Trifter

On the French Riviera, as we approach the border with Italy and reach the magnificent town of Menton, everything seems to be an enchantment. The microclimate and degree of hygrometry allowed here to grow olive-trees and citrus fruits, as from the XVIth century. These two activities were so profitable that they soon became the basis of the local economy until the early years of the XIXth century. Today, Menton grows flowers for their fragrances and sends them to the world-renowned capital of perfume, Grasse, where the air is scented with so many essences. The superb gardens of Menton each year attract thousands of visitors, with their subtropical plants which are the most original heritage of the city.  

Entrance of the Gardens of the Val Rahmeh

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The Botanical Gardens of the Val Rahmeh were created on several levels by Lord Percy Radcliffe, a former Governor of Malta, in 1925. Its botanical aspect was however designed by Miss Campbell in the ’50s. Tropical and subtropical plants originating from Japan, South America were multiplied with a fondness though for edible species like kiwis, banana and avocado trees. Autumn bloom is particularly wonderful and sumptuous, from the orange-red of the hibiscus to the pink and pale yellow of the Brugmansias.  The French Museum of Natural History is the owner of the place since 1966. A very rare tree, the Sophora Toromiro grows here in the garden. It is the mythic tree of Easter Island.  This flowering tree, in the legume family, has totally disappeared in its original biome in the second half of the XXth century. The last indigenous tree would have died in 1962. The great explorer Thor Heyerdahl brought seeds from a single tree in the ’60s. The Sophora Toromiro was first mentioned by Foster in 1774. Before him, James Cook, on his second journey, observed a “mimosa” reaching 3 meters high with a girth of 20 to 30 centimeters. The Sophora Toromiro is being reintroduced in its original environment under the aegis of the Toromiro Management Group created in 1994 gathering the Kew and Göteborg Botanical Gardens. Plants obtained from the seeds were planted on Easter Island in 1995. A curious finger-shaped species of lemon can also be admired and other discoveries are waiting for you in this extraordinary garden of the French Riviera.   

The rare Sophora Toromiro

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A curious species of lemon, citrus medica digitata.

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The elegant alignment of palm-trees.

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The ornamental lake with tarlet nenuphars.

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