The Luxembourg Gardens have greenhouses that are both a production site for plants to embellish the garden and decorate the palace housing the Senate, and a place for conserving a plant heritage dating back to the 19th century. Its plant collections have always enjoyed a certain reputation in horticultural circles, especially the listed orchid collection, notably for the genus Paphiopedilum. Alongside the prestigious orchid collection, the Luxembourg Gardens greenhouses also house a begonia collection.
Indeed, since they were built, the greenhouses have always been used to grow begonias. The collection currently has about fifty botanical species and roughly as many hybrids. It has been enriched over the years thanks to the valuable help of the Lyon Botanical Garden, the Rochefort Conservatory and the City of Paris – but above all, in the 1970s, by a passionate grower, Mr Claude Ferry. The most remarkable are the caudiciform begonias with very fine caudices: Begonia partita and Begonia suffruticosa. But also a very old rex hybrid, Begonia x ‘Bettina Rothschild’, of exceptional size, and the very famous Begonia x ‘Gloire de Lorraine’. The plants are kept in an automated greenhouse with a temperate climate (15°/25°) and about 60% humidity. They are grown in a light substrate (peat + perlite) in clay pots. They are fed at every watering, as the water is automatically adjusted (pH 5.8) and a nutrient solution added.
Unfortunately for keen amateurs, the greenhouses are not open to the public, in order to conserve and protect the collections. However, group visits can be arranged, and the greenhouses open to the public during the European Heritage Days in September.
Informations pratiques
Boulevard Saint-Michel 75006 Paris
Access: RER B, “Luxembourg” station, or RER C, “Saint-Michel” station
