy sharp scissors – like kitchen scissors,
finer tip scissors or angled wire cutters,
spray bottle
an old towel.

Dates & Location
Sunday, Sept. 7, 2025 | 9:30 PM-4:30 PM
The Classroom at HCP, 505 Quayle Road
Fees & Registration
HCP Members $130
Non-Members $145 Thinking about becoming a member?
REGISTER ONLINE or call 250.479.6162

College Info Session
2025-09-15 17:00 - 18:30
Need more information about our Landscape Horticulture Program offerings, please join us for our Info Session on Monday, September 15th from 5-6:30 pm in the Couvelier Pavilion. Be sure to bring your questions and enter the draw for $100 off your tuition!

Watercolour Painting with Richard Wong: House Finch
2025-09-18 13:00 - 16:00
Adult Community Education | Art Class | 3-hour Workshop

If you like painting birds, join artist Richard Wong for a class and learn how to paint the House Finch in vibrant watercolour. Richard
cultivates a relaxing, fun, stress-free learning where everyone is welcome. Suitable for all levels, beginners are especially encouraged.

Please note new reduced tuition rate!

Date & Location
Thursday, September 18, 1:00-4:00 pm
The Classroom at the Gardens at HCP, 505 Quayle Road

Fees & Registration:
$50.00 (art supplies not included, see supply list below)
$60.00 (art supplies included)
REGISTER ONLINE or call 250 479 6162

If You Are Bringing Your Own Art Supplies:
- Masa paper (several 8x10" pieces). Option: regular 140lb watercolour paper
- Winsor Newton watercolours: bring all your colours
- Paint brushes (medium and small), pencil, eraser, paper towels
- containers for rinse water
- New: **old toothbrush**

Sign up to the Community Education e-news for information on Richard's upcoming classes

Richard Wong, Artist Statement & Biography
“How I Became A Wildlife Artist”

This great adventure of mine started fairly innocently.
I spent a glorious 25 years with the provincial government of British Columbia working in finance and policy (Ministry of Environment). During that time, I came to appreciate our wildlife and natural environment, all so delicately balanced! Then it came time to retire. So I did.
My life as a wildlife artist started soon thereafter. With time on my hands, and a Christmas gift of art supplies (from my wonderful spouse), I enrolled in art classes (2010). First it was traditional watercolor classes. Then it was Chinese brush lessons. I soon discovered Japanese art paper, and my career (second) as a professional wildlife artist began. Learning to paint, especially watercolor, allows me to capture the very essence of wildlife and nature like no other medium. Much of our wildlife is affected to the point where we are losing them rapidly. So I do what I can to spread this message of awareness: to paint and capture our wildlife in beautiful, vibrant watercolors; to teach others how to do this; and along the way, to engage and connect people and communities through my love of art. This love has taken me to Australia and the United States, where I've taught, presented and shown my work (Watercolor on Japanese Art Paper). I now paint (professionally), teach and sell from my lovely home base in Victoria, BC, Canada.
Wishing everyone a very lovely journey as we embark on yet another wildlife/art adventure full of wonder, excitement and discovery!
Sincerely,
Richard Wong
Professional Wildlife Artist
Watercolor on Japanese Art Paper

Fall Plant Sale (Members & Volunteers only)
2025-09-19 09:00 - 16:00
Fall is the perfect time for planting, the soil is still warm and the fall rains are on the way!
All plants are reduced by 25% and the ever popular bargain bin will have plants at a 50% discount(what I refer to as ‘pot bound specials’, plants that just need to get out of the pot to thrive) Victoria Master Gardeners, HCP staff, volunteers and PHC students are on site as well to answer your gardening questions and help you choose the right plant for your garden.
The plant availability list will be available on the website prior to the sale.

