A visit to Valsaintes Abbey in Simiane-la-Rotonde, Alpes-de-Haute-Provence is described in Past Activities.
Une visite de l’Abbaye de Valsaintes à Simiane-la-Rotonde, Alpes-de-Haute-Provence est décrite dans compte-rendu d’activités.
A visit to a sculptor’s workshop, a member’s garden and a wine cellar is described in Past Activities
Une visite de l’atelier d’un sculpteur, le jardin des membres et un chai est décrite dans compte-rendu d’activités.
Click on the images to enlarge them / Cliquez sur les images pour les agrandir
Château Pérouse is situated on the Costières plateau, near Nîmes. Upon our arrival we noticed various large trees around the chateau, including several magnificent century-old cedars. The owner, Jan-Willem Voss, welcomed us and gave us a description of the Château Pérouse botanical park, and of his project.
Le domaine du Château Pérouse se situe sur le plateau des Costières, près de Nîmes. Dès notre arrivée, on note aux abords du château la présence de grands arbres dont de magnifiques cèdres plus que centenaires. Le propriétaire des lieux Jan-Willem Voss nous accueille et nous présente le parc botanique de Château-Pérouse et son projet.
The park extends to 72 hectares, 52 of which are dedicated to botanical gardens. Under development for about fifteen years, it is part of a new and ambitious research project. The intention is to gather the knowledge required for creating micro biotopes favourable to acclimatising plants from all regions with a Mediterranean climate. It already hosts four CCVS (Conservatoire des Collections Végétales Spécialisées) labelled collections (acacias, eucalyptus, melaleuca, podocarpus). The acclimatisation of plants necessitates creating an adapted landscape, recreating soil with substrates that best mimic those of the original biotopes, adapting irrigation and controlling many other parameters. Seven botanist-gardeners are employed full-time and numerous collaborations have been established with other botanical gardens.
Ce parc s’étend sur 72 hectares dont 52 sont dédiés aux jardins botaniques. En développement depuis une quinzaine d’années, il s’inscrit dans une démarche de recherche inédite et ambitieuse. Le projet vise à accumuler les connaissances nécessaires pour la création de micro biotopes favorables à l’acclimatation de plantes venues de toutes les régions à climat méditerranéen de la planète. Il accueille déjà quatre collections labellisées CCVS (acacias, eucalyptus, melaleuca, podocarpus). L’acclimatation des plantes suppose d’aménager un paysage adapté, de recréer un sol avec des substrats imitant au mieux ceux des biotopes d’origine, une irrigation adaptée et bien d’autres paramètres à contrôler. Sept botanistes-jardiniers sont employés à plein-temps et de nombreuses collaborations sont nouées avec d’autres jardins botaniques.
The tour started with a visit to the greenhouses, continuing with the experimental garden and the river garden. You can read a full report on this visit in the Garden Diaries – Château Pérouse section.
La visite a commencé par des serres, se poursuivant par les jardins d’expérimentation et le jardin de la rivière. Vous pouvez lire un compte-rendu complet de cette visite dans la rubrique Journaux de jardin – Château Pérouse.
After a picnic in the shade of the tall trees, we thanked Jan-Willem Voss and his team for their warm welcome.
Après un pique-nique sous les grands arbres nous remercions Jan-Willem Voss et son équipe pour leur chaleureux accueil.
Note that Jan-Willem Voss has generously donated 500 species of seeds for the MGI seed list. For more information about Château Pérouse, we encourage you to visit the website chateau-perouse.com, where you will also find an extensive database (over 18,000 taxa) which provides general information and links to one page per taxon of detailed information.
Rappelons que Jan-Willem Voss a généreusement fait don de 500 espèces de graines pour la Liste de Graines MGi. Pour plus d’informations, nous vous encourageons à visiter le site Web à chateau-perouse.com où vous trouverez également une vaste base de données (plus de 18 000 taxons) qui fournit des informations générales et des liens vers une page html par taxon comprenant de nombreuses informations.
In the afternoon, about ten of us strolled through the winding alleys of the Jardin de l’Henry, in Lunel, in the Hérault département. The owner, Henry Nardy, a retired former horticulturalist, collects plants from all over the world. He is passionate about his hobby and takes extreme pleasure in talking about his garden, which he regularly opens to the public.
L’après-midi, nous étions une dizaine à arpenter les allées sinueuses du Jardin de l’Henry, à Lunel, dans l’Hérault. Le propriétaire, Henry Nardy, ancien horticulteur à la retraite, y collectionne des plantes du monde entier. C’est un passionné et il prend un plaisir extrême à raconter son jardin qu’il ouvre régulièrement au public.
We were greeted by a funny scarecrow made by Henry using terracotta pots – a little humorous touch which always brings a smile to the faces of children and adults alike.
