A Seaside Garden

E IS FOR ?

LE JARDIN EXOTIQUE!

For once supermarket shopping took priority over garden visiting on the last day of our holiday. Armed with a list of must have essentials himself and I lingered in the supermarket aisles - something which we do not normally do on home ground, where himself needs gentle coaxing to even cross the threshold. However once that important task had been completed, I am glad to say that we had time for a garden visit. We had made our way to Roscoff to catch a ferry back to England the next morning. Le Jardin Exotique de Roscoff is within close distance of the ferry terminal where we planned on parking up the campervan overnight. We had visited the garden before but in the early autumn. So here was an ideal chance to see the garden in August. This is a botanical garden which was founded in 1987. It contains no fewer than 3,000 species of plants from the southern hemisphere. They grow happily here as there is a favourable micro climate (Roscoff being surrounded by the sea on two sides) as well as the benign influence of the Gulf Stream. The garden is perched on a granite rock mass and there are some marvellous views over the area particularly from this vantage point ~



Although most of the other visitors were speaking English we still felt we we were a long way from home in this garden with its lush planting. It was a somewhat overcast and humid day but when the sun broke through the clouds it felt decidedly tropical. There were many trees and succulents that I am not familiar with but labeling was not consistent throughout the garden so I was none the wiser :)









There were a number of ponds, one of which is inhabited by some turtles who most obligingly surfaced to have their photo taken ~





There were some plants that I am familiar with. Throughout the garden agapanthus both blue and white grew in profusion as did watsonias and kniphofias.

Watsonia and agapanthus ~



Crinum ~



Sadly the garden could do with some more attention in some places as there were some rather weedy and under planted patches. However all in all it is a pleasant spot to while away an hour or so. As you head towards the exit there is a nursery area offering a good selection of plants grown within the garden. I treated myself to a white flowering plumbago and a little cutting of a shrub by the name of polygala myrtifolia ~



There is another exotic garden in the area on the nearby Ile De Batz - one for a visit at some point in the future hopefully. The next afternoon though we found ourselves on the other side of the water in what is going to be an absolutely stupendous garden - report to follow soon.

Enjoy more posts on the letter E over at ABC Wednesday !