In partnership with the Victoria Storytellers' Guild, a 1.5-acre garden nestled near Deep Cove in North Saanich is holding its first event in 2025.
On May 10, the Noble Garden will host a picnic and storytime, offering local baked goods, a book sale and an afternoon of stories in the blooming, historical gardens.
"Come for a picnic in the orchard in bloom or on the adjacent lawn, then make your way up to the Wain Road lawn and settle in to listen to the storytellers entertain us - off book and off mike, the way that all of history was passed down and stories told from the very earliest days," noted an emailed statement from the garden's steward Penny Gibbs.
Baloo Bear Bakery will have a selection of cookies, and Flour Power will have some of their "fought-over" baguettes available for purchase.
"This event is for the community: families, gardeners, book lovers, story lovers, neighbours, those who know the garden well, and those who have never been!" Gibbs said.
Admission is by donation, but space is limited. Reservations can be emailed to thenoblegarden1@gmail.com. The garden will open at 1 p.m. for picnic time, and the storytelling starts at 2 p.m.
In the 1960s, Pheobe and Jack Noble bought the parcels of land on Wain Road intending to build what is now the Noble Gardens.
In the garden's "heyday in the late 1980s and early 1990s," it was a destination for garden tours and even hosted an episode of The Victorian Kitchen Garden with Harry Dodson.
After their daughter Sandra died in 2022, Gibbs took over operations of the garden.
