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Wednesday, 28 February 2007 |
Stunning examples of French topiary can be found in the three cloister gardens of the church Notre-Dame-de-Marmande. And for a masterpiece of classic jardins à la française, go to the listed Château de Fumel, where clipped yew trees, shady lines of planes and chestnut trees frame a spectacular view of the Lot valley.
In the rose gardens in Sainte-Livrade, near Villeneuve-sur-Lot, you can enjoy the colours and fragrance of 300 varieties from May to September. And the Papon iris collection in Laplume, one of the most beautiful in Europe, features more than 1,000 cultivars of the iris germanica. The visit is free in May when the irises are in bloom but the park is open all year and also has a beautiful display of 130 types of old roses.
Take a walk through orchards, vineyards, orchids and wild flowers, along laid-out trails at the Domaine Les Riquets Baleyssagues, near Duras. Learn new skills at the Conservatoire régional des espèces fruitières in Montesquieu, west of Agen, which runs workshops on winter pruning, grafting and related subjects. It is also a fascinating museum of local fruit varieties and traditional farming methods.
To study and preserve the region’s flora, the French Société des Sciences has been clearing a two-hectare plot at the Darel botanic garden at Pont-du-Casse. There is a typical local farmhouse with a herb garden and a large wood (used for mushroom studies). Among a wealth of information, visitors can learn traditional ways of cultivating vineyards, which plants benefit from companion planting with vines, for example bush peaches, Saint-Jean pears, quinces, figs, garlic and tulips. Old-fashioned and vanishing varieties of vegetables, fruits and herbs are grown here, including a wide range of tomatoes, Jerusalem artichokes, apples and thymes.
Cool down with a tour of the waterlily and lotus basins at the specialists Latour-Marliac at Le Temple-sur-Lot, the suppliers of Claude Monet for his garden in Giverny. |
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