Paris Le Jardin Plantes (Botanic Garden)
It is ironic that I should be so full of praise for the Le Jardin des Plantes (Botanic Gardens in Paris) because the gardens have some of the very features that I condemned in my recent review of Queens Botanical Garden. That is, there are many non-botanic features (a small zoo, kid’s playground, buildings whose functions are not clear). But …. these gardens have at least three elements which put them into the Very Special Category : The Maze, The Winter Gardens and its historic trees. I entered the garden at ‘the top’ near Metro Station Jussieu. The densely wooded entrance is quite a contrast to the busy street and soon you can see a gazebo high above you. This is on top The Maze, a circular path going up what was once a mound of rubble. It is not a true maze or labyrinth because there is a one-way paved path that spirals up to the gazebo. You couldn’t get lost even if you tried. The Maze was built during the period of the French Revolution and is still a popular feature of the gardens. The views from the top are impressive but I particularly enjoyed being up at tree top level. The most striking tree is the huge cedar of Lebanon which was planted in 1734. It is one of many historic trees in the garden.
Art Deco Delight
For me the highlight of my visit was the Winter Gardens, the greenhouse designed by the architect Rene Berger. It was opened in 1937 and has the clean lines of Art Deco architecture . It was fully restored along with the 1830s glasshouse (Mexican Hothouse) and reopened to the public in June 2010. The photographs of Manuel Cohen capture the beauty of these structures:
New Caledonia Glasshouse (formerly The Mexican Hothouse), 1830s, Charles Rohault de Fleury, Jardin des Plantes, Museum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris, France (left) and the Art Deco style Tropical Rainforest Glasshouse (formerly Le Jardin d'Hiver or Winter Gardens), 1936, René Berger, (right). Low angle view showing the glass and metal structures lit by the sinking sun, in whose light the patterns of struts and glass resemble the pipes of an organ. The New Caledonia Glasshouse, or Hothouse, was the first French glass and iron building.
http://www.manuelcohen.com/en/report/93-The_Glasshouses_in_the_Jardin_des_Plantes_in_Paris_Re_openning_to_the_public_in_June_2010
I plan to return to the gardens and would like to see the Winter Gardens at dusk when the glass columns are lighted.
Between the Winter Gardens and the River Seine is a very large formal garden lined by trees on each side, with lots of small plots of flowers and shrubs. While I prefer a more ‘natural’ design, I was surprised at just how engrossing this area proved to be. In addition to exotic plants there are many common flowers grown in close proximity which create a dense natural atmosphere.
I visited on a lovely sunny day and there were many people there but this is a large garden (69 acres) so it did not feel crowded. I predict that this will be a regular part of my future visits to Paris.
New Caledonia Glasshouse (formerly The Mexican Hothouse), 1830s, Charles Rohault de Fleury, Jardin des Plantes, Museum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris, France (left) and the Art Deco style Tropical Rainforest Glasshouse (formerly Le Jardin d'Hiver or Winter Gardens), 1936, René Berger, (right). Low angle view showing the glass and metal structures lit by the sinking sun, in whose light the patterns of struts and glass resemble the pipes of an organ. The New Caledonia Glasshouse, or Hothouse, was the first French glass and iron building.
http://www.manuelcohen.com/en/report/93-The_Glasshouses_in_the_Jardin_des_Plantes_in_Paris_Re_openning_to_the_public_in_June_2010
I plan to return to the gardens and would like to see the Winter Gardens at dusk when the glass columns are lighted.
Between the Winter Gardens and the River Seine is a very large formal garden lined by trees on each side, with lots of small plots of flowers and shrubs. While I prefer a more ‘natural’ design, I was surprised at just how engrossing this area proved to be. In addition to exotic plants there are many common flowers grown in close proximity which create a dense natural atmosphere.
I visited on a lovely sunny day and there were many people there but this is a large garden (69 acres) so it did not feel crowded. I predict that this will be a regular part of my future visits to Paris.
A living fossil
Near the glasshouse I saw a clump of reed-type plants that I thought might be related to bamboo. Quite by chance I read an article later which described them as horsetail, one of the most ancient plants on the planet :
“ Equisetum (horsetail, snake grass, puzzlegrass) is the only living genus in the Equisetaceae, a family of vascular plants that reproduce by spores rather than seeds.
Equisetum is a "living fossil", as it is the only living genus of a class of plants which for over one hundred million years was much more diverse and dominated the understory of late Paleozoic forests. Some Equisetopsida were large trees reaching to 30 meters tall. “
“ Equisetum (horsetail, snake grass, puzzlegrass) is the only living genus in the Equisetaceae, a family of vascular plants that reproduce by spores rather than seeds.
Equisetum is a "living fossil", as it is the only living genus of a class of plants which for over one hundred million years was much more diverse and dominated the understory of late Paleozoic forests. Some Equisetopsida were large trees reaching to 30 meters tall. “
Photo Gallery
Paris Botanic Garden
The fine print
Date of visit : June 2011
From the garden's Website:
Jardin des Plantes, officially Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, English Botanical Garden, or National Museum of Natural History, one of the world’s foremost botanical gardens, located in Paris. It was founded in 1626 as a royal garden of medicinal plants and was first opened to the public in 1650. Under the superintendence of G.-L.L. Buffon (1739–88) the garden was greatly expanded, and it developed into a centre of scientific study associated with such prominent figures of early French botany and zoology as the Jussieu brothers, Georges Cuvier, and Jean-Baptiste Lamarck. During the early 19th century it supported expeditions to many distant parts of the world, which led to the acquisition of large numbers of plants that had been previously unknown to Western science.
Still located at its original site, the Jardin des Plantes covers 28 hectares (68 acres), on which are situated 6 greenhouses for display and 22 for service functions. Approximately 23,500 species of plants are cultivated in these greenhouses and in outdoor plots. The garden features cacti, grasses, bromeliads, orchids, ferns, aroids, Australian flora, alpine plants, iris, cannas, and conifers. The herbarium maintained at the garden is one of the world’s finest and consists of more than 6 million dried reference specimens. A botanical library, a small zoo, a labyrinth, and various natural-history exhibits are also part of the garden-museum complex.
The garden's website.
From the garden's Website:
Jardin des Plantes, officially Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, English Botanical Garden, or National Museum of Natural History, one of the world’s foremost botanical gardens, located in Paris. It was founded in 1626 as a royal garden of medicinal plants and was first opened to the public in 1650. Under the superintendence of G.-L.L. Buffon (1739–88) the garden was greatly expanded, and it developed into a centre of scientific study associated with such prominent figures of early French botany and zoology as the Jussieu brothers, Georges Cuvier, and Jean-Baptiste Lamarck. During the early 19th century it supported expeditions to many distant parts of the world, which led to the acquisition of large numbers of plants that had been previously unknown to Western science.
Still located at its original site, the Jardin des Plantes covers 28 hectares (68 acres), on which are situated 6 greenhouses for display and 22 for service functions. Approximately 23,500 species of plants are cultivated in these greenhouses and in outdoor plots. The garden features cacti, grasses, bromeliads, orchids, ferns, aroids, Australian flora, alpine plants, iris, cannas, and conifers. The herbarium maintained at the garden is one of the world’s finest and consists of more than 6 million dried reference specimens. A botanical library, a small zoo, a labyrinth, and various natural-history exhibits are also part of the garden-museum complex.
The garden's website.
