At the end of our Botanica boat trip up the Rhine, we were eager to explore the French answer to the Chelsea Flower Show - the Garden Festival at Chaumont.
Chaumont Chateau is just one hour south of Paris on the Loire river - the setting for so many splendid French chateaux. Why so many Australians still flock to Chelsea is beyond comprehension. Gardening is but one form of the decorative outdoor arts and Chaumont encourages painting, sculpture and literature as well as gardening with plants to stimulate the senses.
Twenty-four gardens are created each year within an hornbeam hedge structure to express a theme. This year bio-diversity was the focus. Landscapers and artists from around the world are invited to submit designs which are on display for seven months from April 22 to October 16 so that the MCG-like jostling crowd that destroys all sensitivity at Chelsea is spread over two hundred days, not five. The effect is uplifting particularly when compared to the Harvey Norman-like commercialism of Melbourne’s International Flower and Garden Show.
The park within Chaumont with its view of the Loire river back to the Chateau is a destination for stimulating sculptures and creative expressions. In fact, that is another reason to visit because unlike Chelsea, there are no commercial stands so it is more like visiting an art gallery.
Thirty minutes away is the wonderful decorative vegetable garden of Chateau Villandry and of course surrounding Paris there are as many interesting gardens as there are near London.
It is time for the tyranny and arrogance of the English gardening establishment to be overthrown because Chaumont Festival is a real breath of fresh air!