“Honey, let’s see…”

The French garden, absolute control

The architect gardener's garden par excellence. Geometric, straight-lined, regular and composed of classic fittings and amenities such as statuary, pieces and water features, it was inspired by the Renaissance gardens of northern Italy. Structured and symmetrical, it plays on perspectives. Its objective is to domesticate nature and assert the supremacy of human beings. It embodies formal perfection. Like his august patron, Louis XIV, he expressed theatrical majesty and had a taste for the spectacle. The gardens of the Palace of Versailles are the most famous and the first of them. The closest to us and fabulous is undoubtedly that of the Villa Éphrussi in Saint Jean Cap Ferrat. Bordered on both sides by the Mediterranean Sea, this magnificent French-style garden introduces eight other marvelous landscaped spaces.

The English garden, romantic and poetic

Born with the English painters of the 18th century, the English garden defends the idea of a sovereign nature. Here, the balance of volumes without a straight line takes precedence over the geometric perspective defended by the French garden. The particularity of this artistic garden, is to offer a succession of interesting points of view on a landscape. Whether it is a river, a pond, a tree and its foliage, a meadow, a hill or a slope: each element is staged to better enhance the next. Designers exploit or incorporate rather than alter the natural features of the place. The reliefs become belvederes, the slopes of caves. The expanses are miniaturized to symbolize natural spaces and their functions. Thus the forest, source of firewood and construction is represented by a grove; the meadow where the animals graze becomes grass. Nature is composed like a painting

with for palette, the materials and the vegetable colors. The English garden was immediately well exported to France. The Petit Trianon offered by Louis XVI to Marie-Antoinette is a fine example. Just like the English garden in Vesoul which is worth the detour. It presents over 3 hectares a magnificent collection of 850 sometimes very rare plant species such as the handkerchief tree native to China, the snow tree native to North America or the Himalayan honeysuckle native to Asia.

The botanical, exotic and bucolic garden

Born in the Renaissance with navigators who explored the world and brought back to their holds animals, spices and unknown plants, the botanical garden was

designed to acclimatize and present the different species and varieties of wild and horticultural plants. Its objectives are conservation, research, education and of course the entertainment of those who walk there. Here, the plants are certainly classified and studied, but above all presented to the public to amaze them. Montpellier , Strasbourg, Paris each have a remarkable botanical garden but did you know the botanical garden of Vauville ? Nestled 300 m from the Normandy coast, this extraordinary garden is made up of evergreen plants from the southern hemisphere. They were collected and brought together on the château grounds in 1948 by a sailor-perfumer with a passion for botany. Favored by the mild Gulf Stream, the vegetation has naturally adapted by avoiding growing too high to stay safe from the salt spray! A beautiful lesson in wisdom and a wonderful invitation to travel.

The remarkable garden, absolutely enchanting

An entire program ! This label awarded by the General Directorate of Cultural Affairs (DRAC) rewards both the botanical and aesthetic quality and the historical interest of the garden as well as the maintenance management and respect for the environment. In fact it is often a marvelous cocktail of gardens which happily combine all styles: French, English, contemporary, botanical and even vegetable garden. Like the botanical park of Haute-Bretagne at Le Châtellier which tells the magic of life over 25 hectares. History, poetry, geography: we travel the world through essences. Spring, summer, autumn, whatever the season, we follow the blooms. Azaleas, kalmias, rhododendrons, dogwoods enchant us. All our senses are awakened. Above all, don't miss the labyrinth made up of multiple species of camellias: magical!

The ideal, utopian or saving garden?

This is the challenge launched this year to the designers of green spaces for the thirtieth anniversary of the international garden festival of Chaumont sur Loire. Is it a work of art? a food garden? a therapeutic space? a place of biological culture? Ask the organizers. Awakening of the senses or consciences? Don't try to choose. The answer is to be discovered firsthand at the Chaumont sur Loire estate until November 6, 2022. Expect the incredible. This gathering is a veritable breeding ground for talent and a laboratory for innovative ideas. We owe him, among other things, the vertical gardens, the plant walls or the braided willows metamorphosed into a garden...

Once again for sure, the extraordinary gardens have not finished surprising and even marveling you.