Milko Jadresko, 79, retired after spending 45 years as a gardener and landscaper, but still keeps his own garden in Saanich, the Victoria Times-Colonist newspaper said.

Three weeks ago, growth appeared in a pot he thought was empty, and after consultations with numerous nurseries, it was determined the mystery plant was arisaema sikokianum, also known as jack in the pulpit or Japanese cobra lily, the newspaper said.

"It must be (that) my wife or I planted it and didn't even know," Jadresko said.

The plant's flower has since blossomed with a round white bud covered by tubular leaf that flops over the top like a hat, which rare-plant specialist Richard Fraser said was a gardener's dream.

"Probably less than 1 percent of gardeners have seen that as a flowering plant," Fraser told the newspaper.