HCP Fall Plant Sale
2025-09-20 09:00 - 16:00

One-Day Mini Bee School with the Native Bee Society of BC
2025-09-21 09:00 - 16:30
Adult Community Education | Pollinators | Full-day Workshop
**This course is full. To join waiting list email janet@hcp.ca , or join the Mini Bee School Interest list to be notified when Spring 2026 course offering is available (TBC)**
Have you always wanted to know how to ID the amazing diversity of native bees buzzing around your flowers? Where do they nest, what do they eat, and how can you support them? Join the Native Bee Society of BC's Bee Biology and Identification workshop in at the HCP on Sunday, September 21, 2025.
This fascinating one-day workshop, lead by NBSBC's Bonnie Zand, will take place in the HCP Pavilion to provide you with identification strategies for common native bees, as well as in depth information on their nesting, overwintering, and flower preferences.
This adult workshop is suitable for beginner to intermediate students and will focus on recognizing common bumble bee species and common solitary bee genera. We will be examining bee specimens using low magnification digital microscopes, focusing on features that can be observed in the field and in photographs.
This workshop will cover:

How to use digital microscopes and handle specimens
Bee anatomy, terminology
Bees Vs Flies Vs Wasps Vs Honeybees
Practice Identification sessions
Overview of Bee diversity - families/common genera
Bumblebee ID
Biology and ID of short tongue bees
Biology and ID of long tongue bees
Habitat enhancement and support for native bees

This workshop is hosted by Adult Community Education at the HCP.
Date & Location
Sunday, September 21, 2025 - 9:00 am - 4:30 pm (includes 1 hour for lunch)
The Pavilion at the HCP, 505 Quayle Road, Saanich
Registration & Tuition
$250.00 Regular/Professional
$200.00 HCP Members
REGISTER ONLINE or call 250-479-6273

$200.00 NBSBC Members*
$175.00 Students*

Nature-Based Expressive Arts: connecting with nature to promote natural creativity
2025-09-21 13:00 - 16:00
Adult Community Education | Arts & Wellness | 3-hour workshop
**This workshop is full. To join the waiting list, email janet@hcp.ca.**
Join Registered Horticultural Therapist and Expressive Artist Cliff Thorbes for a restorative and creative session. This unique session will include a garden walk, a creative writing activity, and a simple botanical craft - designed to help you connect with nature on a deeper level, experience more fully the present moment, and explore your natural creativity.
Date & Location
Sunday, September 21, 1:00-4:00 pm
The Classroom at HCP, 505 Quayle Road, Victoria V9E 2J7
Registration & Fees
Members $40.00
Non Members $45.00
Register Online or call 250 479 6162
Cancelations
This class requires a minimum registration to run. If you need to cancel, please contact communityed@hcp.ca regarding a refund. Refunds may not be available for cancellations less than 7 days prior to the class.

HCP Kids - Pro-D Day Camp Sept 2025
2025-09-22 09:00 - 16:00
Join us for an outdoor garden experience where we will busy ourselves with seasonal gardening activities in our very own Junior Master Gardener plot! There will also be exploration of the many natural systems that keep our gardens growing, garden arts and crafts and more! Pro-D Day Camp September 2025 in Junior Master Gardener plot!
Limited to 18 participants. For children between 5 and 12 years (School age)

Date: 22 Sept
Time: 9:00 to 4:00 pm
Fee: $45/child and $40/family membership
Registration: Online or call 250-479-6162

Gathered Harvest: an autumn floral design workshop
2025-09-26 18:00 - 20:30
ADULT COMMUNITY EDUCATION | WORKSHOP | 2.5 HOURS (Evening)
**Once Space Available**
Join Katherine Olmstead, Canadian International Master Florist, for a hands-on floral design workshop, where you will create your own harvest-inspired centerpiece using seasonal materials like sunflowers, fruiting branches, gourds, and locally sourced blooms, all arranged in a rustic vessel with eco-friendly mechanics. Participants will enjoy a relaxed, fun, and inspiring environment, connecting with their creativity and the natural world while gaining a beautiful introduction to vegetative floral design.
Workshop Highlights:

All tools and materials provided
Warm apple cider and seasonal treats
Step-by-step instruction rooted in European floral techniques and botanical storytelling
Focus on texture, colour, shape, and the interplay between living and freshly cut elements
Learn material knowledge, design composition, and practical floral design skills
Suitable for professional florists, floral hobbyists, and creatives of all kinds
Take home your finished floral centerpiece!

Additional Info:
Feel free to bring small personal decorations or your own tools to customize your design for your autumn table.
Your registration includes all-day admission to the Gardens at HCP (9:00-3:30 last entry)
Date & Location
Friday September 26, 6:00-8:30 pm
The Classroom at the Gardens at HCP, 505 Quayle Road, Saanich
Fees & Registration
$95.00 HCP Members
$110.00 Non-Members Interested in Membership?

