The garden of the Serre de la Madone is located on a ridge (hence the term "greenhouse"), in the district of the Madonna, to Menton on Route Gorbio.
Several kilometers of the coast, it was built from 1924 to 1939 by the American landscape Lawrence Johnston (1871-1958), who had already made England the garden of Hidcote Manor in the Cotswolds in 1907 and that of Sissinghurst in Kent in 1930.
Having discovered the botanical wonders of South Africa, where he fought in the Boer War, he wished to Menton create a garden where he could install that would bring rare plants from around the world.
In this old farmhouse, were planted on six hectares of species reported from the Far East or Africa alongside plants of the Mediterranean (olive, fig, peach). Arbours, statues, basins and mills (small buildings) dotted the sloping space where the path is facilitated by stairs.
As for the trees and exotic plants, are especially visible tropical oak of the Himalayas, two Washingtonia filifera, a large Magnolia Yunnan or a rare Nolina Mexico.
All reached by a road lined with cypress is dominated by a small country house opening onto a gazebo, covered with wisteria and with a courtyard where there is a mandarin.
Protected as historical monuments, labeled Remarkable Garden, the area is now owned by the Conservatoire du Littoral. The garden of the Serre de la Madone has recently been restored.
Open all year except Mondays and during the months of November and December. Price: 4 and 8 euros. Information at +33 4 93 57 73 90.
