Discover three of the most magical gardens in this corner of France. All within easy reach of Evian Les Bains and Lake Geneva.
Casting the spell
Magic! A word that’s been in our vocabularies since the dawn of time. Magic is intriguing and mystical, an indefinable thing that turns the ordinary into the extraordinary.
Who wouldn’t like a little extra magic in their lives?
The magic of a garden
In this modern world, there’s something truly magical about a garden. Yes, gardens are great for BBQs. Great for the kids to play in, and to hang out the washing on a good day. But they’re also so much more than that.
They can be places of peace and tranquillity, delicate beauty, and relaxation. A place to recharge your batteries.
Just what turns a garden from a functional outdoor space with the odd herbaceous border and a patio plant into a place of wonder, enchantment, and delight?
What makes a magical garden?
A patchwork of colour, a portion of mystery, a pinch of timelessness but above all a sprinkle of creative genius.
The best gardens create a sense of connection. A connection not only to nature but to history itself. Like a tapestry, a garden weaves a story around its position, its layout, and the plants that are nurtured there.
Here are three of my favourites in this little corner of France
The Secret Gardens of Vaulx
The Secret Garden is unique. It transports you to a world of fantasy, jewel-like colours, soft breezes, and fairy tale architecture. Created over 40 years by one man, Alain Moumen, his wife Nicole, and their children. This is an extraordinary place.
Into a different world
This garden sits on the crest of a hill in the rolling countryside between Annecy and Aix Les Bains. There’s nothing at first sight to distinguish the farm buildings that are home to the garden from hundreds of others.
A homemade sign for the ticket office leads you along a short pathway and suddenly you step into another world, a world reminiscent of the Arabian Nights.
A sprinkle of genius
Nothing here is what it seems. Small courtyard gardens are full of cascades of flowering plants. Each is edged with cloistered walks, palisades, cool sitting areas and shaded by soft billowing drapes.
The exotic wooden structures, all created by Alain and Nicole, are sculpted and carved with exquisite Moorish designs. The small rooms that lead off the courtyard gardens are full of honey-coloured country furniture, hand-painted with alpine flowers and fruit.
A garden for artists
This is not a garden for tourists, this is a garden that invites you to share the life of this family, if only briefly, and you can’t help but be enchanted by its intimacy and its sheer genius.
The family is still working on their magnum opus. If you’re lucky Alain will cook you his delicious beignets, accompanied by sweet refreshing mint tea. Pull up a chair by the fountain, beneath the heavy scent of roses and orange blossom, and relax.
| The Secret Garden, 1561 route de Lagnat, Vaulx, Haute Savoie 74150 Tel: +33 4 50 60 53 18Open April – October For full opening hours, entrance fee, and directions see: www.jardins-secrets.com |
The Garden of the 5 Senses at Yvoire
The garden of the 5 senses sits in the heart of the little medieval town of Yvoire, a popular tourist destination on the edge of Lake Geneva. Once part of the grounds of the castle in Yvoire, this small walled garden hosts a series of intriguing spaces devoted to the senses.
A luxuriant maze leads you from one small well-tended area to the next. Here you can touch, smell or even taste some of these often unusual plants.
The garden is a sun-filled haven of peace and quiet. It’s the perfect place to sit and listen to the birdsong and the buzzing of the bees.
The healing properties of plants
The garden has a collection of medicinal plants reputed to heal a variety of complaints. Plants have been used for medicinal purposes since man first walked the earth.
A couple of medicinal plants you might have heard of are the foxglove or Digitalis. Well known for its effect on the heart. Also, the active ingredient in aspirin, Salicin, which comes from the bark of the willow tree. Medieval monasteries and castles often had medicinal gardens and much has been written about the healing properties of plants.
But what about the ‘big magic’?
The upper colonnaded part of this garden has an intriguing collection of ‘Magic Plants’. Here you’ll find some of the plants that have featured large in rituals for centuries. With their often hallucinogenic or mind-altering properties, they’ve played a central role in many mystical practices.
some magical plants you can find in this garden
Alchemilla Mollis is an unassuming little plant that grows in gardens across northern Europe. Moisture collects on the leaves of Alchemilla Mollis where it rolls down to a central point to form a single droplet that shimmers like a diamond.
In the 15th and 16th centuries, alchemists believed that this radiant droplet held not only the elixir of life but could even transform base metal into gold.
This garden also has a Mandrake, Mandragora Officinarum, perhaps one of the strangest of all plants. Used in religious and magical practices for hundreds of years, it’s part of the deadly nightshade family. Its potent root is believed to resemble a man.
When pulled from the ground the root is reputed to emit a high-pitched scream that will kill or drive the hapless gardener mad. To remove a Mandrake from the ground you should attach a black dog to the plant by a long piece of rope. Then you startle the dog who will pull out the root as it runs away.
| The Garden of the 5 Senses, 12 Rue du Lac, 74140 Yvoire Tel: 04 50 72 88 80Open from 15 April – 2 October 2022For full details of opening hours, ticket prices, and workshops see: www.jardins5sens.net |
La Rambierta – a magical alpine garden
Our third garden is an Alpine Garden. It lies on the south-eastern ridge of the Rochers de Naye above Montreux. It’s a complete contrast to the previous gardens, but it’s equally as magical.
The garden sits in the cleft of the mountain, between two blocks of tooth-like rock, at 1980 metres above sea level. The garden itself is a feat of endurance and dedication on the part of the volunteers that tend it.
There’s magic in the air
A Spectacular View
Almost stealing the show, however, is the sensational view from the top. When the weather’s good you can see as far as the Bernese Oberland, Gruyere, the Alpes du Valais, and Mont Blanc.
This beautiful alpine garden winding its way down the mountainside was created in 1896 by Genevan botanist Henri Corrévon. It’s named after Eugène Rambert (1830-1886), professor of French literature, amateur naturalist, and member of the Swiss Alpine Club,
Alpine plants from around the world
The garden has over a thousand different varieties of alpine plants, most of which are native to Switzerland or are from the Alps in general. Some come from other European mountain ranges (Pyrenees, Carpathian, Caucasus). Some from other continents (Asia, North America), and some rare species from the southern hemisphere.
The “Himalayan” rockery hosts a collection of plants from, guess where… the Himalayas and can be found on a part of the north-facing slope.
The first flowers, the primrose yellow of the Primula Auricula, open as soon as the snow melts in May or June. July however, is the best time to visit as many of the flowers are in full bloom.
Among other plants, you can expect to find here are the vivid blue Gentiana and Saxifraga oppositifolia. covers the tumbling rocks in delicate pink flowers.
This garden is well worth the visit, even if only for the MOB cog railway train that runs from Montreux railway station, stopping at Glion, Caux, and Hautes Caux. The train offers spectacular views of the surrounding countryside. You can walk the 400 meters from the top station to the small wooden hut that marks the entrance of the garden.
There is even a tavern, the Buvette de Jaman, halfway up the mountain where the train stops, in case you need a little fortification before heading on up to the top.
| La Rambertia, 1820 Veytaux, Switzerland
Open from June – mid-October For MOB cog railway timetables see: |
All gardens are magical places. If you feel like being a little less ordinary today, why not be inspired by these magnificent natural works of art.
