The Parc du Grand Blottereau A century of tropical agronomy

The Mediterranean rock (A) Umbrella pines and cypresses can be seen from a distance. Wild grow spontaneously Then the red, dry and rocky soil beside them. And the aromatic is revealed. We are in the heart plants develop their fragrances: of the Estérel mountain range, thyme, wild thyme, oregano, in south east France. A lavender lemon balm and Corsican mint. field, vines, olive trees, fig trees, almond trees and so on. This dry The Banana plantation (C) soil still manages to produce a fine Asian in origin, banana plantations Collections and agricultural harvest. can now be found in all tropical There are also white mulberry countries. The banana plantation, landscapes trees, on which silk worms feed to which provides a link between produce the precious textile. different cultures, acts as the And the terebinth pistache, which transition between Asia nearby In the pathways around the produces turpentine. with the Korean garden and the Grand There are some tall trees here too: Blottereau, visitors discover live oaks, cork oaks, umbrella pines tropical areas in the upper section agricultural landscapes and and Mediterranean Cypresses. of the park. After the bananas cultures from around the There are some shrubs just a are harvested, the main shoot world: from the Mediterranean little lower down: dwarf palm disappears and it is from a reject to Louisiana, via the Korean trees, mimosas, strawberry trees, that a new growing cycle starts. At hills of Suncheon or a banana oleanders. And on the ground the heart of the banana plantation plantation. These are changing grow euphorbias, rockroses, globe we can see a few palm trees from landscapes which offer a day trip thistles, sage, marigolds and China, which are highly resistant to the heart of 5 continents grasses. to cold.

The Parc du Grand Blottereau: the promise of a journey The largest park in Nantes with its 22 hectares guarantees a complete change of scene! at the start of the XXth century, the park has Dedicated to exotic plants and flowers since it inherited its tropical . was left to the city They house exotic plants that are one by Thomas II Dobrée in 1905, the Grand hundred years old and a unique collection of Blottereau has been continuing and utilitarian plants: food , aromatic plants, increasing this exotic aspect for 40 years now. medicinal plants or plants that are used in The park provides a constantly-changing textiles. site for experimentation and offers a journey The flowers and trees that are planted in all through the different natural landscapes and of the city’s green spaces are also produced fields that are cultivated around the world: here. Once a year, in September, the park the Mediterranean, the bayous of America, suddenly springs to live: a Folie des plantes, the hills of and perhaps the 5 or Follies, which lives up to its name, continents tomorrow. The head office of the with over 40,000 visitors and 160 exhibitors business school’s colonial agronomy section each year.

The Korean garden (D) After passing the bamboo curtain, visitors discover the The American bayou (E) green hills of the Suncheon In this marshland which is region in South Korea. In this Sheltered from winter silting, typical of the southern United temperate climate grow pine they rise to the surface and flower States (Louisiana,Florida) live the trees, Japanese maples, gingkos, when the water warms up. bald cypress and the southern prunus and cornus. Azaleas grow Near the zelkova, the tree under magnolia. Near the spring, a at their bases. which people talk and rest, there bald cypress covers respiratory An is home to Japanese is a rice field and a vegetable roots which grow in cone shape. garden. From mid-May, the persimmons, Chinese jujubes and They enable the tree to breathe quince trees. garden grows sweet potatoes, when the water rises too high. The tea field nearby produces its chillis, leeks, sesame and ginseng. In summer, the cotton field, the harvest in April. Two protective The rice is harvested in October. totems open the entrance to the These harvests are stored in the sugar cane and the blueberries village. Around them are sacred pottery enclosure away from the are in full production. bamboos, bullfinches, neem trees elements in earthenware jars. Travelling further across the and hibiscuses, the symbol of The pavilion is decorated with American continent we can see the country. In the pool, which lotus flowers and plums. It was the American sweet gum, the is both curved and straight to built on site by Korean craftsmen giant sequoia, the Canadian represent the yin and the yang, using their own local materials, sugar maple which produces we can see lotuses, the symbols providing the opportunity to pass maple syrup and the Brazilian of Buddhism. on their ancestral skills. pines from Argentina and Chile.

