Parc botanique de La Fosse

Parc de La Fosse (a listed historical monument) is one of France’s oldest arboretums. Thousands of trees and shrubs coming from all over the world were planted around its buildings, from the XVIIIth century onwards. The landscape of this 25-hectares of land on this hillside of the Loir River Valley was reorganised following a plan designed by owner Alexandre-Sébastien Gérard. Seven generations of the same family have kept up the estate and enriched it with rare plants. The flowering of magnolias, cornus, and rhododendrons is spectacular in the spring. In autumn, colours of the Parrotia persica, Nyssa sylvatica, Carya ovata, combine with those of the cyclamens of Naples in the undergrowth. La Fosse boasts very remarkable trees: Cedrus libani (1810), Pinus laricio (1820), Juniperus drupacea (1880), Taxus baccata fastigiata (1825), Cephalotaxus Fortunei (1880)... Along the buildings, Lagerstroemia indica, Ceanothus, Actinidia sinensis and kolomikta grow happily. La Fosse was the first arboretum that became entitled to protection by the Monuments Historiques administration.