Serre de la Madone, in the hills above Menton, is a botanical garden created between 1924 and 1939 by Lawrence Johnston, also known for Hidcote garden in England. The estate extends over around 9 hectares of terraces surrounding an old Provençal farmhouse.
What can you discover in the garden?
Johnston acclimatised rare plants brought back from travels in Africa, Asia and America. The collections are incorporated into a design of terraces, ponds, stairways, pergolas and paths that follow the valley's contours.
Today the garden is home to several thousand species and three nationally recognised reference botanical collections. It is listed as a Historic Monument and holds the Jardin remarquable label.
An extra highlight
Serre de la Madone can be appreciated both as a botanical collection and as a work of landscape design. The plants are not simply arranged in educational flowerbeds: they interact with Johnston's structures and the terrain.
What to know before visiting
The ground slopes and includes many stairways and terraces. A visit therefore involves more walking than a flat urban garden.
For plant enthusiasts and garden history lovers alike, it is this combination of botanical acclimatisation and 1920s–1930s landscape design that makes the site valuable.
