About The Gardens

In 1970, Dr. Michael Bale moved to Canada from England, and settled in the Fraser Valley in 1974. His father was a compulsive gardener and Mike dreamed of one day having his own great garden. Mike purchased the property in the late 1970s but due to family and career commitments, the land stayed undeveloped for many years. In 1989, Mike visited The Butchart Gardens in Victoria, BC and was inspired to begin the ground work on the Agassiz property. Due to the unique micro-climate here, the forest is often covered in dew. The gardens were named after the Chinese word for Dew Drop and after the Rhododendron Irroratum: “Lu Zhu Dujuan” : a symbol of purity, sincerity, honesty and beauty. It took a few years of back breaking work to develop the steep mountain side of the property. With the help of his family, some local landscapers & heavy equipment operators, over 150 trees were removed and the trails and bowls were created. In 1993 the rhododendron planting began. The carriage house was built and the caboose was craned into place. The caboose served as a garden shed but Mike hoped to eventually convert it into a guest suite. The Lu Zhu gardens became well known in the rhododendron community and served as a teaching location for many years. There are many rare rhododendrons in the gardens including many Mike created himself. Unfortunately, Mike fell ill and passed away in 2014. All efforts in the gardens were abandoned for many years until the property sold in 2017. That owner spent his 2 years reopening the trails as the forest had reclaimed the gardens. In 2019 we purchased the gardens in hopes of one day opening it up to the public and sharing the joy of being in the forest. In our years we had destructive ice storms, debilitating droughts, heat domes and flooding. As well as endless garden maintenance, our efforts have been focused on completing all the living spaces because even the carriage house was actually a rhododendron laboratory and had no bedrooms or kitchen. This summer we celebrated our 5th anniversary in the gardens. We plan to continue with restoration efforts and building our dreams in the trees.