The tree with forty écus

In this month of November, we are taking advantage of the slower activity in our gardens to talk about the behind-the-scenes creation of our tree spaces in the park of the Château de Maubreuil.

Our gardeners met Raphaël Benetti, owner of the garden "La Terre Primprenelle" in Ardèche. This park, located on the Crussol plateau in Alboussière, is open all year round from sunrise to sunset. 
It was awarded the "Remarkable Garden" label by the Ministry of Culture in 2012 when it was barely 10 years old and was awarded the national collection of Ginkgo biloba in 2019 by the Conservatoire des Collections Végétales Spécialisées (CCVS), which has set itself the mission of preserving the richness and diversity of the plant heritage by bringing together collectors of wild and cultivated plants, and all those who support them.

This passionate encounter between these gardeners has led to a "fruitful" collaboration which will soon see the light of day in the Château de Maubreuil.
Thus, the estate will soon be the happy repository of rare and atypical plant species from the private collections of La Terre Primprenelle, such as Ginkgo biloba (Ginkgo or tree with 40 shields) and Acer japonica (Japanese maple).

Three Ginkgo biloba trees, also known as 1000-crore trees or silver apricot trees, will be planted near our green tunnels, a weeping Ginkgo will grow near the Balinese bridge and a columnar Ginkgo will adorn the theme gardens.

The last representative of a family that appeared more than 270 million years ago, the Ginkgoaceae family, this tree, which is remarkable from various points of view, can live for more than 1000 years. Native to China, it is often wrongly given the status of a "fossil tree".  Very hardy and undemanding, it can withstand almost anything! 

The Ginkgo is classified as a conifer, despite its deciduous foliage, which bears no resemblance to that of its congeners: the fan-shaped leaves, supple and carried by a long stalk, are bright green in spring and summer, before taking on a sumptuous golden yellow colour in autumn, which has earned it the nicknames of "the 40-crore tree" or "the 1000-crore tree".

Our park will soon welcome these exceptional trees, which will add an extra touch of exoticism, charisma and mystery.