REGISTER ONLINE or call 250 479 6162

Instructor Bio: Katherine Olmstead IMF

Katherine Olmstead is a floral designer, horticulturist, and marketing strategist based in Victoria, British Columbia. In 2023, she became the first Canadian to earn the title of International Master Florist, graduating from the Boerma Institute in the Netherlands under the mentorship of Gregor Lersch, a globally celebrated floral artist.
Originally from Toronto, Katherine draws inspiration from her diverse travels and the natural beauty of her home on Vancouver Island. She is passionate about blending her botanical knowledge with artistic creativity to design sustainable and innovative floral pieces for events, creative projects, wearable fresh floral fashion, and installations.
Katherine is enthusiastic about promoting sustainability and sharing her expertise through teaching and mentorship. Her workshops offer participants a chance to connect with local nature, develop artistic skills, and explore their creativity in a welcoming, hands-on environment. When she’s not designing in a studio or working in a local flower shop, Katherine enjoys experimenting with other artforms and types of expression to add on to her floral toolbelt.

Circles of Stillness: A Slow Stitch Workshop
2025-09-27 09:00 - 12:00
Adult Community Education | Art & Craft | 3-hour Workshop
**This workshop is full. Email janet@hcp.ca to join the waiting list and be notified of future classes by this instructor.**
Slow stitching is the practice of hand stitching with no specific end goal in mind. Part
contemporary embroidery, part abstract collage, slow stitching involves combining colours,
layers and textures with the meditative rhythm of simple hand stitching as a nourishing ritual to
ground, inspire and play.
Join instructor Megan Spedding to explore the process and benefits of slow stitch through the circular form.
Inspired by the unique ways circles are expressed in nature, participants will use basic slow stitch to embellish circles in various ways, reflecting on the meaning of the symbol. A backing cloth will be provided so that the finished swatches can be displayed together as a one-of-a-kind sampler.
Supplies will be provided, but participants are invited to bring and/or share any materials they
may wish to work with.
Time & Location
Saturday Sept. 27, 9:00 am - noon
The Classroom at the Gardens at HCP, 505 Quayle Road, Victoria BC
Registration & Fees
Registration includes admission to the garden on the day of the class.
$60.00 HCP Members
$70.00 Non-Members Interested in Membership?
REGISTER ONLINE or by phone at 250-479-6162

Instructor Bio
Megan Spedding is a Cowichan Valley-based textile artist whose hand stitch work is inspired by nature, ritual, repurposed materials and the raw edges of imperfection.
In 2020, Megan began exploring the meditative practice of slow stitch, an intuitive form of needlework combining freeform fabric collage with conventional embroidery, and has continued to evolve and deepen her practice since. She has a deep love of nature and spends as much
time as possible outdoors, photographing and observing her surroundings, and has begun incorporating her own plant-dyed and printed textiles in her work as she unearths ways of connecting her love of nature with her mindful stitch practice.
Samples of Megan’s work can be found on Instagram at Instagram.com/threadspells and on her blog at www.unfurlingcreative.com.

HCP Kids - Flower Pressing September 2025
2025-09-27 13:30 - 15:00
Using a garden walk to gather and explore the best materials for pressing, we will feature a pressing session to takeaway. This will be followed by making time for an art piece and bookmark to provide confidence and methods for more creating at home. Ages: 6 - 14

Date: 27 Sept 2025
Time: 1:30 - 3:00 pm
Fee: $35/child and $30/family membership
Registration: Online or call 250-479-6162

**CANCELLED**Pollinator Pocket Forest: a native plants journey
2025-09-28 10:00 - 11:30
Adult Community Education | Horticulture | 1.5 Hours
with Paula McCormick
Pollinator Pocket Forest is born! Please join project lead Paula McCormick on a journey of positive change with this walk-and-talk presentation in the gardens, focusing on the development of the new Pollinator Pocket Forest at HCP.
Planted in 2024 with the generous support of the Pollinator Partnership, this new demonstration garden features native plants to support native pollinator habitat and foraging. Find out about this initiative and the fundamentals of forest design (Miyawaki Method) used to create it. Be inspired to create your own native plant forest for local pollinators.
Dates & Location
Sunday, September 28, 10:00-11:30 AM
This class takes place in the Gardens. Please dress for the weather.
Fees & Registration
$30 .00 HCP Members
$35.00 Non-Members
$45.00 Families

