Parcs et Jardins du Château de Bouges

Formal gardens, a cutting garden, a large tropical conservatory, an English park… there is much to discover and lots of marvelling to be done at Bouges. At the end of a 2 km avenue lined with plane trees and two-century old chestnut trees, the castle stands in its XVIIIth century grace. In the immediate vicinity lie the formal gardens, freshly redesigned in the last century, probably by the famous landscape architect Achille Duchêne: box and yew borders are trimmed into cones and a double line of lime trees forms an exterior enclosure.
From the pool a perspective leads to the nympheaum water. In the centre of the lawn a great marble sculpture of Hercules stands.
Close to the castle, the flower garden is organised in two major axis, crossing a circular basin at the centre. A walk around the four central parterres will let you enjoy the variety of fragrances for the flowers, annuals or cut flowers, that everyday adorn the castle rooms.
The many plants prepared for flowering in the garden or inside the castle are looked after under the reproduction greenhouses or covers. The great conservatory hosts a few rare or exotic species. Beyond, the English park spreads over 80 hectares. It was probably created through selection and clearing of an existing forest landscape and harbours in the autumn the most ravishing tones, with the flamboyant colours of liquidambars, tulip trees, beech, berberis and sumas reflect in the pond with a glitter of copper and gold.