A beautiful edition despite the damage of the storm Ciarán

After record gusts measured at nearly 200 km/hour, Ciarán left its mark on the Breton landscape. Parks, gardens and forests suffered from this storm that passed over Brittany on the night of November 1 to 2, 2023. The areas on the coast are among those that have suffered the most damage. Some have remained closed for several months, such as the Georges Delaselle garden on Batz Island, which just reopened on April 25. Others could only give access to their alleys partially as the Domaine de Trévarez, also in Finistère. A remarkable garden labeled as the Domaine du Kestellic in the Côtes-d'Armor can reopen to the public only from this Sunday, June 2. However, there are still many this year to open their grid to delight your eyes with the colors and shapes of the plant world also suitable to surprise your sense of smell.    

The five senses in the garden as the theme of the 2024 edition

For this 21st edition coordinated by the Ministry of Culture/ Regional Directorate of Cultural Affairs with the assistance of theAssociation parks and gardens of Brittany, "Rendez-vous aux jardins" chooses to awaken our five senses. Sight and smell are not the only senses concerned. Hearing is naturally challenged. Each garden has its own sound footprint generated by the sound of the wind in the foliage. The song of the birds enriches it, sometimes mixed with the sounds of the water when frogs and toads, in full effervescence, do not put theirs. Touch is omnipresent in the garden. Velvety, fluffy, stringy or even stinging or stinging, vegetable surfaces offer you various sensations at your fingertips. In this season the garden also mobilizes the taste, the acidity of rhubarb and the sweetness of strawberries can be at the rendezvous. 

The Breton programme promises some great discoveries:

In the Côtes-d'Armor

Department of Roche-Jagu in Ploëzal
Friday 31 May, 2:30 pm Visit with a gardener of the domain on registration via larochejagu.fr
How to respect the landscape and artistic work imagined for the site by the architect Bertrand Paulet, while adapting it to environmental issues and the cultural offer that the Domaine offers today? This is the challenge that punctuates the team of gardeners of La Roche-Jagu on a daily basis.

Sunday, June 2 at 6 p.m., Musical Walk: Flute, a bird! Peaceful walk listening to birds and flutes of the world with Jean-Luc Thomas and Patrice Delorme
Free (recommended booking).

Chimair-Domaine-de-la-Roche-Jagu

The valley of the Bambous in Plougonver

Saturday and Sunday from 14h00 to 17h00. entry € 10/ € 5 for under 12 years, free for under 5 years.
Located in a charming hamlet in central Brittany, in Plougonver, discover a botanical park of about 8 hectares where exceptional bamboos coexist, some collected by the owner of the place, in Chile and China; but also ferns, trees and shrubs from all over the world, in perfect harmony with the local flora in a protected nature.

© Vallée des Bambous - 2022

In Finistère:

Concerts in the garden at the Trévarez estate in Saint-Goazec

Musical interludes proposed by the Haute Cornouaille School of Music "Korn Boud" come to enchant your walk in the four corners of the park: cello quartet, harpists, pianists and Klezmer orchestra on the program!

Domaine de Trévarez ©Lise Castello CDP29

Visit of Trohanet Park in Langolen

On Saturday, June 1st, a French-Japanese pianist will give two recitals in the castle’s lounge at 3:30 pm and 5 pm (possibility to accommodate thirty people). Free participation.

Ooh garden and rose garden! At the heart of the senses in Berrien

On registration by sms to 06 65 42 31 70 for a visit every hour on Saturday and Sunday from 14 to 18h/ 5 € per person. 

Exceptional opening to the public for an olfactory and musical visit around the roses of Damascus that will begin with the discovery of the perfume of different roses and will continue with the exploration of the music of plants. The explanation of the distillation process, as well as a tasting of products and the discovery of the textures of oils, creams and other creations from the garden will complete the visit.

Damascus roses in the garden of Ooh

In Ille-et-Vilaine

Jardin du Bois Cornillé 17, rue du Château, in Val-d'Izé  The park as a film set:
Saturday 1 June from 16h to 17h30, Sunday 2 June from 17h to 18h30. Adult rate 5€. Historic monument and remarkable garden. Discover the park, a magnificent setting for Gilles Legardinier’s film: Completely burnt out! shot with John Malkovich, Fanny Ardant, Émilie Dequenne and Philippe Bas. With the owner you will learn the history of this place designed for walking in the Belle Époque. And you will discover the many secrets of the shooting, an adventure that lasted three months in spring 2022.

Parc du Bois Cornillé set for the movie "Complètement cramé" ©Ricardo Vaz Palma - Bidibul Productions 

Orcan Wood : Garden of the Fountain of Life and Athanor Park Noyal-sur-Vilaine

For schools, Friday, May 31 from 10am to 3:30pm.
After five years of closure for works at the request of the architect in charge of the restoration, Le Bois Orcan reopened its doors to the public last year for the national event, organized by the Ministry of Culture. Through the discovery of the Medieval Garden of the Fountain of Life and through the senses we grasp the specific qualities of our environment. 
Through a sensitive course, Le Bois Orcan offers students of cycles 1, 2 and 3 to discover the garden and its history.

Orcan Wood © C.Dubrul

Castle and gardens of the Ballue in Bazouges-La-Pérouse

Saturday and Sunday from 10am to 6:30pm 10,50 € adult - 8,50 € for 10-18 years, students and job seekers - free until 10 years. A visit brochure with map is given at the entrance to each visitor. The entrance to the gardens allows free access to the various shows for which dance medieval (musicians of the Ménestraudie and dancers of the Rigourdaine) and contemporary dance (dance company HORS MOTS) will be in the spotlight.

©Château de la Ballue

In the Morbihan

Le Coscro to Lignol

Open from 2pm to 6pm on Saturday 1 June, from 10am to 12pm and from 2pm to 6pm on Sunday 2 June. Adult rate 7€ Free for under 16 years.
Presentation of a garden designed at the beginning of the XVII^e century by a family of Breton parliamentarians
The Coscro, historical monument, updated in the first half of the XVII^e century, presents a spatial organization of buildings and gardens designed with symmetry and perspective in the tradition of the regular garden of this first classical period. Archaeological research conducted on site has helped recreate the gardens visible today. Winner of the 2023 Dassault Histoire et Patrimoine Grand Trophy.

Coscro©owner

Garden of the Hotel de Limur in Vannes Headquarters of the Centre d'interprétation d'architecture et du patrimoine (CIAP) and the Departmental Unit of Architecture and Heritage (UDAP 56). Saturday, June 1st from 8:30 am to 10:30 am come and listen… the birds of the gardens of Limur have so much to tell us! Listen to our hidden neighbors with David Lédan, ornithologist at the Regional Natural Park of the Gulf of Morbihan, and discover their daily life. You can then admire the engravings of Jean-Marie Flageul, representing the birds of the marshes of the Gulf and exhibited in Limur for a very last weekend. In short, an exceptional day under the sign of birds!” Meet us at the CIAP reception, 31 rue Thiers.

Consult the program of appointments at 2024 gardens in Brittany

Do not hesitate to consult the official website to discover events near you that have changed their schedules or that have been created since the publication of this program.