This second edition of Botanicals of Chaumont-sur-Loire, Saturday 19 and Sunday 20 September 2020takes place at the same time as the Heritage Days: an exceptional opportunity to spend the weekend in the region, to visit, in addition, some historical or famous heritage sites as well as the essential International Garden Festivalon the theme this year of “Gardens of the earth, return to Mother Earth“.
A plant exhibition and sale
On the one hand, the Domaine de Chaumont-sur-Loire wanted to be part of the tradition since the Prince and Princess de Broglie, the last private owners of the Château de Chaumont-sur-Loire, from 1875 to 1938, were true amateurs. of plants and maintained fabulous collections of orchids, exotic and flowering green plants.
On the other hand, an association, Plants and Cropsbrings together producer nurseries, wishing to promote plant diversity, the transmission of know-how and the enhancement of the work of nursery growers and collectors.
A partnership obviously had to be forged, to make the link between the landscapers who work on the Festival and the nurseries who supply the plants: this is what Chantal Colleu-Dumonddirector of the Domaine and the International Garden Festival of Chaumont-sur-Loire, and author of Contemporary Garden (Flammarion – 2019). Always teeming with sparkling ideas that give pride of place to cultural ambitions, she decided in 2019 to offer the magnificent Allée des Ormeaux, a forest alley linking the Château park to the surrounding forests along the Goualoup park, to producers and collectors of plants. of today.
Thirty or so grower nurseries are exhibiting their know-how and testifying to their passion by sharing knowledge and living things, around an exhibition and sale of plants from this living plant heritage.
Coming from all over France, these enthusiasts will make you discover collections as diverse as they are sometimes unusual, but always stunningly beautiful and even, for some, intoxicating with perfume: aromatics, dry land plants, perennials, grasses, bamboos, succulents , cacti, heather land plants, wicker, citrus fruits, native plants of wild origin, exotic plants, palms, climbers, irises, peonies, jewel conifers, southern plants, maples, etc.
Meetings and conferences
The Chaumont-sur-Loire Botanicals are also an opportunity to meet around botany and labeled plant collections, with the collaboration of the Garden_Lab magazine, which offers two topics for discussion:
- Saturday September 19 from 3:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.: Drought, climate change: how to adapt our gardens? which is the theme of the Garden_Lab#10 which has just been released. Didier Fogaras, at the origin of Créa’Paysage, nursery specialized in bamboos and grasses, as well as Franck Poly, creator of Sempervivum & Cie, nursery-collection of plants particularly adapted to drought (Houseleeks, Sempervivum, succulents and cacti) and Sylvie Ligny, co-founder with Cécile Christophe of the Garden_Lab magazine which explores the gardens of tomorrow, will discuss with you.
- Saturday 19 September at 4.30 p.m.: Laure Quoniam will sign her book “Le champ d’en face” (Gourcuff Gradenigo editions).
- Sunday, September 20 from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m.: The happiness of plants is under our feet #02 – The importance of mycorrhizae in the life of terrestrial plants and how to “cultivate” them in the garden (in partnership with Premier Tech Horticulture). Daniel Wipf, professor at the University of Burgundy, Julien Marlin, gardener, Romain Lacoste, landscaper will discuss it.
The entire program can be found on the Domaine de Chaumont-sur-Loire website. The entrance ticket to the Estate gives free access to the Botaniques from 10 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.
(photo credits 1 and 2: E.Sander)
Written by Nathalie on 09/18/2020