Jardin Serre de la Madone

The Jardin Serre de la Madone (6 hectares), often simply known as the Serre de la Madone (Hill of the Madonna), is a garden notable for its design and rare plantings. It is located at 74, Route de Gorbio, Menton, Alpes-Maritimes, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, France, and open daily except Monday in the warmer months. As of 2008, restoration work is in progress.

The garden was created from 1924-1939 by Lawrence Johnston, creator of the celebrated Hidcote Manor Garden (1907), on a hillside in the Gorbio Valley with farmhouse to which Johnston added to large wings. Johnston traveled the world collecting plants, and Serre de la Madone offered an excellent site for plants from subtropical regions. Over the years he created a series of terraces among old olive trees, planted and tended by twelve gardeners. After Johnston's death in 1958, subsequent owners maintained it with varying degrees of respect for the original plantings. In 1999 the property was purchased by the nonprofit Conservatoire du Littoral, which is currently restoring it to Johnson's design.

Today the garden contains an excellent collection of unusual, subtropical plants centered around a double pool, and rising in terraces. As at Hidcote, Johnson divided the garden into "rooms" by hedges and low stone walls. Notable specimens include a superb "Mahonia siamensis" and "Arbutus unedo", umbrella pines, "Buddleia officinalis", "Rosa chinensis", and bamboo, as well as good collections of cycads and succulents from around the world.

See also

* List of botanical gardens in France

References

* [http://www.serredelamadone.com Serre de la Madone]
* Louisa Jones, "Serre de la Madone", 2002. ISBN 2-7427-3772-3.
* [http://www.frenchgardening.com/visitez.html?pid=30984134472992 French Gardening description]
* [http://www.gardenvisit.com/garden/serre_de_la_madone Garden Visit description]
* [http://www.fondation.veolia.com/en/library/projects-supported/5CV0319.aspx Fondation Veolia description]