Our autumn 2009 programme began with a full day of activities at Villeneuve-lez-Avignon. The first visit of the day was to Fort Saint-André, commissioned in 1292 by Philippe le Bel, King of France, to affirm royal power, as opposed to the Papal power in force across the Rhône in Avignon. Inside the Fort, the focus of our visit was the Benedictine Abbaye Saint-André and its very significant Provençal garden.

The owner of the fort, Mlle Roseline Bacou, personally welcomed our party and charmed us all with a fascinating tour of her home. The detailed and vivid description of her family’s acquisition of the property and of her personal involvement with the renovation of both the Abbaye and garden were fascinating.

After the tour of the building we began our discovery of the garden by wandered through the extensive and immaculately maintained Italian gardens, the refurbishment of which began in the 1920s. Terraces, paths and passages link a number of formal gardens, shrubberies and an olive orchard. Much emphasis is placed on Mediterranean planting and, significantly for us, there is minimal irrigation. The garden includes many fine trees, the top of the property being dominated by wonderful old Aleppo pines (Pinus halepensis), sculpted, not surprisingly given the Fort’s location, by the onslaught of the Mistral. Tall cypresses (Cupressus sempervirens) and huge box trees (Buxus sempervirens) feature throughout the garden. For our group photograph we stood on the entrance steps of the Abbaye and admired two very old and significant trees, an Arbre de Judée (Cercis siliquastrum) and a very ancient Sophora japonica.

The afternoon began with a tour of the Chartreuse du Val-de-Bénédiction constructed by Pope Innocent VI and one of the largest Carthusian monasteries in Europe. Carthusian monasteries typically represented a balance between the mineral and the vegetable world. With the benefit of an excellent and enthusiastic guide, we admired frescoes by Matteo Giovanetti, explored the three cloisters and visited one of the 40 monastic cells, each of which had its own individual garden. 

‘Le jardin des simples’ recreates a typical example, showing how each monk was able to select his own choice of medicinal plants and vegetables and even flowers for ornamental use.  

Medicinal plants commonly grown in these compact spaces included mallow (Malva sylvestris), which mixed with olive oil was a deterrent against bee stings, plantain for use against snakebites and mint for the common cold.

Other gardens within the monastery included ‘Le cloître du cimetière’ with a generous planting of cypress, the typical Provençal symbol of immortality and the ‘Jardin du procureur’. This was originally planted in the 18th century by keen plantsman Dom Alexandre Perraud, and included such exotics as oranges and pomegranates, the fruit of the latter symbolising the unity of the church.

We concluded our day in the charming garden at the Hôtel Le Prieuré. After pausing to admire the 23 metre rose arch planted in the 1940s and the formal garden laid out by Francois Dedieu, interest centred on the refreshments and shade of the pergola.

On this outing we were able to welcome eight new members drawn from the Hérault, the Gard and the Vaucluse. 

Thanks to Christine for organising our first event of the new season.

Pierre opened his talk by reminding us how infrequently we see blue in nature, then talked of the psycho-sensory and physical properties of this celestial colour, loved by kings. He showed examples of the different ways in which blue can be introduced into a garden: flowers, plants, walls, doors, pots and planters.

Après avoir rappelé la rareté de la couleur bleue dans la nature, les propriétés psycho-sensorielles et physiques de la couleur céleste et des rois, Pierre mentionne les divers éléments qui peuvent mettre du bleu au jardin: éléments végétaux bien-sûr, mais aussi murs et portes ou pots à fleurs.

Read more here.

You can find a list of recommended plants here.

En savoir plus ici.

Vous pouvez trouver une liste des plantes recommandées ici.

On a beautiful sunny Friday in October, we visited the garden at Le Vallon du Brec, a jardin remarquable situated in the hinterland of Nice at a height of 1000 metres. The garden was created in 1992 by a painter and photographer who used Japanese influences to enhance the steeply wooded site overlooking a small valley. When they moved, the garden suffered a period of neglect, however now new owners have breathed life back into the space and enhanced it with their own ideas. The garden contains plants from China, Japan and North America as well as indigenous ones. There are red-painted wooden structures, redolent of Japan, comprising staircases, platforms and arches, and a more Persian-looking turquoise pavilion overlooking a tranquil fish pond and swimming pool. The turquoise colour of the pavilion is echoed in the oil-painted tree trunks, which also greet one at the entrance to the garden.

Par un beau vendredi d’octobre ensoleillé, nous avons visité le jardin du Vallon du Brec, jardin remarquable situé dans l’arrière-pays niçois à une altitude de 1000 mètres. Le jardin fut créé en 1992 par un peintre et photographe qui utilisa l’influence japonaise pour mettre en valeur le site fortement boisé donnant sur une petite vallée. Quand les propriétaires quittèrent les lieux, le jardin subit une période de négligence, cependant les nouveaux propriétaires ont su insuffler une nouvelle vie dans cet endroit grâce à leurs propres idées. Le jardin comporte des plantes originaires de Chine, du Japon et d’Amérique du Nord ainsi que des plantes locales. Il y a des structures en bois peintes en rouge, suggérant le Japon, à savoir des marches d’escalier, plateformes et arches et aussi un pavillon turquoise à l’allure persane surplombant un bassin rempli de poissons et une piscine. La nuance turquoise du pavillon est répétée à travers la peinture à l’huile recouvrant les troncs des arbres qui accueillent les visiteurs à l’entrée du jardin.

