Jardins de la Chatonnière, Renaissance garden in Loire Valley, France

Jardins de la Chatonnière is a terraced garden in a valley above the Indre, laid out in thirteen themed plots created between 1995 and 2009 around a Renaissance château with seven towers. A curving tan gravel path crosses mown lawns past a dark metal armillary sphere on a carved grey stone pedestal, with a low balustrade and a pale stone building with a round conical-roofed tower beyond.

The property was transformed after 1995 when Béatrice Gonzalez de Andia y Elio inherited the château from her father and developed the gardens through 2009. This creation extended the estate's ongoing heritage while establishing its identity within French garden traditions.

Each of the thirteen gardens carries a name and a theme, from Élégance and Abondance to Silence and Impertinence, laid out as a route of initiation through the vallon. The Jardin des Sciences, created in 2003, is a checkerboard of 80 squares alternating lawn with medicinal and aromatic herbs used in the Middle Ages. The Jardin de la France, made in 2001, covers six hectares with poppies and cornflowers as a tribute to Touraine.

Visitors can explore the eleven garden sections and terraces throughout the year, with each season displaying different plants and flowers. The varied areas allow you to walk at your own pace and discover the range of botanical collections at leisure.

The garden features chambers made from living willow woven together to form a central maze that visitors can walk through for exploration. Approximately four hundred English roses grow beneath tall linden trees, creating a romantic garden section within the grounds.