REGISTER ONLINE or call 250 479 6162

HCP Kids - Fairy Furnishings September 2025
2025-09-28 13:30 - 15:30
Fairy gardens can always use a refresh and creating with clay and recyclable materials is a fun way to do this. This is also a great way to create a first garden using the take-aways created here to entice the fairies to visit or stay. Ages: 6 to 14

Date: 28 September 2025
Time: 1:30 - 3:30 pm
Fee: $40/child and $35/family membership
Registration: Online or call 250-479-6162

**CANCELLED**Willow Chair Workshop with Andrew Kent - October
2025-10-04 09:00 - 17:00
Adult community education | full day workshop
**This workshop has been cancelled and will be re-scheduled.**
Join artisan Andrew Kent from The Willow Way for this full day workshop. In one day, with Andrew's expert instruction, you can make and take home your own Bent Willow Rustic Chair. This is a great introduction to rustic building techniques. Learn how to make a square frame from pieces of alder & work with different sizes of willow to create your chair.
While these chairs can be made alone, bringing a helper is recommended. The registration fee is for up to 2 participants making one chair together.
Please note that you will need to bring your own lunch and snacks to this full day workshop. Admission to the Gardens at HCP is included in your registration.
Location & Date
Saturday October 4, 2025, 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
The Classroom at the Gardens at HCP, 505 Quayle Road, Saanich
Fees & Registration
REGISTER ONLINE or phone 250-479-6162 register.
Fees include materials.
HCP Members | $285
Non-Members | $305 Interested in becoming an HCP Member?

Cancellation & Refunds
Note that this class requires a minimum of 2 registrants (not including helpers) in order to run. If the minimum is not met, the class will be canceled or postponed. Please contact communityed@hcp.ca if you need to cancel your registration. Note that registrations less than one week prior to the class date may not be eligible for a refund if registration minimums are not met.

Instructor Bio: Andrew Kent
The Willow Way's roots go back all the way to 1993 when I made my first willow chair in a workshop with Kate Lawes. Over the next five years, Kate and I opened and ran a store in downtown Nanaimo, attended many large and small shows, and hosted numerous willow furniture workshops. Many of the designs I use are traditional, coming from Kentucky by way of Pemberton, BC. Some are then updated with design ideas suggested by the materials themselves.
I grew up on a rural island and have always felt at home in the woods. A keen mountain biker, I am passionate about the outdoors and Vancouver Island. Many of my days are spent hunting for materials, foraging local species of willow and alder, and finding the best shoots and whips for each piece, which directs the creative construction.
From forest to finished product, the entire willow furniture process is an adventure and ever-evolving, which to me is the real beauty of this work. Most of the materials are natural and not milled, which means not one project is the same and it's always a new experience.
I think people respond to my work because it is more than just your average rustic furniture – it is handmade with materials that are otherwise not utilized. My passion for nature and for the creative process comes through in each piece.
Andrew Kent

Botanical Inks Workshop
2025-10-05 12:00 - 16:00
ADULT COMMUNITY EDUCATION | WORKSHOP | 4 HOURS
Subtle colours from nature; fun with hand made inks
Find your inner alchemist and learn how to decoct colour from plants. Instructor Christi York will show you how to brew up a batch of botanical ink, while we play with abstract mark making. Learn some of her favourite unexpected tools for building up loose, inky patterns, in muted tones, on thick watercolour paper. Beginners welcome.
Each participant will receive a 1oz bottle of ink (handmade by the instructor). We will use a small portion during the class, the rest is yours to take home. At the end of the class, you will also receive a 1/2 oz bottle of the botanical ink made that day.
Date & Location
Sunday, October 5, 12:00-4:00 PM
The Classroom at the Gardens at HCP, 505 Quayle Road, Saanich
Fees & Registration
All day admission to the garden is included in your registration (last admission 3:30 pm)
$95.00 HCP Members
$110.00 Non-Members Interested in Membership?