Due to the warm October we have had this year the garden was only just beginning to show its autumnal colours.

A cause du mois d’octobre assez doux cette année, le jardin commençait tout juste à montrer ses couleurs automnales.

The owners also showed us around their beautiful and originally decorated house with its two spacious gites and an artist’s studio.
After the garden tour, we walked up the hill to Sophie’s restaurant where we had an excellent lunch.

Les propriétaires nous ont également fait visiter leur maison décorée avec gout et originalité et les deux grands gites ainsi que le studio d’artiste.
Après la visite du jardin, nous sommes montés jusqu’au restaurant de Sophie en haut de la colline où on nous a servi un excellent déjeuner.

Our thanks to Martin Smith who organised this delightful day. See more photos of the garden on the Vallon du Brec website.

Merci à Martin Smith qui a organisé cette charmante journée. Voir d’autres photos du jardin sur le site Internet du Vallon du Brec.

In the morning we met at the entrance of a very special garden, owned by Madame Zanini. She and her husband moved to the property when they retired in 1998, when it was a citrus farm. The couple decided to cut down all the 78 lemon trees that had previously been exploited commercially and turn the restanques into a garden. Before retiring, the Zaninis had grown vegetables but never had a personal garden, because of lack of time.

Evidently, their plant knowledge, although downplayed by Madame, must have served them to develop the extraordinary garden we visited. From the moment we entered the property, everywhere we looked, there were unusual species of plants. Every square metre was occupied with wonderfully lush-looking specimens of all kinds and types: hydrangea climbing up the wall of the house at the entrance, Thunbergia grandiflora on the north wall, Cestrum nocturnum, blue solanum, ficus, euphorbias, Juanulloa mexicana, a Mahonia x media ‘Charity’… As we entered the courtyard a huge display of potplants, including a collection of geraniums from the Canaries, Madeira and Africa, were blooming prolifically. As we walked further into the garden, we discovered several terraces with a large variety of pot plants, all thriving.

Madame told us that until a couple of years ago, she had 150 different types of geranium, but over time she had given many away to friends and family.

As we walked along small paths and took steps up and down the garden, the plants kept coming – brachychitons of impressive size, including B. acerifolius, Erythrina lysistemon, different types of callistemon, Senna didymobotrya (syn. Cassia didymobotrya) smelling of peanut, a huge Persea americana going around the wall and up and down the garden, with mini, gherkin-sized avocados, and another avocado tree, P. americana var. ‘Hass’. Then it continued with Stenocarpus sinuatus, Hardenbergia violacea (syn. H. monophyla), wonderful strelitzias in flower, a Petrea volubilis and many, many more plants. In addition, we noticed one or two greenhouses, packed with cacti and succulents.

Underneath the huge trees and plants were many different, smaller plants and ground cover. At the time of our visit the Freesia laxa (red and white) were in flower. Several of the visitors were generously offered some small plants to take home. The climate of the property, close to the coast, means that there is little to no frost and relatively high humidity in summer. The soil in the garden is rich, black and deep, and holds moisture well, a legacy from the lemon tree days.

This microclimate contributes to the rapid growth of the various plants and trees in the garden. However, without the couple’s dedication and love for plants, this garden would not be what it is today. Madame didn’t want to let us go until we tasted her limoncello, home-made from different citrus fruits. Excellent indeed! Certainly, a visit to be remembered!

Most of us continued to the next garden, the Marro garden in Cagnes-sur-Mer, owned by Jean-Paul Spinetta. This was a totally different experience. After enjoying our picnic lunch under the trees, we were taken on a tour by the passionate owner of the property. We were presented with a small movie, showing how the family had lived on the same property since 1928. At that time the property lay in productive farming countryside, but now it is surrounded by buildings, with the railway line and motorway close by.

Produce used to be grown here, and in order to ensure there was access to irrigation, the fields were edged and crossed by man-made water channels, taking water from local streams and natural springs. At weekly intervals, water distribution took place to each of the fields. A very clever system indeed. Unfortunately, much of the water channel system in the area is now out of use, but on this property, as demonstrated to us by the owners, the channels and two springs are still working perfectly. We were also shown examples of tools, used by the family in the past to work the fields.

Next we visited different parts of the garden and at each stop were given useful tips. We were shown examples of two trees next to each other– one growing strongly, a different species not doing well, “simply because they don’t like each other, I shouldn’t have planted them together”, the owner explained. Indeed, we saw, in another spot in the garden, the same species of tree doing very well. We noticed that the owners had hung broken eggshells in small nets in the trees, to minimize aphid infestation. After the visit I tried this trick myself at home, and yes, it does reduce the number of aphids. They explained to us that santolinas help to reduce infestations by ants. This year on our property they are everywhere – I wish I had planted more santolinas!

And the tips kept coming: how marigolds (Calendula officinalis) help reduce parasites in fruit trees and in the vegetable garden, how citrus skin does the same for roses, how to increase magnesium levels in the soil by burying banana skins. We then visited the rose garden, saw olive trees and a plantation of different grape varieties. The owner still manually presses his own grapes and olives to make wine and olive oil.