Grandes Serres du Jardin des Plantes

The large greenhouses of the Jardin des Plantes


View from Greenhouses, "history of plants" and "plants from New Caledonia", iridescent sheen from the structure of the greenhouse. ©G.E.M.	Greenhouse humid tropical forests ©G.E.M.	Greenhouse humid tropical forests Main entrance to the greenhouses ©G.E.M.

A challenge for the national museum of natural history the renovation of greenhouses

During the conference held Monday, January 31, 2011, players in the renovation of greenhouses we have presented and dedicated their book :

" Les grandes serres du Jardin des Plantes. Plantes d'hier et d'ailleurs".

(The large greenhouses of the Jardin des Plantes. Plants from the past and from other countries.)

A table of speakers were :

- Eric Joly Project Manager and Director of the Jardin des Plantes in Paris and the Arboretum Chèvreloup.

- Denis Larpin chief scientist of tropical plant collections of the Department of Botanical and zoological museum.

- Dario de Franceschi, researcher and professor in the Department of Earth History of the National Museum of Natural History.

- Manuel Cohen, a recognized photographer , with his eyes full of curiosity and sensitivity , presented a photographic report throughout the renovation site He was also presented to illustrate the book tonight.

SerresDédicaces

After explaining how this renovation bet was won , they take us on a wonderful meeting with plants from around the world to discover their originality and in these enchanting places the greenhouses.

Four greenhouses are now open :

- la serre des forêts tropicales humides

- la serre des déserts et milieux arides

- la serre de Nouvelle-Calédonie

- la serre de l'histoire des plantes

qui mène jusqu'aux fleurs

SerresCactees

Greenhouse deserts
and drylands ©G.E.M.

Preserve the greenhouses , but also revive the fervor of the great botanists of the past centuries , and feed the phantasms of the gardener, " to grow plants in the ground from other latitudes, " they said we ! But for them we can not talk without mentioning the renovation of historical legacy.

From the XVII th century greenhouses were made of wood and glass.
The first orange trees are fragile plants trying to keep the Royal Garden . To protect them from frost they built what was then called " orangeries ".

The objective then being scientific, it is to acclimatise and maintain plants that naturalists return from their voyages of exploration, thus constituting botanical collections still rare.

The oldest museum greenhouse was built in 1714 by Sébastien Vaillant, it housed a coffee plant sent to King Louis XIV.

Over the years, other greenhouses were built by the stewards of the Garden, with Buffon the most famous of them, who built the tempered greenhouses in 1788.

Early of the XIXth century, building the first large greenhouses of metal and glass in world.
The greenhouse "Philibert" built in 1821 - the warmest greenhouse - is intended to receive the plants from India and from Cayenne.


View greenhouses curved. Engraving from Muséum d'histoire naturelle. Serres chaudes Charles ROHAULT de FLEURY, Paris, 1837. MNHN	Interior view of the high greenhouse ©G.E.M.

Charles Rohault de Fleury, architect of the Museum, built between 1834 and 1836, two high greenhouses in square shape with glass windows. The oriental pavilion contains eucalyptus, dragon, and mimosas. Inside is lined with passiflora and other climbing plants. The occidental Pavilion , called "Pavilion of palm trees" contains bamboos, palm trees, vanilla, sugarcane, banana trees, date trees, arborescent ferns. It features a Water Lily Pond. It was then that Edward Maubert put his brush painter in the service of those illustrious botanists who have made the world famous Museum of Natural History.


Achmée epyphite plant, native to tropical forests. Edouard Maubert, Dictionnaire universel d'Histoire naturelle, Charles D'Orbigny. ©G.E.M.	Banana China, Edouard Maubert, Dictionnaire universel d'Histoire naturelle, Charles D'Orbigny ©G.E.M.	Passiflore, native American, Edouard Maubert, Dictionnaire universel d'Histoire naturelle, Charles D'Orbigny. ©G.E.M.

But the Franco-Prussian War in 1871 causing damage to greenhouses , they were restored in 1874.

Winter Gardens
From the second half of XIX century , technical prowess give birth to a new building type the winter garden plants are grown in full ground.

The first was built by Jules André between 1881 and 1889, it will be demolished and rebuilt between 1935 and 1936 by René Berger , chief architect of the Museum.

Dominates then the aesthetic art deco that still characterizes the high Greenhouse. The monumental entrance has pillars luminescent glass paste and low metal grills designed by Raymond Subes ironworker art .


	Greenhouse humid tropical forests structure detail ©G.E.M.		Restored to the identical, the art deco style of the entrance of high greenhouse, built in 1930 by René Berger. ©G.E.M.

In XXth century: the beginning of a major renovation campaign.

Greenhouses of "Charles Rohault de Fleury" (australian Greenhouse, mexican Greenhouse) listed in the inventory of historical monuments in July 1964, were restored in 1980. The coverage of the winter garden built by Rene Berger is rebuilt with reinforced glass. The front building was restored in 1999. Restoration of greenhouses curved is conducted by Paul Chemetov and Borja Huidobro between 1995 and 1997.

In 2005 opened the great building site that leads to today.
Greenhouses completely renovated and refurnished with easy access for visitors with reduced mobility, are open to everyone passionate about plants and garden lovers. They have hosted since June 2, 2010, more than 200,000 visitors. An opportunity to immerse themselves in nature in any season inside elegant buildings, but also to enter the world of botany, to learn about plants and preserve them better.