April sees the onset of magnolia season and one of the most heart-stopping months of the year at the Arboretum des Grandes Bruyères, deep in the heart of the Fôret d’Orleans.
As Marie Degaey, the arboretum coordinator puts it, ‘The forest is coming awake from its winter sleep, exploding with thousands of luminous magnolia flowers on leafless branches – their colours seem to resonate in harmony with the inundating carpet of winter-flowering heathers. Life is coming back again in colour, scent and sound…’
When you arrive at the arboretum, you will move through two themed formal gardens, the Jardin à la Française and the Jardin à l’Anglais, before choosing to turn left into the Asiatic Arboretum where you will find the most glorious of the park’s April-flowering magnolias.
Continuing on into the American Arboretum, you will encounter the equally joyful white and pink flowers of Cornus florida (American flowering dogwood), which have the slight edge on the magnolias in that their flowers are not damaged by late frosts. The magnolias in this sector of the park will be at their best during April.
Les Grandes Bruyères is home to the national collections of hardy magnolia and dogwood, curated by the CCVS (Conservatoire des Collections Végétales Spécialisées), as well as five further collections of species oak, cypress, spruce, fir and pine.
400 magnolias to admire
There are 400 magnolias in all, representing 150 species and cultivars, and Marie says that those who work there would find it difficult to choose one favourite magnolia over another.
She does, however, single out the diverse cultivars of the M. liliiflora group, such as ‘Nigra’, for the singular delicacy of their flowers. Magnolia liliiflora (one parent of our much-loved and ubiquitous M. x soulangeana) is also more compact than many magnolias at four metres, making it a good choice for smaller gardens.
Magnolia stellata is also worthy of note, not just for the unusual, starry shape of its flowers, but because it has sadly earned a place on the IUCN Red List of endangered species.
Marie Degaey
Created with love
The arboretum owes its existence to the creativity and love lavished on it by Brigitte and Bernard de La Rochefoucauld, who fell for this untamed woodland spot in the heart of the Fôret d’Orléans in the 1970s.
The locality had long been known as Les Grandes Bruyères, owing to heather species such as Calluna vulgaris, Erica cinerea and E. scoparia that are endemic to the light, sandy forest soil.
It was in this lieu-dit that the couple chose to build their own house in 1971 and began gradually to create the very special 14-hectare park, which they opened to the public in 1991.
Marie Degaey
It was the Comte’s passion for heathers that led to the widespread planting of tree heaths, such as Erica arborea and E. lusitanica and the low-growing, winter-flowering Erica carnea cultivars, to create a carpeting understorey that complements the astounding collection of trees and shrubs.
The result of this harmonious planting was the granting of Jardin Remarquable status in 2004.
The Comtesse likes to point out that the winter-flowering cultivars of Erica carnea are essential plants for every garden because they will tolerate more alkaline soils than most heathers.
The de La Rochefoucauld legacy
Concerned, as are all owners of large gardens, about the future of their collection, during the 1980s Bernard de La Rochefoucauld was responsible for setting up the Fonds de Dotation Arboretums de France, an endowment fund tasked with raising money to conserve the biodiversity and heritage of France’s large gardens, parks and arboretums.
Bernard de La Rouchfoucauld died in 2017JF Grossin
After the great storm of 1999, the Fund raised over €2 million from private donations by the French public to repair some of the damage to France’s greatest gardens, including the grounds of Versailles, the Arboretum des Prés-des-Culands (45), the Jardin Botanique de la Villa Thuret (06), and the Arboretum de Balaine (03).
The legacy of the de La Rochefoucaulds to France will therefore be measured by more than beauty of Les Grandes Bruyères.
Patrick Thiaudiere
The Arboretum is now home to 7,000 plants and 3,000 different species and cultivars and is cared for by Orlando Pinto, the head gardener of 33 years, assisted by a staff of only two, with one volunteer. Chemicals have never been used in the arboretum in order to respect and foster biodiversity and old-fashioned methods, such as scything, are preferred when clearing weeds.
Everyone connected with the arboretum is rightly proud of the emphasis placed not just on nurturing and recording the diverse flora of the place, but its precious fauna too.
The Arboretum is open seven days a week from 15 March to 11 November; Monday to Friday, 10:00 to noon & 14:00 to 18:00; Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays from 10:00 to 18:00 continuously. Adults €12.50, children from 6 - 12 years €6, children under 6-years-old go free.
