Gardens in the Loire Valley: summer highlights

Full programme on  www.jardinsvaldeloire.com  

A few highpoints: 

Installation and exhibitions

The Stopover

From 2 June to 8 September, visual artist Pascal Proust’s “stopover” installation at Château d’Angers comprises 500 sculptures representing a bird colony stopping over in the château’s gardens. 

Vilmorin/Villandry – a lineage at the service of the plant world

From 3 June to 18 September, Château de Villandry is hosting an exhibition focusing on the Vilmorin and Carvallo families, both of which contributed in their own way to French excellence in the art of the garden. Among other things, the exhibition sheds light on the scientific and industrial adventure embarked upon by the Vilmorins – a family saga at the service of the plant world. 

Gaston of Orleans, rebel prince and patron of the arts

From 1 July to 15 October, the Royal Château of Blois is acting as the venue for an exhibition devoted to the prince who owned the château in the 17^th century. It includes the outstanding series of paintings on calfskin vellum that he commissioned from Nicolas Robert, and which depict (with extraordinary precision and extreme sumptuousness) the plants and birds of the botanical garden he created at Blois. 

Music & gardens

Saumur

On 1 July, the town of Saumur is inviting visitors on a musical stroll through several of its gardens. The outing comprises visits to 3 (private and public) gardens, each accompanied by a tasting session of local products and a concert. 

The “Brin d’Herbe” Festival

From 19 to 22 July, the Association of Parks and Gardens in the Centre-Val de Loire Region and Orléans Concours International will be organising a one-of-a-kind musical event. The young winners of the “Brin d’Herbe” (Blade of Grass) piano competition will be performing pieces from repertoires dating from between 1900 and 2017, with the Loire Valley’s emblematic gardens as venues: La Source Floral Park, the Royal Château of Amboise, Château de Villandry and Château de Valmer. 

Full programme on  www.jardinsvaldeloire.com