Courses

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 long-time VanDusen birding guide Jeremy Gordon for a beginner-friendly class on the basics of birding! This class is specifically designed to provide aspiring bird watchers with a solid foundation & the confidence to head out and get birding this season.

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. 

In this hands‑on June workshop, we’ll explore what to plant and tend as warm weather arrives, with a focus on bush, pole & fava beans and other vertical climbers. Learn how to choose varieties that match your space and cooking preferences, and how to plant these productive crops for steady summer harvests.

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 Andrew Fleming, VanDusen Superintendent and expert gardener, for an insightful tour and talk to discover the fascinating variety of conifers in the Garden and learn about their unique adaptations and ecological roles.