Jardins de Valloires

The Jardins de Valloires (8 hectares) are botanical gardens located on the grounds of the 18th century Abbaye de Valloires in Argoules, Somme, Picardy, France. They are classified as a Jardin Remarquable, and open daily in the warmer months; an admission fee is charged. The gardens' origins date to 1981 when gardener Jean-Louis Cousin began to look for a site for his collection of 3000 plant varieties from north Asia and North America. In 1985 the region of Picardy, department of the Somme, and the Syndicat Mixte pour l’Aménagement de la Côte Picarde (Joint Committee for the Management of the Coast of Picardy) agreed to build a new garden beside the Abbey of Valloires. Starting in 1987, the gardens were designed by Gilles Clément, who also designed the Parc André Citroën and the Jardin botanique du domaine du Rayol, and first opened to the public in 1989, with additional gardens created in subsequent years. Today the gardens contain over 5,000 plant taxa, representing 75 botanical families, 698 genera, and 2,030 species, with an emphasis on plants native to China, Japan, and Central Asia. They are organized into three major sections: French gardens, to harmonize with the abbey's west facade English gardens (jardins des îles), containing botanical collections organized into "islands" a wilder, naturalistic garden. Points of interest include a rose garden containing 200 varietie

Park data from Wikidata (CC0). Summary from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA).