Jardin botanique de Tours
Encyclopedia
The Jardin botanique de Tours (5 hectares) is a municipal botanical garden
and arboretum
located at 33, Boulevard Tonnellé, Tours
, Indre-et-Loire
, Centre, France
. It is open daily; admission is free.
The garden was established by public subscription in 1843 at the initiative of pharmacist Jean-Anthyme Margueron (1771-1848), and is the oldest public garden in the city. In response to the 1841 creation of the city's Hospice Général et de l’Ecole Préparatoire de Pharmacie, it began as a collection of about 2,000 medical and exotic plants arranged in greenhouse
s (containing about 500 plants), orchard, and garden proper. It was flooded by the Loire
in 1848 and again in 1856, to a depth of 2 meters, which required rebuilding the garden and replacing most of its trees. In 1863 an orangery
and animal park were added, and then in 1890 new greenhouse
s (cold, temperate, and hot) under the direction of Louis Madelin
, with the garden's first seed catalog published in 1901. The greenhouses were damaged by bombardments in World War II
.
The garden currently contains about 2,000 taxa
, organized as follows:
The garden also contains an orangery, exhibition greenhouses, and a small space for animals.
Botanical garden
A botanical garden The terms botanic and botanical, and garden or gardens are used more-or-less interchangeably, although the word botanic is generally reserved for the earlier, more traditional gardens. is a well-tended area displaying a wide range of plants labelled with their botanical names...
and arboretum
Arboretum
An arboretum in a narrow sense is a collection of trees only. Related collections include a fruticetum , and a viticetum, a collection of vines. More commonly, today, an arboretum is a botanical garden containing living collections of woody plants intended at least partly for scientific study...
located at 33, Boulevard Tonnellé, Tours
Tours
Tours is a city in central France, the capital of the Indre-et-Loire department.It is located on the lower reaches of the river Loire, between Orléans and the Atlantic coast. Touraine, the region around Tours, is known for its wines, the alleged perfection of its local spoken French, and for the...
, Indre-et-Loire
Indre-et-Loire
Indre-et-Loire is a department in west-central France named after the Indre and the Loire rivers.-History:Indre-et-Loire is one of the original 83 départements created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790...
, Centre, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. It is open daily; admission is free.
The garden was established by public subscription in 1843 at the initiative of pharmacist Jean-Anthyme Margueron (1771-1848), and is the oldest public garden in the city. In response to the 1841 creation of the city's Hospice Général et de l’Ecole Préparatoire de Pharmacie, it began as a collection of about 2,000 medical and exotic plants arranged in greenhouse
Greenhouse
A greenhouse is a building in which plants are grown. These structures range in size from small sheds to very large buildings...
s (containing about 500 plants), orchard, and garden proper. It was flooded by the Loire
Loire
Loire is an administrative department in the east-central part of France occupying the River Loire's upper reaches.-History:Loire was created in 1793 when after just 3½ years the young Rhône-et-Loire department was split into two. This was a response to counter-Revolutionary activities in Lyon...
in 1848 and again in 1856, to a depth of 2 meters, which required rebuilding the garden and replacing most of its trees. In 1863 an orangery
Orangery
An orangery was a building in the grounds of fashionable residences from the 17th to the 19th centuries and given a classicising architectural form. The orangery was similar to a greenhouse or conservatory...
and animal park were added, and then in 1890 new greenhouse
Greenhouse
A greenhouse is a building in which plants are grown. These structures range in size from small sheds to very large buildings...
s (cold, temperate, and hot) under the direction of Louis Madelin
Louis Madelin
Louis Emile Marie Madelin was a French historian and a Republican Federation deputy for Vosges from 1924 to 1928...
, with the garden's first seed catalog published in 1901. The greenhouses were damaged by bombardments in World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
.
The garden currently contains about 2,000 taxa
Taxon
|thumb|270px|[[African elephants]] form a widely-accepted taxon, the [[genus]] LoxodontaA taxon is a group of organisms, which a taxonomist adjudges to be a unit. Usually a taxon is given a name and a rank, although neither is a requirement...
, organized as follows:
- North - regular parterreParterreA parterre is a formal garden construction on a level surface consisting of planting beds, edged in stone or tightly clipped hedging, and gravel paths arranged to form a pleasing, usually symmetrical pattern. Parterres need not have any flowers at all...
s along an avenue of magnoliaMagnoliaMagnolia is a large genus of about 210 flowering plant species in the subfamily Magnolioideae of the family Magnoliaceae. It is named after French botanist Pierre Magnol....
s, with a pool containing water liliesNymphaeaceaeNymphaeaceae is a family of flowering plants. Members of this family are commonly called water lilies and live in freshwater areas in temperate and tropical climates around the world. The family contains eight genera. There are about 70 species of water lilies around the world. The genus...
and lotusLotus (plant)Lotus identifies various plant taxa:* Nelumbo, a genus of aquatic plants with showy flowers** Nelumbo nucifera, the Sacred or Indian lotus** Nelumbo lutea, the American or Yellow lotus...
; renovated in 1980 to contain theme gardens and a phylogenetic garden.
- East - bulbs, rhizomeRhizomeIn botany and dendrology, a rhizome is a characteristically horizontal stem of a plant that is usually found underground, often sending out roots and shoots from its nodes...
s, and perennials, as well as a garden of plant evolutionEvolutionEvolution is any change across successive generations in the heritable characteristics of biological populations. Evolutionary processes give rise to diversity at every level of biological organisation, including species, individual organisms and molecules such as DNA and proteins.Life on Earth...
.
- South - an excellent arboretumArboretumAn arboretum in a narrow sense is a collection of trees only. Related collections include a fruticetum , and a viticetum, a collection of vines. More commonly, today, an arboretum is a botanical garden containing living collections of woody plants intended at least partly for scientific study...
in the English style, a pond, and a "garden of simples" as in medieval gardens.
- West - heathHeath (habitat)A heath or heathland is a dwarf-shrub habitat found on mainly low quality acidic soils, characterised by open, low growing woody vegetation, often dominated by plants of the Ericaceae. There are some clear differences between heath and moorland...
, bogBogA bog, quagmire or mire is a wetland that accumulates acidic peat, a deposit of dead plant material—often mosses or, in Arctic climates, lichens....
, Mediterranean garden, and alpine garden.
The garden also contains an orangery, exhibition greenhouses, and a small space for animals.