The rockery

The garden

Island Thyme B&B displays a unique composition of rock gardens and unusual plant collections such as hardy woodland orchids set within Bowen's natural forests of mature western red cedar, native dogwoods, arbutus and thick carpets of mosses.

The rock gardens feature plants that are lovely and botanically interesting to the garden enthusiast. The gardens are very much my personal pleasure and playground but also also serve as display, demonstration and trial beds for my garden design business, Artist in the Garden Designs.

The landscape is continuously changing and evolving throughout the seasons. Meandering paths and stone steps lead you down slopes to a quiet green oasis of moss among the trees where a meditation circle of stone and moss awaits the serenity seeker.

There is always something flowering at Island Thyme. From a collection of trees such as laburnum, dogwoods, magnolia, japanese maples, stewartia, Japanese snow bell, gnarly camper elm and white flowering cherry to ephemeral woodlanders such as hepatica, cyclamen, erythronium, native fawn lilies, hardy orchids, blue mertensia, brunnera and blue-eyed-mary's.

A cascading, fragrant, salmon pink rose (Albertine) and plum purple clematis adorns some old trunks. There are plants for every season and more joining the collection as the garden continues to develop, mature and evolve.

Outdoor ambient lighting showcases the garden at night highlighting the giant cedars, gnarly bonsai pine and stone feature walls.

We look forward to sharing with you the abundance, fragrance and beauty of the garden throughout the seasons. If there is a plant you particularly like, we might even be able to send a piece home with you as a living memory of your visit to Island Thyme.