Secrets of Botanical Gardens

Three gardens, one common philosophy

Gossypium barbadense – Cotton plant

Yucca carnerosana

In Antibes, inside the Villa of the Thuret Botanical Gardens, a permanent exhibition can be seen honoring the garden’s creator, Gustave Thuret, his collaborators and the networks that were established in the 19th century. This includes the privileged relations with the Hanbury brothers and makes it possible to present the birth and development of ornamental horticulture on the Riviera.

In Menton, there is a Museum of Natural Sciences run by the Ministry of National Education at the Val Rhameh Botanical Gardens.

At the three gardens, then there are: herbaria, seed conservation workshops and a Germplasm Bank. As in the past, a free seed exchange is carried out today between botanical gardens around the world, universities and scientific research institutes in the field of botany and acclimatization under Mediterranean conditions.

For example, in Antibes, at the Villa Thuret Botanical Garden is the headquarters of INRAE (Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement), which was the first private French research laboratory created in 1857 and a place of acclimatization for exotic species.

As a testament to this historical network, you can still admire plants born from seed sowings from other gardens, such as the Hanbury Botanical Gardens’ Yucca carnerosana specimen, which comes from a seed lot received in 1900 by Prof. William Trealase of St. Louis, who described the species, which is native to Mexico and blooms only every five to six years.

Also at Hanbury Botanical Gardens you can find Acer oblongum (native to China and India), obtained from seeds received by Monsieur Gustave Thuret of Antibes in January 1870; but also many Eucalyptus or Leptospermum laevigatum or even the 100-year-old Rosa La Folette.

As Thomas Hanbury said, “Never go against Nature.”

During your visit to the three gardens (Hanbury, Val Rhameh, and Villa Thuret) you can taste the genuine Nature of the place. Indeed, eco-responsible management is applied:

  • Only essential pruning is carried out and the plants are left with their dry parts, which, although some consider unattractive, serve to protect them from heat, weather and pests and allow them to complete their reproductive cycle;
  • the fruits are left to ripen on the plants to allow the seeds to be collected and exchanged with other botanical gardens;
  • Only essential watering is carried out to preserve water resources and avoid keeping plants artificially active; therefore, acclimatization of exotic plants is preferred, gradually adapting them to live in our environmental conditions;
  • Parts of the land are left unmowed to encourage increased biodiversity; and protect the soil from erosion;
  • Invasive species are monitored and biological and integrated pest management methods are applied (use of insects and invertebrates that prey on or parasitize phytophagous pests, use of products based on specific strains of the entomopathogenic fungus Beuveria bassiana for defense of palms and agaves, use of pheromone traps to attract males of pest species such as the “citrus miner,” an Asian butterfly that feeds on citrus leaves);
  • Mulching (with organic materials produced in such as compost, bark, straw, and shredded and inorganic wood) is used to reduce soil loss and to save water (70% reduction in water loss through evaporation);
  • Renewable energy and water tanks are used, at least in part.

So come and visit these places of unspoiled Nature, you will discover yourself in a pleasant forested immersion between the Mediterranean and the tropical.