REGISTER ONLINE or call 250 479 6162
Instructor Bio: Christi York

For York, the material is the muse. Hand harvesting her own plant materials for sculptural basketry, she spends many hours processing wild plants into a more refined state; invaluable time spent learning her materials by feel—a kind of moving meditation that informs the work ahead.
Never ending curiosity drives her fascination with plants—experimental, process driven, daily studio practice often unearths unexpected results. Working between three-and two-dimensional work, she is always asking “what if?” in an attempt to combine ancient techniques with a modern aesthetic.
With a background in both graphic and jewelry design, York's contemporary craft work naturally flows towards mixed media. Vintage textiles, wild crafted inks, botanical contact printing with real leaves or flowers, and hand stitching all make their way into her mixed media collages. More...
Website
Instagram

Creative Care for Eco-Anxiety Workshop: BC Culture Days
2025-10-11 11:00 - 14:00
The HCP is pleased to partner with BC Culture days to present this workshop lead by Anna Bigland-Pritchard.
This three-hour expressive arts workshop focuses on tending to eco-anxiety with respect and creativity.
For complete workshop details and registration information, please visit: https://culturedays.ca

HCP Kids - Harvest Centre Piece October 2025
2025-10-11 13:30 - 15:00
It is time to enjoy flowers, cones and twigs on a whole new level. Children of all ages love to pick and collect from the garden. It provides a very basic connection to a plant's beauty, features (such as textures, shapes, colours and scents) at the same time. In this collecting and making workshop, we will include a garden walk to visit the HCP Cutting Garden for inspiration and gather from the HCP Kids Garden spaces. Participants will create a takeaway arrangement to celebrate the season in time for Thanksgiving. All Ages
Date: 11 October 2025
Time: 1:30 - 3:00 pm
Fee: $40/child and $35/family membership
Registration: Online or call 250-479-6162

Home Herbalist: Autumn - Fire Cider
2025-10-12 10:00 - 12:00
Adult Community Education | Herbalism Workshop | 2 Hours
Join Registered Holistic Nutritionist and Herbalist Racheal Schnarr for this year's new and refreshed Home Herbalist Series. This series is more immersive, covers new herbs, and features new seasonal info booklets.
Suitable for beginners. We will review herbalism as a whole, then taste and review some of the best herbs to use during the upcoming cold and flu season. Next, we will make the traditional folk remedy of fire cider! You will leave this class with your own batch of fire cider and the confidence to make this revered traditional remedy.
Date & Location
Sunday October 12, 2025 - 10:00 AM - Noon
The Classroom at HCP, 505 Quayle Road, Saanich
Fees & Registration
HCP Members $55/Non-Members $65
REGISTER ONLINE or call 250 479 6162
Instructor Bio
Racheal Schnarr is a Registered Holistic Nutritionist (R.H.N.) and Herbalist who studied at the Canadian School of Natural Nutrition and Pacific Rim College.
In addition to working as an R.H.N., Racheal operates a small botanical dispensary using herbs grown exclusively in her garden. She lives her passion of “connecting people with plants” both in her private business as well at Pacific Horticulture College as the College Administrator.
Through years of practicing clinical nutrition at multidisciplinary clinics as well as in her own private practice, she tapped into her passion for sharing the power of holistic nutrition and herbal medicine with her clients. Racheal's practice and classes are fun, hands-on, empowering, education based and are led in a supportive and open environment. Developing a deep relationship with plants, growing herbal medicine, ethical harvesting, food growing, food justice and living in reciprocity with the land on which we grow, forage, and learn are pillars in Racheal's practice and everyday life. She enjoys getting fresh air and her hands dirty when in her home garden, foraging the wild with her dog Josie, and occasionally working for her sister, a Landscape Horticulturist.

