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Gardens and music make a unique Mother's Day

Annual Music Mother’s Day Garden Tour takes place this weekend
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Victoria Conservatory of Music student Eehjoon Kwon performs during the 2013 Music Mother's Day Garden Tour. The event attracts visitors from the Lower Mainland and Washington State each year.

A typical Mother's Day in Victoria involves a nice lunch or afternoon tea followed by a stroll along Dallas Road or through Beacon Hill Park.

But the Victoria Conservatory of Music is offering a more unique take on the perennial celebration of mom: the 32nd annual Music Mother’s Day Garden Tour.

"This is one of the longest running fundraisers in Victoria – people come from all over the Lower Mainland and Washington," said Cynthia Funnell, VCM spokesperson.

On May 10 and 11, gardening aficionados from as far away as Sequim, Wash. (where the annual lavender festival takes place) will make the trip to Victoria for the conservatory's annual garden tour.

The all-weekend event puts musicians in the heart of each garden, where a VCM student or faculty member serenades the crowd.

The 10 gardens on show include a "bamboo heaven" in Esquimalt, where more than 50 varietals of bamboo grow from a few centimetres to nine metres tall.

Over in Fernwood, traverse a rock and alpine garden in an intimate urban setting.

To wrap up the weekend, VCM is putting on a "foot-stomping, hand-clapping" $10 concert featuring the Victoria Soul Gospel Choir with Checo Tohomaso at Alix Goolden Hall," Funnell said.

"It really is a gift to the community at $10," she said. "We want mothers, daughters, grandmothers, everyone to celebrate with us."

Funnell also hopes to educate the Greater Victoria community about the variety of programs on offer at the conservatory, from classical to modern, amateur to professional programs.

"We're a community school and our goal is to bring more music to the community," she said. "Our youngest student is four years old and our oldest is 92. The majority of our 4,300 students are at all levels and ages."

For tickets or more information, visit vcm.bc.ca or call 250-386-5311.