05 April 2009

Jardin Exotique - History


This photograph shows you how the various walkways and bridges work - we are walking down from the upper level which is where we entered the garden. These paths go around and downwards, with small paths leading off the main paths. And everywhere the views are spectacular. The building in the photograph is a display room and also where the young plants are propagated.

On the right and below is a succulent called Nolina or Beaucarnea. These are often sold in pots as 'Elephant's Foot' or 'Pony Tail' - here we see how big they can grow.

The Exotic Garden was created at the beginning of the 20th century by the 'Prince Savant' Albert I of Monaco. He was also the founder of the Oceanographic Museum. Designed by Louis Notario, then Head Engineer of public works, the garden has remained practically unchanged since it was opened in 1933 after 20 years of work.

A large number of the plants come from a collection that was started at the beginning of the 19th century in Monaco, hence the enormous size of some of the plants here.

4 comments:

Guy D said...

What a beautiful and unique bridge, great photo.

Cheers!
Guy
Regina In Pictures

Dave-CostaRicaDailyPhoto.com said...

This is a great post. Unique photos and informative. Julie is especially going to love this, with all of the photos she has been showing of the Desert Botanical Gardens in Phoenix and her love of cacti.

Glenda left a comment agreeing with your suggestion on my site that I buy her a better camera with a zoom. Julie privately agreed with me that her mother is not up to using a more complicated camera, however.

glenda said...

Really enjoying these desert cacti and pathways. I've seen that ponytail but in a much smaller version. The large one is pretty amazing. (sounds like my kids are ganging up on me, oh well)

Anonymous said...

We just cannot tell you how breath-takingly beautiful these and the pics below must be in real person! what a treat we had been waiting for pics from the gardens. We thought Pss Grace had started the gardens.

it appears the Prince whom created these gardens must have been quite a fabulous guy don't you think? Not just a taste for beauty but a creative way bringing that beauty accross, it's a real talent.

Must have been a most interesting person to be around. It appears his wife must have underestimated him or possibly misunderstood him?? Because a guy with enough sophistication to recognize and apply beauty like that is a pretty cool guy. don't you suppose so too??

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