Floral Clay Jewellery
2025-10-12 13:00 - 15:00
ADULT COMMUNITY EDUCATION | ARTS WORKSHOP | 2 HOURS
Instructor: Monika Burrell
In this workshop we will create delicate white stoneware beads for jewellery using natural objects pressed into flat pieces of clay. The intricate patterns of leaves, flowers and stems are highlighted by liquid underglaze colour which we will flood into the texture and wipe away revealing the contrast of the design. We will have time to explore what textures suit the student before we commit to the final pieces. Each participant will make a pendant and a set of earring beads. Wire will be embedded into each bead for attaching to jewellery findings. This is a one day class where the students create, decorate, colour and refine the beads. I will then fire the work in my kiln and return them with a clear shiny glaze over your surfaces three weeks after the workshop has completed.
No previous clay experience is necessary.
Tools required

Small water container

Hand towel

A couple of inexpensive brushes that come to a point

A small sponge

Your registration includes all-day admission to the Gardens at HCP on the day of the class (last admission 3:30 pm)
Date & Location
Sunday Oct. 12, 1:00-3:00 PM
The Classroom at the Gardens at HCP, 505 Quayle Road, Saanich
Fees & Registration
$85.00 HCP Members
$95.00 Non-Members Interested in Membership?

REGISTER ONLINE or call 250 479 6162

Instructor Bio: Monika Burrell
My name is Monika Burrell and I primarily work in clay making both sculpture and functional pottery. Clay has had a central role in my life for over 30 years and I live and work on the Saanich Peninsula. My work in clay is shaped by the local seascape and landscape, as these elements often appear in the designs on my pots. As well as making pottery, I have thoroughly enjoyed teaching pottery classes and workshops for over 25 years. My work for sale can be found at www.Emburr.etsy.com and my clay process can be viewed on instagram http://instagram.com/emburrs/

Watercolour Painting with Richard Wong: Sunset
2025-10-16 13:00 - 16:00
Adult Community Education | Art Class | 3-hour Workshop
Learn how to capture vibrant sunsets in our fall class with watercolour instructor Richard Wong. Richard cultivates a relaxing, fun, stress-free learning where everyone is welcome. Suitable for all levels, beginners are especially encouraged.
Registration includes all-day admission to the Gardens, so come early and be inspired by the autumn display. (last admission 3:30)
Please note new reduced tuition rate!

Date & Location
Thursday, October 16, 1:00-4:00 pm
The Classroom at the Gardens at HCP, 505 Quayle Road
(This class will not be offered online.)
Fees & Registration:
$50.00 (art supplies not included, see supply list below)
$60.00 (art supplies included)
REGISTER ONLINE or call 250 479 6162

If You Are Bringing Your Own Art Supplies:
- Masa paper (several 8x10" pieces). Option: regular 140lb watercolour paper
- Winsor Newton watercolours: bring all your colours
- Paint brushes (medium and small), pencil, eraser, paper towels
- containers for rinse water
- New: **old toothbrush**

Sign up to the Community Education e-news for information on Richard's upcoming classes

Richard Wong, Artist Statement & Biography
“How I Became A Wildlife Artist”

This great adventure of mine started fairly innocently.
I spent a glorious 25 years with the provincial government of British Columbia working in finance and policy (Ministry of Environment). During that time, I came to appreciate our wildlife and natural environment, all so delicately balanced! Then it came time to retire. So I did.
My life as a wildlife artist started soon thereafter. With time on my hands, and a Christmas gift of art supplies (from my wonderful spouse), I enrolled in art classes (2010). First it was traditional watercolor classes. Then it was Chinese brush lessons. I soon discovered Japanese art paper, and my career (second) as a professional wildlife artist began. Learning to paint, especially watercolor, allows me to capture the very essence of wildlife and nature like no other medium. Much of our wildlife is affected to the point where we are losing them rapidly. So I do what I can to spread this message of awareness: to paint and capture our wildlife in beautiful, vibrant watercolors; to teach others how to do this; and along the way, to engage and connect people and communities through my love of art. This love has taken me to Australia and the United States, where I've taught, presented and shown my work (Watercolor on Japanese Art Paper). I now paint (professionally), teach and sell from my lovely home base in Victoria, BC, Canada.
Wishing everyone a very lovely journey as we embark on yet another wildlife/art adventure full of wonder, excitement and discovery!
Sincerely,
Richard Wong
Professional Wildlife Artist
Watercolor on Japanese Art Paper

