The chateau at Chaumont-sur-Loire has been famous since its construction in the 16th century. It is one of the most outstanding chateaux of the Loire and is on UNESCO’s world heritage list.
The chateau
The gardens did not really exist until the late19th century when it was landscaped in the “English” style. Buildings were demolished, new curvilinear paths built and copses planted along with some notable specimen trees.
Atlantic Cedar overlooking the Loire
Parts of the historic grounds are planted with herbaceous borders in simple schemes of blue, purple and white.
Salvia Amistad and S. uliginosa
Since 1991 Chaumont has become known for its International Garden Festival. Some 25 show gardens are on offer this year, each designed around the theme of resilience. The gardens are in place from April to October and are designed by landscape architects, artists, environmentalists and artists.
Demain tous ira bien - based on the book A Tree Grows In Brooklyn
Le chant du sel - a garden in recovery after a fire
Hortus spei - jardin de l’espoir - based on the Jungle Interieur in Nantes
Tropical planting between the show gardens
As well as these temporary gardens, there are an increasing number of permanent gardens in the grounds.
La serre extraordinaire
Carre et rond
Hualu, ermitage sur Loire
Les jardins japonais
Chateau Chaumont is a vast exhibition of historic chateau with furnished apartments, huge art gallery for sculpture and installations, historic grounds and outbuildings, gardens and show gardens. It’s so large its difficult to do it justice in one day.
I enjoyed the chateau, historic grounds and the art installations. The show gardens will prove disappointing if you are expecting something along the lines of the Chelsea Flower Show. It would be interesting to see them several times over the course of the six months, but it did not look like they had been revisited by their designers. However, it is probably a more sustainable way of doing show gardens and they are all designed to be walked through, not just viewed from the edge.
There are lots of catering provisions within the grounds but it is expensive and the queues can be long. Take a picnic.
Chaumont-sur-Loire its open all year ound, from 10am. It’s not a visit to be rushed.