For over 150 years … and for a long time yet.
The gigantic size of the plants and the feeling of well-being that seems to radiate from them gives the impression that the Bambouseraie has always existed. But it came into being through the will of one single man : Eugène Mazel, whose greenhouses in the Bambouseraie still bear his name.
He was a passionate lover of horticulture and natural science ; he started his first plantations on the present Bambouseraie site in 1856, acclimatising exotic species from China, Japan, North America and the Himalayas.
Since 1902, the Nègre family has held in its hands the fate of the Bambouseraie, constantly adding more and more species, then opening the park to the public and developing the plantations. More recently, the Bambouseraie has become a venue where scientists and experts meet, as well as a place to express oneself, resulting in artistic figureheads taking possession in turn of parts of the park. New ideas are formed, new challenges taken up, always with the aim to discovering and sharing which has become a characteristic of the Bambouseraie.
He was a passionate lover of horticulture and natural science ; he started his first plantations on the present Bambouseraie site in 1856, acclimatising exotic species from China, Japan, North America and the Himalayas.
Since 1902, the Nègre family has held in its hands the fate of the Bambouseraie, constantly adding more and more species, then opening the park to the public and developing the plantations. More recently, the Bambouseraie has become a venue where scientists and experts meet, as well as a place to express oneself, resulting in artistic figureheads taking possession in turn of parts of the park. New ideas are formed, new challenges taken up, always with the aim to discovering and sharing which has become a characteristic of the Bambouseraie.
Important dates for the Bambouseraie
Les grandes dates from Bambouseraie :
1856 : Eugène Mazel, a famous botanist, created the exotic garden
1890 : on Eugène Mazel’s death, the garden was taken over by the Crédit Foncier.
1902 : the estate was acquired by Gaston Nègre, a passionate plant lover
1945 : Maurice Nègre, an agricultural engineer, inherited the estate
1953 : park opened to the public ; the film “The Wages of Death” was filmed there
1956 : a heavy frost resulted in the disappearance of large numbers of plantations. The bamboo plants and the trees were the only plants that resisted.
1960 : Janine Nègre continued the work of her deceased husband. In 1977 she handed down the estate to her daughter Muriel, who, with her husband, continued to develop it.
2000 : Year of the Dragon, Erik borja presented the Dragon Valley project.
2004 : Muriel Nègre took over the sole management of the estate and made the Bambouseraie a sharing- and meeting-place.
2005 : the Ministry of Culture granted the Bambouseraie classification as a Remarkable Garden.
2006 : 150th anniversary
2008 : the Bambouseraie was registered as a Historical Monument.
1890 : on Eugène Mazel’s death, the garden was taken over by the Crédit Foncier.
1902 : the estate was acquired by Gaston Nègre, a passionate plant lover
1945 : Maurice Nègre, an agricultural engineer, inherited the estate
1953 : park opened to the public ; the film “The Wages of Death” was filmed there
1956 : a heavy frost resulted in the disappearance of large numbers of plantations. The bamboo plants and the trees were the only plants that resisted.
1960 : Janine Nègre continued the work of her deceased husband. In 1977 she handed down the estate to her daughter Muriel, who, with her husband, continued to develop it.
2000 : Year of the Dragon, Erik borja presented the Dragon Valley project.
2004 : Muriel Nègre took over the sole management of the estate and made the Bambouseraie a sharing- and meeting-place.
2005 : the Ministry of Culture granted the Bambouseraie classification as a Remarkable Garden.
2006 : 150th anniversary
2008 : the Bambouseraie was registered as a Historical Monument.