The ice cellar (3) This «factory» dates from the Château and French-style lawn (4) end of the XVIIIth century. Based This «folly» was built between in a shaded location with thick 1742 and 1747 for Gabriel Michel, walls and a tiled, vaulted roof, who was the director of the the ice cellar enabled ice to be Special Company of the Indies in Nantes kept cold for several months. It at the time. The Château features was restored in 1984 by agents a central dwelling-house with two of the SEVE and trainees from the attractions pavilions connected by galleries. Union Compagnonique (Craft The external decoration with Apprentices’ Union). Originally a manor house, the the sculpted faces of the gods of Grand Blottereau was given over the Waters and the Wind bears Château outbuildings (5) to exotic plants at the start of witness to the owner of the time’s Built in 1902, they housed an the XXth century. We owe this professional activities. The central experimental dairy farm whose milk transformation to Hippolyte lawn, which is surrounded by a was intended for the «La goutte de Durand-Gasselin, the heir to the dry moat and is lait» a charity which sought to provide last owner, Thomas Dobrée. In planted in French style, is the the city’s infants with high quality the spirit of the legacy, in 1902 only one of this kind in Nantes. milk. It was also a holiday camp at he based a colonial agronomy Between 1945 and the end of the 1930s. The park’s section here before handing the 1961 the Château was home to maintenance department is now park over to the city in 1905. children orphaned by war. based here.

Natural garden Created during the Folie des What else the Plantes in 2008, this is an The municipal nursery, orna- park has to offer educational facility for students at mental plants and florist the local horticultural college and Transferred from the Jardin des for the city’s students. Here you Plantes to the Grand Blottereau Tours of the tropical greenhouses can learn how to garden without in 1927, the municipal florist and These greenhouses are open for chemicals, produce or ornamental plant designer creates visits free of charge for individuals save water. all the flowers and green plants on Wednesdays and at weekends. intended for all of the city’s green For groups, booking is required. Observing the heavens spaces as well as the indoor and Its location on the edge of the outdoor flower boxes. On site The “Folie des Plantes” plant city and its size make the Parc since 1952, the municipal nursery festival du Grand Blottereau the ideal extends over 9 hectares. The trees This festival is held each year location to examine the sky over which are planted in Nantes’s on the 1st or 2nd weekend in Nantes. The Nantes Astronomical green spaces are bred and grown September. Over 165 nurseries Society regularly hosts events here. and associations exhibit. The here. events vary according to the year’s The Grand Blottereau theme and a solidarity and social Sports facilities horticultural college economy village offers fair trade Boules courts, tennis, basketball The horticultural college has products. and handball courts and football been based in the Château’s With 40,000 visitors per year and rugby pitches are available outbuildings since 1933. A the Folie des Plantes is one of without reservation. Games for vocational high school since 1992, the largest events of this kind in children are also available inside each year it trains 200 students in France. the park. horticultural production.