ART from the HEART: mixed-media on paper
2025-10-18 10:00 - 14:00
Adult Community Education | Arts | 4-hour workshop (break included)
Immerse yourself in nature and colour with artist, author, and inspiring instructor Wendy Picken. Using what Wendy describes as “fingerpainting without the paint,” explore the mixed medium technique she has developed over the past 30 years, and learn to create joyful, beautiful flowerscapes utilizing china markers, pastels, coloured pencil and wax. If you've taken a class with Wendy in the past, she's excited to share some colourful NEW ideas for the first time.
Suitable for beginners, for those with no art experience, artists interested in new techniques, and those who have taken the class in the past and wish to refresh and explore in a fun, supportive environment.
All supplies and materials are included. Class size limited.
Registration includes all-day admission to the Gardens at HCP.
Date & Location
Saturday, October 18, 10:00 AM - 2:00 PM (break included, bring a lunch)
The CLASSROOM at the Gardens at HCP, 505 Quayle Road
Registration & Fees
HCP Members $85.00
Non-Members $95.00 Interested in Membership?
REGISTER ONLINE or call 250 479 6162

ART from the HEART: mixed-media on paper
2025-10-18 10:00 - 14:00
Adult Community Education | Arts | 4-hour workshop (break included)
Immerse yourself in the rich jewel-tones of summer with artist, author, and inspiring instructor Wendy Picken. Using what Wendy describes as “fingerpainting without the paint,” explore the mixed medium technique she has developed over the past 30 years, and learn to create joyful, beautiful flowerscapes utilizing china markers, pastels, coloured pencil and wax. For those of you who have taken a class with Wendy before, she has exciting NEW things to share in this edition.
Suitable for beginners, for those with no art experience, artists interested in new techniques, and those who have taken the class in the past and wish to refresh and explore in a fun, supportive environment.
All supplies and materials are included. Class size limited.
Registration includes all day admission to the Gardens at HCP.
Date & Location
Saturday October 18, 10:00 AM - 2:00 PM (break included, bring a lunch)
The CLASSROOM at the Gardens at HCP, 505 Quayle Road
Registration & Fees
HCP Members $85.00
Non-Members $95.00 Interested in Membership?
REGISTER ONLINE or call 250 479 6162

Using Ornamental Grasses in Your Garden
2025-10-19 12:30 - 15:30
Adult Community Education | Horticulture Workshop | 3 Hours
with Mike Rogers
This workshop will consist of both a classroom session and an outdoor demonstration of planting, care and maintenance in the garden. Each will be approximately ninety-minutes in duration.
During the classroom session, participants will be introduced to the joys of gardening with ornamental grasses. Some basic botany, the most popular grass varieties for our area, growth habits and planting considerations will be covered. At all times the emphasis will be on the practical aspects of growing beautiful plants whether in mass plantings or stand-alone feature specimens in a garden or container.
The outdoor demonstration will include planting a new grass in the garden and the annual activity of spring clean-up in anticipation of another year of evolving beauty. The workshop will conclude with a short tour of the garden to highlight some of the grasses talked about in the classroom session.
Dates & Location
Sunday, October 19, 12:30-3:30 PM
Meet in THE CLASSROOM at HCP, 505 Quayle Road, Saanich
The second half of this class will take place in the Gardens, rain or shine. Please dress for the weather.
Fees & Registration
$45 HCP Members
$50 Non-Members
REGISTER ONLINE or call 250 479 6162

Instructor Bio
Mike Rogers – “The Grass Man”
As a keen gardener, when Mike arrived in Victoria from Calgary a few years back, he felt like a kid in a candy shop and enjoys trying to grow anything that will thrive in our balmy Westcoast climate. When he moved into his current house on Craigflower Road in 2018, he quickly discovered that, located as he was between the golf course and the Esquimalt Gorge Park, the unfenced front garden was a deer “super-highway”. Consequently he began to look out for truly deer resistant plants to populate his garden. One group of plants that fit the bill was ornamental grasses and so has evolved a love affair with these wonderful plants.
Mike's adventures with ornamental grasses evolved into a series of articles in the Victoria Horticultural Society magazine Gardenry and that led to a number of speaking engagements – one of which gave rise to the moniker “The Grass Man” which he rather enjoys! Research for these articles and talks has resulted in the discovery of an ever expanding plethora of wonderful grasses and so the adventures continue.
