Jardins de Valloires, Botanical garden in Argoules, France

Jardins de Valloires covers 8 hectares on the left bank of the Authie valley at Argoules, on a chalk slope with 25 m of relief below the 18th-century Abbaye de Valloires. Gilles Clément designed it from 1987 with Philippe Niez, grouping more than 5,000 plant taxa by colour, resemblance or oddity rather than by species. A French-style garden with rose garden and clipped hedges extends the abbey building; the English jardins des îles hold the botanical collections, with a marsh garden below and the garden of evolution above.

In 1981 nurseryman Jean-Louis Cousin sought a site for his collection of some 3,000 north-Asian and American plant varieties. In 1985 the Picardy region, the Somme department and two joint committees for the Picardy coast agreed to build a garden beside the abbey. Gilles Clément, with Philippe Niez, designed it from 1987; it opened in 1989 after two years of works.

Three roses tied to the site grow in the rose garden: the 'Jardins de Valloires', created by André Eve and named in 1992 by Catherine Deneuve; the 'Rose des Cisterciens', bred by Delbard in 1998 for the 900th anniversary of the Cistercian Order; and the 'Rose of Picardy', raised by David Austin in 2004. The garden also keeps a national collection of Rubus and 98 Viburnum varieties.

The gardens open daily from mid-March to mid-November. The site covers 8 hectares with a 25 m drop across the slope, so paths climb from the marsh garden up to the garden of evolution; allow several hours. The grounds hold the Tourisme et Handicaps label.

The Jardin de l'évolution, a 6,000 m² section opened in 2003, honours the Picardy naturalist Jean-Baptiste de Lamarck and ends in three chambers. The rose garden holds three varieties tied to the site, including the 'Jardins de Valloires' rose, named in 1992 by Catherine Deneuve.