Nous sommes accueillis par un drôle de personnage, échafaudé par Henry, l’épouvantail en pots de terre cuite, petite note humoristique qui fait sourire petits et grands.
We were surrounded by a profusion of leaves, flowers, trees, onions and other bulbs. Beside the path, we admired the virginal whiteness of Chionanthus virginicus.
Partout, des feuilles, fleurs, arbres, oignons et autres bulbes. Au détour du chemin, nous admirons la blancheur virginale de Chionanthus virginicus.
In front of the entrance to the huge greenhouse is an insect hotel. Henry is an exemplary teacher, and often receives schoolchildren in his garden, in order to share with them his knowledge and his love for nature. The greenhouse contains a wealth of pampered plants grown from seed and from cuttings which Henry generously shares with others.
Avant d’entrer dans l’immense serre qui regorge de plantes semées, bouturées et chouchoutées bien au chaud et qu’il partage avec générosité, nous voici devant l’hôtel à insectes. Henry est très pédagogue et il ne manque pas de recevoir des écoliers à qui il insuffle un peu de son savoir et de son amour pour la nature.
Henry’s Garden is located at the entrance to Lunel, just before the Bois des Petits Pins, at 16, chemin creux de campagne (https://lejardindelhenry.monsite-orange.fr/index.html).
Retrouvez le Jardin de l’Henry, à l’entrée de Lunel, juste avant le bois des Petits Pins, au 16, chemin creux de campagne (https://lejardindelhenry.monsite-orange.fr/index.html)
Text: Chantal Guiraud and Roland Leclercq.
Photos: Liliane Leclercq, Hugues Pelen, Hubert Nivière, Chantal Guiraud.
English proofreading: Nanouk Pelen.
Click on an image to enlarge it / Cliquez sur une image pour l’agrandir
On a hot September afternoon 40 or so members had the pleasure of visiting the gardens of Château le Plaisir in Aramon, near Avignon.
Designed by lanscape designer, Pascal Cribier, in the 1990s for the Hollander family, the park is divided into differently themed gardens and has many modernist structured features. The first impression is of a traditional shaded courtyard with five rows of grand old Platanus trees and a drive leading to the house with a classical 18th-century façade. The walled promenoir also tells of times past – “an outdoor long gallery” comments one member. Then as we enter the landscaped park, a view of a tall chimney by the Rhone brings us back to the 20th century.
We see high, straight Quercus ilex hedges with gaps to peep through, a beautiful pergola, lush springy Zoysia grass, a children’s play area winding through the santolina, the unfinished chess board with a lonely king and queen, and an outdoor theatre whose clipped Olea hedge has apparently caused controversy amongst local people.
By the pool house, we stop to admire the four weeping Sophora japonica, specially grafted in Italy for this project, and continue through a beautiful wisteria-covered walkway into the water garden, whose cool shade is much appreciated. The idea of growing free-standing wisteria is noted by some.
The scent of Clerodendrum trichotomum gives way to that of ripe figs as we move on to discover copses of Ligustrum and various fruit trees. Eventually we emerge into the dry garden with plants from Olivier Filippi and a path made of interesting concrete ‘Roman’ slabs.
Melia trees give shade to the small courtyard behind the house and a display of Hibiscus coccineus is much admired, as we stop to discuss the gaura and buxus meadow – at this time of year predominantly gaura!
The visit ends with drinks offered by the caretakers and Chantal reminds us that it is time to collect and send her seeds for the Seed Exchange. Many thanks to Christine and Sandra for organising this visit.
Text: Mavis Mercoiret
Photos: Mavis Mercoiret, Hilary Ivey and Anthony Daniels
Click on the images to enlarge them / Cliquez sur les images pour les agrandir
On a bright and beautiful morning in March, twenty-five of us and a well-behaved dog gathered in the hills between Marseille and Cassis for a walk along rocky tracks, through scrubby pine woods, to the sea.
We were led by a passionate plant hunter, Gérard Weiner of the Pépinière Botanique de Vaugines. Gérard often comes here to this protected site with a very specific ecosystem to collect seeds for propagation. The soil covering on the limestone is almost non-existent and plant roots are anchored by the numerous faults and fissures in the rock. On this walk he was leading our group and also hoping to find a particular plant, Pistacia x saportae, a natural hybrid of P. lentiscus and P. terebinthus.
Gérard had prepared a list of about 40 plants that he thought we might find, and indeed, many of them were growing beside the path:
We ate our picnic lunch in the Calanque de Sugiton, overlooking a glittering but rough sea.
Suddenly Gerard’s eyes lit up, he had spotted a small plant. “Voilà! C’est l’hybride pistacia!” He was happy and so were we.
Text: Christine Daniels
Photos: Hubert Nivière
