Jardins de Callunes, Botanical garden in Ban-de-Sapt, Vosges, France.
Jardins de Callunes is a four-hectare botanical garden at 550 m altitude in Ban-de-Sapt, Vosges, laid out on the site of a former pink sandstone quarry. Ten landscaped areas are linked by broad lawns and walkways: a pine grove of rhododendrons and azaleas, heather beds, a perennial garden of 180 varieties on 3,000 m², a rock garden, and small pink sandstone cirques. A stream and small mountain lake hold wetland plants.
The garden was decided in 1989 and laid out by landscaper Jacques Couturieux on the site of a landfill that occupied the cavity of an old sandstone quarry. In 1994, 4,000 m³ of topsoil and 900 tonnes of rock were brought in and the pine grove was planted. It opened to the public on 2 June 1996 and won the first prize for gardens of Lorraine that same year.
The garden's name comes from the callune, the heather that dominates its beds, with some 250 varieties of Erica, Calluna and Daboecia. A flower-lined path follows a 1915 military trench across the grounds, and the garden won the first prize for gardens of Lorraine in its opening year, 1996.
The garden lies at 5, Chemin de la Prelle in Ban-de-Sapt, at an altitude of 550 metres on sloping ground, so expect uneven paths and stone steps between the ten areas. It opens daily during the warmer months, from 9:00 am to 7:00 pm, and charges an admission fee. A flowered path follows the line of a 1915 military trench.
The garden maintains 250 varieties of Erica, Calluna, and Daboecia heathers alongside 180 different alpine plants in specialized rock garden sections.
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