Balata Garden, Botanical garden near Fort-de-France, Martinique.
Balata Garden is a three-hectare private botanical garden on the Route de Balata, about 10 km north of Fort-de-France, Martinique. It holds roughly 3,000 tropical plant varieties, including 300 types of palm, plus collections of anthuriums, begonias, bromeliads, cycads, heliconias, mahogany and bamboo. A traditional Creole house stands on the grounds, and the garden looks out toward the Pitons du Carbet.
A private gardener established this collection in 1982 on former agricultural land in the area. Public access opened a few years later, transforming the site into a dedicated space for tropical plant conservation and display.
The garden bears the name of the Balata road, and its creator, Jean-Philippe Thoze, laid it out on his grandmother's abandoned family garden. A traditional Creole house stands within the grounds, and the site is classed as a Jardin remarquable.
The garden lies on the Route de Balata, about 10 km north of central Fort-de-France toward Le Morne-Rouge, along the Route de la Trace. It is open daily and charges an admission fee. Paths of flat stone and paving climb a slope between tiered beds, so expect an uphill walk.
The garden holds about 3,000 varieties of tropical plants from around the world, among them some 300 types of palm, plus collections of anthuriums, begonias, bromeliads, cycads, heliconia, mahogany, Musa nana and bamboo. It was laid out from 1982 on the abandoned family garden of Jean-Philippe Thoze's grandmother.
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