Courses

This course will equip you with essential knowledge on growing Chinese medicinal plants and guide you through proper methods for cultivating, harvesting, processing, and using these herbs.

This five-session series includes four online sessions, and the final session is a 2-hour, in-person guided plant walk at VanDusen Botanical Garden, led by Dr. Lily Chunling Liu, where you’ll receive Chinese medicinal plant seeds to take home and grow in your own garden.

Enhance your drawing skills and create realistic floral illustrations in this six-session (mixed online & in-person) series with artist and educator Katharine Dickinson. Through guided demonstrations, you’ll practice techniques to capture a plant or flower’s defining features—line, shape, structure and colour—while refining your observation skills.

Join us for a two-session en plein air watercolour workshop with instructor, Susan Pearson. With VanDusen Garden as the backdrop, participants will produce atmospheric landscape paintings while enjoying the opportunity to paint outdoors.

During this workshop, facilitated by Allison Luke, the class will explore perennial collections in the Garden and identify standout perennials that are beautiful, low-maintenance, hardy, and disease-resistant. You are sure to discover a few new additions that you will be eager to introduce to your own garden. 

Join your experienced guide, Jeremy Gordon, for a leisurely two-hour tour through the Garden to look & listen for the many species of birds that frequent the area while they share their enthusiasm and knowledge of the Garden’s avian inhabitants.

Eager to explore the fascinating world of butterflies and moths? Join Emily Black to dive into their anatomy, life cycles, vibrant colorations, unique behaviours, and essential roles in ecosystems. You will also learn to identify local species and discover how to make your garden more butterfly-friendly. 

Join Allison Luke in the Garden for an afternoon native plant ID tour! Learn essential plant ID of some of the most common perennials, shrubs, and trees in this region and how to increase biodiversity and beauty in your home garden by adding native plants. 

Transform your tomato patch into a high-yielding haven this summer. In this interactive July workshop, you will learn how to tend, prune, and support your plants at the peak of the season for maximum harvest. 

Led by Sangeeta Thomas, Learning Garden Coordinator, the workshop will include a hands‑on gardening portion, and offer tried & true techniques you can use at home.

Join us for a deeply calming sound immersion experience led by Denise Levine, surrounded by the serene beauty of VanDusen Botanical Garden.

We begin with a brief exploration of the science behind sound and its effects on the body and mind, followed by a guided relaxation, and conclude with a sound immersion with crystal singing bowls to enhance tranquillity and connection with the natural world.

Join Andrew Fleming, VanDusen Superintendent and expert gardener, for a talk and tour exploring the wide array of deciduous trees in the garden, with an emphasis on smaller varieties that are well suited for the home garden.