And so to the last visit of our trip, I can't believe it has taken so long to document our adventures, but things have been so busy for me since we returned, work, teens, less glamorous travel and family health issues (largely now resolved). There is so much still to say but it has been interesting to have the time for reflection before composing these posts and this one is very much a case in point. Since our visit I stumbled upon Monty Don's French Tour programme in which he visited our last location and his comments have definitely added to my appreciation, more of Monty later (you can never have too much Monty!).
The last outing of our French trip was to Chateau Villandry, the 'most famous vegetable garden in France'. The weather had decided it was summer and everything was beautifully set off by brilliant sun and lovely heat.
The last outing of our French trip was to Chateau Villandry, the 'most famous vegetable garden in France'. The weather had decided it was summer and everything was beautifully set off by brilliant sun and lovely heat.
The Chateaux was impressive and is open to the public with new rooms renovated and opened each year, but we were more interested in the gardens.
The Chateaux is surrounded by water which is used to irrigate the gardens and flows from the top, down through the grounds as an essential, useful and stunning feature.
The vegetable garden is a highly formal, structured layout of Box hedged beds filled with vegetables laid out in pristine rows of perfect specimens. Varieties are chosen for colour and form rather than taste, in fact very little of the produce is eaten or used, most is composted (gaps caused by a hungry cook picking for the table would not be tolerated!).
There are six sections each arranged around a central urn or feature and interspersed with fruit trees. You are not allowed to walk in these sections (perhaps they think there would be veggie theft!)
The idea of a potager is that the useful vegetables are mixed with the decorative flowers, so at each point where the main paths cross are rose covered, shady seats, sixteen in all, all flowering madly and pumping out scent...
...and each section is bordered by drifts of flowering perennials. This is a 'moonlight border', sadly the 'sunlight borders' had been cleared for replanting.
The best idea of the extent and layout would be from above, this shot really only shows about a quarter of the vegetable garden!!
But vegetables are not the only attraction at Villandry. There is a herb garden full of medicinal and culinary herbs, lots of manicured topiary and a maze (which we avoided on the grounds that we would probably get lost and miss most of the garden)...
The gorgeous Sun Room was full of hot yellows and oranges, and had a star shaped fountain at the centre. The Hemerocallis and Iris mixed with Oriental Poppies was a real blaze of heat.
The delicate Cloud Room was planted with cool blues, whites and silvers and was full of things I would love - I really want some variegated Iris, and there were so many beautiful silvery shrubs.
The Iris's on this trip were unbelievable (see here), magnificent colours and forms. I have never been very interested in Iris's but now I'm inspired.
The 'Love Gradens' were in a bit of a in-between state. The planting that adds colour was largely over as it was, for the most part, forget-me-nots, so it was not showing to it's best. The clipped hedges were impressively clipped though!
We wandered up and down terraces and along vine covered walkways, and sat in the water garden under pleached Lime trees...
until it was time for an ice cream before we got back onto our coach.
It was a lovely visit, with some real highlights but there was something about missing about the vegetable garden and it wasn't until I watched Monty that he hit the nail on the head in my opinion. Vegetable gardens are all about growing, harvesting and eating. They owe their existence to the need to feed people and this garden doesn't. It really doesn't feed anyone, so it lacks that use, that intent, that soul. It is a rather static, immobile (but very beautiful) thing that has none of the busyness and industry that a vegetable garden should have.All that said it was very impressive and inspirational, and I'm very glad we visited.
You can watch Monty here and hear his thoughts, although he visits Villandry last so you'll have to watch the whole programme - a chore I know!
Some extra facts and figures about Villandry:
Of 115,000 plants used in the gardens each year 50% are raised in their own greenhouses.
There are 1,015 lime trees that take 4 gardeners 3 months to prune each year.
If you laid all the box hedges end to end they would reach for 52km!
In the vegetable garden they use about 40 species of vegetable, from eight botanical families, and have 2 planting schemes per year, which in turn have to be strictly rotated.
Of 115,000 plants used in the gardens each year 50% are raised in their own greenhouses.
There are 1,015 lime trees that take 4 gardeners 3 months to prune each year.
If you laid all the box hedges end to end they would reach for 52km!
In the vegetable garden they use about 40 species of vegetable, from eight botanical families, and have 2 planting schemes per year, which in turn have to be strictly rotated.
In my dreams I'd have a potager. But I suppose it doesn't look quite the same after you've started eating it. They must have nightmares about box blight.
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