Jardins de Valloires

The regular garden
The visit begins with the plant cloister that echoes the abbey's stone cloister. At the end of the central alley in the purest French style, the rose garden displays a remarkable collection of a thousand ancient, wild and modern roses.

The marshland Garden
Here the atmosphere is wilder. Below, where the water table is close to the surface, you can observe the marshland plants that enjoy the damp.

Island Garden
Go from island to island to explore the botanical collections, planted according to their colour and scent: Shadow island, Silver island, Viburnum island, Red leaf and Soft thorn island, and the Bizarretum...

The garden of the 5 senses
Fun and educational, this garden invites you to smell, touch, look, listen and even taste!

The Garden of Evolution
In tribute to Jean-Baptiste Lamarck, a botanist from the Enlightenment, this garden invites you to go back in time and retraces the 400 million year evolution of plants.

Please note: You can visit the Valloires gardens in all seasons. Book in the winter.

Membership card, for unlimited access to the gardens

Valid for: 1 year (see opening dates)

Prices

Adult: €28

Children:€19

The workshops planned at the Jardins de Valloires enable children to better understand life in the gardens, the origins of plants and vegetables as well as how to protect nature and view it differently.

- "Sowing" workshop:

understanding what plants need, observing their development (making a biodegradable pot with seeds)

- "Useful insects" workshops: better understanding how useful insects are, encourage them and provide them with shelter in your garden (making a shelter)

- "Herb" workshop: learning to recognise the different types of leaf, the variety of plants (making a plant face mask or a tree with a cat face)

- 5 senses workshop: go to discover the different plants in the gardens, recognise their scent, texture and taste (tasting of edible plants or flower pancake workshop).

Discover the depth, structure, atmosphere and taste of an exceptional garden as a group during guided tours, workshops and at the "Gardener's Table" restaurant.

Guided visit of the Gardens - lasts 1h30 to 2hrs

Craft workshops - last 1h30 to 2hrs: shaping and creating a perennial flower bed, cuttings, sowing …

Courses: creating perennial flower beds, planting annuals, shaping and maintaining a rose bed.

The restaurant "La Table du Jardinier" - 40 places

Private events: You can rent the restaurant for your events

Taste the garden's delights

Forget all that you have already tasted and awaken your taste buds At La Table du Jardinier, the head chef, Ludovic Dupont, is a gatherer. Every morning in the garden, he gathers the edible flowers and herbs that will inspire the day's dishes. You are presented with a delicious mix of surprising tastes and unusual colours.

Seasonal delights

Every three month, the menu changes: new vegetable fritters in the spring, mushroom casserole in the autumn... and always a favourite, soup is on the menu: creamy nettle soup and nasturtium cake around the fireplace in the midst of winter and iced soup in the warm weather, on the terrace. Although vegetables hold pride of place, the restaurant does not overlook meat and fish.
As for the desserts, they are irresistible! Floral pancakes with rose or violet syrup, seasonal fruit tarts, rose sorbet... To drink, have the walnut wine for aperitif, the fruit or vegetable juice or try the buckthorn tea as a digestif.

Restaurant at lunchtime, tearoom in the daytime
40 places inside and 30 places on the terrace.

Botanics from A to Z

All year long, guided visits of the gardens are organised for groups of adults and schoolchildren. The guide knows all there is to know about the various collections and species.
The fun and educational activities are specially organised specially for children.
Education is a priority in Valloires. This is a real museum of plant life, with paths that enable the general public learn about plants.

Heritage to protect

Because they are home to endangered species, the gardens have a major conservation role. In Valloires, 175 botanical families, 698 species of plants and 2030 individual species cohabit, each one of them then divided into different varieties.
The living collections are a precious heritage that is available to scientists to find out more about plant biodiversity and its future.

Preserving nature

Botanical gardens like the Jardins de Valloires should have the necessary facilities to protect endangered or rare plants by growing and multiplying them. They are important gene stores and strive to slow down the loss of plant biodiversity.
Gardeners use phytosanitary products responsibly, preferring biological cures (ex: use of ladybirds against greenflies). To reduce the use of chemical treatment products, gardeners weed by hand and use other methods such as natural mulching to prevent weeds from growing back.

In the gardens, if you look carefully, you will see areas developing freely
(piles of wood, natural prairies) that provide a habitat for microfauna, hedgehogs and birds.

Bees are needed to pollinate flowers, they are a crucial link in the balance of ecosystems, without it many plants could no longer reproduce and would disappear. In Valloires, bees cohabit with visitors.

SUPPORTING YOU DURING YOUR STAY

Access:
Most of the gardens and the restaurant La Table du Jardinier are accessible to people with reduced mobility.

Equipment hire:
Wheelchairs are available for hire.
When it rains, you can borrow umbrellas.

Web exclusive:
You can order ladybirds ( adults of larvae) to control greenflies in an environmentally friendly manner. Delivery in under 2 weeks in mainland France only

Tickets:
A joint ticket for the Abbey (guided tour) and the gardens (non-guided) is available.

Free guide booklet:
You will be given a guide booklet at the front desk.

Giftshop:
The Jardins de Valloires giftshop contains many hidden treasures for gardening, decorating and tasting: local products, "Picardy Rose" scents for the house and body, illustrated books... Spend some more time in the gardens by checking out the garden store, it is the ideal place to find perennials, ancient rose varieties, and rare shrubs, herbs and seeds.
> Find out more

The garden store:

At the end of your visit, check out the perennials, ancient rose varieties and the rare shrubs seen in the gardens.