Botanical garden of Tours
We could not inaugurate this series about our favorit gardens with another one than the botanical garden of Tours.
Located at our doorstep, it is a regular destination for a stroll.
Botanical garden of Tours : a bit of history
In the 19th century, the biggest French cities modernized and wanted to show their importance as well as their richness; the creation of a botanical garden then became an imperative.
Paris, Lyon, Strasbourg, Nantes, Bordeaux, …, all have created such a place of walk and discovery. They allowed the population to admire their first tropical plants and to marvel at the exotic animals in the menageries.
Tours is no exception to this trend.
Creation of the botanical garden of Tours
The park was built between 1831 and 1843. The place chosen for its creation was an unhealthy marshland whose proximity to the Hospice Général de Tours, which became the current Bretonneau Hospital, raised serious questions about public health.
Its creation owes much to the generosity of Jean-Anthyme Margueron. Indeed, this pharmacist was at the initiative of the project including a school of botany intended for the students of the new school of Medicine and Pharmacy located, thus, opposite the garden.
Developments and major dates
At its creation, because of its proximity to the medical world, the park was primarily an arboretum and a herbarium, but over the years it became more and more attractive.
In 1857, a spectacular avenue of Magnolias grandifolia was planted (postcard above).
In 1869, the park was enriched with a menagerie of exotic animals and tropical greenhouses.
The construction of a new Orangery greenhouse in 2008 allows the wintering of plants in tubs. Always in the will of a constant evolution, a contemporary creation around the plant design was born in the north of the greenhouses in 2009, the garden of 2 worlds. Over the years, the collection has been enriched with many varieties of hardy exotic plants.
The garden has survived many attacks: floods in 1846 and 1856 (2 meters of water in the greenhouses!), fire in the Orangery in 1869, bombings in 1944, storms in 1953, 1987 …
The botanical garden today
A garden divided into five areas
- the medicinal plants garden : in keeping with the history of the park, it is focused on phytotherapy, but there are “some beautiful poisoners” including our Deadly nightshade
- The Arboretum : star of the garden, it counts more than 200 varieties, among which a magnificent massif of Erythrina crista-galli.
- The evolution garden: This is a scientific garden that highlights the evolution of plants since the first organisms.
- The thematic garden: you will love to get lost in it; in a few meters you will go from a Mediterranean atmosphere to Japan.
- The perennial garden: with the peony as the star, it gathers herbaceous perennials, shrubs with perfumed flowers as well as bulbous plants.
Botanical garden of Tours : tropical greenhouses for dreaming
Summer or winter, the tropical greenhouses of the garden are always an invitation to travel. Divided into three parts (Tropical Utility Plants, South African Flora and Tropical Undergrowth Flora) they are full of great classics (Banana, Pineapple, Papaya…) as well as rare tropical plants and trees.
A menagerie for small and big children
A botanical garden would not be complete without its menagerie. After strolling through the alleys, admiring the tropical plants in the greenhouses (Ah! those specimens of Strelitzia nicolai!), before an ice cream or a waffle, it is a pleasure for all to be there.
Botanical garden of Tours : an outstanding Gingko biloba
It is not possible to evoke the Arboretum of the Botanical Garden of Tours without mentioning its Gingko biloba or Gingko.
Planted in 1843, it is unique in France: it is a male subject on which a female branch was grafted in 1910. Today, it has an exceptional circumference of nearly 8 meters. Its spectacular bearing and the poetic spectacle it offers each autumn earned it the prize of Tree of the Year in 2020.
An enchanting Etlingera elatior !
If the Gingko biloba is enthroned in the middle of the Arboretum, the Torch ginger, or Etlingera elatior, sublimates the greenhouses.
It is without doubt one of the most beautiful tropical flowers in the world. The botanical garden of Tours offers you a massif in full maturity of pink color.
During its long summer bloom, the show, for any amateur of exotic plants, is breathtaking.
Have a good visit !
