In my earlier post, I talked about the history and significance of this garden, and showcase the aromatics and medicinal plant garden. Here, I am featuring the center portion of the garden including the rose garden and pergola, and the pavilion with the fountain representing the source of the four fountains of Eden.
Work on this garden was started in 1997 to create a medieval garden in the style of a convent garden in the days of Anne of Brittany (1477-1514). The population at the time resorted to plants for most of their needs: food, medicine and clothing.
The garden has three essential components. The medicinal and herb garden, used by monks to make their own remedies from plants not readily available in the surrounding areas and therefore grown in the garden.
The edible garden: nutritious roots, fruit, fresh or dried, beans, barley, and other garden crops made up the menu of the time.
The tinctorial garden grew plants used for clothing such as hemp, linen or catharmus which was used for red coloring.
Note also that the medival garden is a representation of Paradise, with the fountain in the center representing the pure source from which the four rivers of Eden originate. Plants such as white lilies and other white flowers represent the virgin.
In this first post, I am featuring the front portion of the garden, with the medicinal and herb section.
This is one of the loveliest gardens in this style I have had the chance to visit and it was also awarded “Jardin Remarquable” (remarkable garden”. It was designed not only for function but also form, with a pavilion, arbors, pergolas, benches in cozy nooks, decorative borders for raised beds, woven Plessis, and a fountain, making it a feast for the eyes as well as the palate. It also overlooks the river Odet, making it a truly enchanting setting.
Near the coast in northern Brittany, France, this house is surrounded by a neatly landscaped lawn area with benches and sitting areas; then further from the house is the kitchen garden with vegetable patches planted in orderly rows.
Lined by benches and surrounded by historic buildings and one of Quimper’s premier theatre venues, this formally landscaped garden in the French style provides a sheltered oasis in the old own, to sit on sunny afternoons or bring a picnic.
Mixed borders are edged with low trimmed boxwood, and more boxwood and evergreens in round shapes mix with roses, sedums and other plants.
As in one of my previous posts, this cottage garden is also in the coastal village of Landevennec in northern Brittany, France. This garden right by the water puts out a stunning show of fall blooms in September, with a riot of color from hydrangeas, roses, and foliage from grasses and perennials mixed into lush border.
I have written other posts on some of the beautiful and lush planters, borders or roundabouts to be found throughout France, as many small towns compete with one another for the most lavish and sometimes wildly creative floral displays. Here are some of the flowered boxes decorating the town of Daoulas in northwestern France, in particular the small bridges dotting the river.
On the outskirts of a small fishing village in Brittany, France, bordered by some woods, the original stone cottage was expanded over the years into a U-shape construction around a pleasant courtyard garden in the front, edged with rough stone walls.
This garden is very reminiscent of what the French used to call a “jardin ouvrier”. Literally meaning “workingman’s or bluecollar garden”, it refers to gardens that while having very much the look of cottage gardens served the very functional purpose of having to feed a family. Typically there will be a kitchen garden in the back or side of the house, with a flowered area in the front. I have featured other such gardens in my posts as they are often found in Brittany villages and around France.
The side of the house is dedicated to a vegetable patch towards the back with rows of tomatos, salads, cabbage, pumpkins, squashes, gourds and potatoes. Flowers are mixed in to help pollination. Towards the front are fruit trees and small vegetables.
The front of the house is planted with a riot of color from assorted annuals, perennials and dahlias, while potted floweres and container arrangements surround the front door and line the path.
Extra gourds and pumpkins go into a wheelbarrow by the gate.
The house in a small French village is sited towards the back of this narrow lot, away from the road, making it look like a woodland cottage nested in all that vegetation.
The plantings are mostly shrubs and perennials with a variety of foliage color and shape for year round interest,
A few trees, including a small pear tree in the front, add structure and make it look like an older, well established garden mixed border. Some of the plantings include fuchsias, pampas grasses, barberry, hydrangeas, roses, black eyed susan, and large patches of pink and white erigeron ground cover.
This lovely garden is terraced on a small hill in a picturesque coastal village in norther Brittany, France, with lovely stone retaining walls and steps leading from the house up to the higher levels. It is landscaped with many of the shrubs and perennials that are seen in many other Brittany gardens and are very well suited to the climate: hebe, hydrangeas, roses, wisteria, alyssum, viburnum …
Globetrotting Gardener 