Parc Floral de la Source; a garden in central France

Visit Parc Floral de la Source

The Parc Floral de la Source is a garden close to Orleans in central France.

Explore the Parc Floral de la Source

This garden, which won the best park in France competition in 2003, is lovely. I went to this garden in the spring when there was a fabulous display of Iris both in the garden and in a very imaginative structure where they were displayed nearer head height so that you could get a closer view at the fantastic colours and markings of the iris' on display.

The park is very large with lots of imaginatively laid out beds, a rose garden (below) which wasn't in flower when we went but was underplanted with lots of clumps of chives giving the whole bed spring interest and making me determined to use chives much more in my own garden as they really did look very effective.

Some very large borders at the Parc Floral de la Source were packed with plants waiting to burst into colour in summer and I hope to return to see this in the near future.

The potager was fabulous and staffed with gardeners keen to pass on knowledge and advice, for example chop up leaves of some of your aromatic herbs and scatter around the base of plants susceptible to slugs and snails as they don't like the herbs strong scent.

The garden contains a natural collection of Clematis d'Arnaud Travers, a fern garden, collection of dahlias, iris garden, large 'English style' herbacious borders, tree ferns and an imaginative potager.

The Parc Floral de la Source also has a butterfly house which is kept at tropical temperatures of 25 to 30°C. The plants in the greenhouse form a lovely display of tropical plants including banana palms, orchids and hibiscus and all around fly a wonderful selection of butterflies.

The butterflies originate from South America, Malaysia, the Philippines and Costa Rica and at any one time you can see between fifty and a hundred different species.

The beautiful flamingos are another attraction at the park and these are quite happy to star in your photos!

If you are visiting with children they will also enjoy the small farm and the bird centre as well as the peacocks that wander freely throughout the gardens. There are also climbing frames and a tourist train.

There is also a restautant, a snack bar and a picnic area and there are two Wifi zones in the park.

Parc Floral de la Source garden guide

The garden is open: from mid March to the end of September: every day from 10.00 to 19.00, and from the end of September to the 1st of November: every day from 10.00 to 18.00.

Out of season the park is open for free from 14.00 to 17.00.

The price for adults is 6,50 euros and 6 to 16 year olds 4 euros.

The garden is situated close to Orleans

Address: Parc Floral de la Source, 45072 Orléans