Tropical vegetable garden (1) spice plants (vanilla, cinnamon, These were built in 1902 to cloves, ginger) and a range of meet the needs of the colonial fragrance and medicinal plants agronomy section which was (jojoba, jasmine, etc.). created at Nantes’s business These plants are re-potted each college. The objective was to year after their root systems are prepare students before they checked. headed out to the colonies to Tropical vegetable garden (2) work and to encourage the Orangery and temperate From mid-May onwards, this commercial development of these greenhouses (2) experimental field presents a wide colonies. The theory lessons were The winter storage site for citrus variety of exotic food plants which dispensed in the premises of plants, the orangery enables complete their growing cycle on Nantes’s current natural history these plants to be kept away from site. We can find sweet potatoes, museum and continued until frost at 4-5° from October to April. tapioca, soya, sorghum, peanut, The Parc du Grand Blottereau Tour of the tropical greenhouses Summer: 1968. The greenhouses were Connected to it, the temperate mustard, quinoa and over 15 Boulevard Auguste-Péneau – Nantes Duration 1 hour. Wednesdays 2pm, 3.30pm, Saturday renovated and enlarged in 2002. is heated in winter varieties of chilli. ALLONANTES +33 (0)2 40 41 9000 For groups (10 to 20 people), 3pm and 4.30pm, They host a remarkable heritage to 10° to store plants that are www.nantes.fr €3 per person: every day by reservation Sundays: 10.30am, 3pm and 4.30pm of exotic plants for business sensitive to frost weathering Contemporary sculptures (7, 8) on +33 (0)2 40 41 65 09 Access to the greenhouses is closed outside purposes, some of which are over and which have flat external Keeping the spirit of travel alive, For individuals, free at the following visiting times 100 years old. We can find textile strips from the month of May. the meditation stone by Jean- Summer: 8.30am - 8pm times: plants such as cotton plants or This building dates back to the Claude Lambert, a sculptor from Tropical vegetable garden Spring, autumn: 8.30am - 6.30pm Winter: (Closed on 25th December and West African bombax, precious same period as the tropical the Loire-Atlantique region, Winter: 8.30am - 5.30pm 1st January) from 1st June, during the week 8.30am to 12pm, 2pm to 5pm, woods and fruit trees (pineapple, greenhouses and was also built communicates with the fountain Wednesdays and Saturdays 2pm and star fruit, papaya, cocoa, etc.). to meet the needs of the colonial by Chan-Kab Park, a Korean Tramway line 1, mairie de Doulon stop 3.30pm, Sundays: 10.30am, 2pm and weekends and public holidays 8.30am Bus line 12 Grand Blottereau stop 3.30pm to 12pm, 3pm to 6pm (5pm in Winter) There are also aromatic plants and agronomy section. sculptor. The Parc du Grand Blottereau A century of tropical agronomy enaudineau - Illustration : Marie Bretaud

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Landscapes Heritage & lawns Reception & leisure Services activities Toilets A. The Mediterranean 1. The tropical greenhouses Play area Disabled toilets B. The tropics 2. Orangery, tropical greenhouses and View point tropical vegetable garden Path accessible C. The banana plantation to people with disabilities* 3. Ice cellar D. The Korean garden with assistance 4. Château and French-style lawn E. The American bayou Path accessible to people with 5. Technical departments disabilities* F. The natural garden 6. Grand Blottereau Horticultural *Access to people with disabilities College The park only is accessible to people with disabilities (the guided route is indicated 7. Meditation stone by Lambert on the map). The slope makes the route easier in north- 8. Fountain by Park south direction, from the entrance on bd Auguste Péneau towards the château. Adapted toilets.

Nantes, between botanical tradition and wild nature 6 Parks and The heir to a long botanical tradition, Nantes 5 in is famous for the quality and richness of 7 its ten parks. This tradition is a way of life, 1. Jardin des Plantes 2. Île de Versailles which marries the history of Nantes and its 4 3. Parc de Procé geography. This adventure really took off in the XVIIIth 4. Parc de la Gaudinière The parks and gardens in Nantes have century. In 1726, in order to enhance the 3 2 8 5. Cimetière-parc developed over the centuries with their own country’s botanical collections, Louis XV 1 6. Parc de la Chantrerie identity and their own particular landscapes. ordered ships’ captains to bring back plants 9 7. Parc floral de la Beaujoire Between 1687 and 88, the reign of Louis XIV and seeds from their long distance voyages. 10 8. Parc du Grand Blottereau marked the start of the horticultural adven- The mild climate and the influence of the 9. Jardins de l’île de Nantes ture in Nantes with the creation of the Jardin ocean enabled plants from around the world 10. Parc des Oblates des Apothicaires, or Apothecaries’ Garden. to flourish.