IT is said that as many as 400 plant species and varieties can be found flowering on January 1st in the garden of La Mortola on the Riviera. The notion of counting them appealed much more than the prospect of burst water pipes at home, so, with a small party of garden aficionados, I set off on a midwinter break. The French Mediterranean coast is not so far away and, being mild and dry with no hint of the dreaded mistral, it seemed much less indulgent than a far-away holiday in the hot sun.
We drove eastwards from Marseilles, enjoying the azure sea and "sky, and a terrain which could be easily renamed the green coast, so plentiful and lush was the evergreen vegetation; gorse pines and olives were soon invaded by Italian cypress, a multitude of palms and acacia, as well as oranges and lemons. Since Renaissance times, gardens have been made here and when Lord Brougham invented the place for Northern Europeans in the l830s, foreigners began to make winter homes and embellish them with gardens.
Our first important garden visit was at Heyeres. Here, on a steep hillside, a series of gardens is being remade and, blended into one exciting municipal garden. The core gardens were made in the l920s by Edith Wharton and the Vicomte de Noailles. In the recreation, the greatest skill and care is being lavished; different areas retain their character as the whole hillside, overlooking a vista of tiled roofs and the church tower, with the blue sea in the distance, is converted to Le Jardin Provencal.
In late December it was an exciting, blend of foliage in every possible tone of green and glaucous grey: arbutus, bay, myrtle acacia, melianthus, rosemary, sage and lavender coronilla mingled beneath tall pines and ilex trees in courtyards and on terraces. Some 20 varieties of rosemary, 15 of phlomis and 25 different cistus will give some idea of the scope of the plant eollection. Red passion flowers climbed up into the cy press trees and bloomed happily for us in the winter sun. Nowhere is there a feeling of being in a public place - rather the atmosphere is one of intimacy and a controlling genius who is expressing not just love but an overwhelming passion in his creation.
There was a different sort of passion evident in the gardens at Villa Ile de France which was made in the early part of this century for the Baroness Ephrussi de Rothschild at Cap Ferrat. Ephrussi's "domain rides the sea like an ocan liner or so she thought. The lady imagined herseIf the captain of a ship and her 35 gardeners worked, energetically dressed as sailors with red pompom berets. From the start she gardened on a grand scale and was determined not to be limited by the stupid laws of nature and common sense".
A whole series of small gardens was formed around the perimeter of the central parterre, lawn, cascades and canal. Everywhere there are breathtaking views of sea and coast and the scent of clipped rosemary and lavender. Off to the east, across Beaulieu Bay, comes the whole dramatic sweep of the mainland, piled in a series of precipitous limestone cliffs rising to a height of nearly 2,000 feet before collapsing in folds of varying pastel shades into Italy.
In Monaco, the Jardin Fxotique clings to a cliff and offers every possible cactus, succulent and agave, some Lip to 30 feet high. Even for those who would never covet a cactus, a visit is a pleasant experience and allows the opportunity to gaze down on a host of roof gardens, none of them particularly exciting. There are no lingering scents here, apart from the all-pervasive smell of money and fur coats, so the discerning traveller will quickly move on.
Just beyond the Italian border, a mere two miles into Italy, is the legendary La Mortula, now renamed Giardino Botanico Hanbury, the greatest of Riviera gardens. On a hill side tumbling" down to the sea, the Hanbu family - English Quakers wh had done rather well in China - started gardening and plant colIecting in the I860s. It is overpowering in atmosphere and in the richness of the collection. The climate and the soil allow the cultivation of an array of rare exotics from all over the world. In the early years, matters of design were uniinportant but a succeeding generation imposed a dramatic central axis down the hillside, with stairways, balustraded landings, grottoes, and pools.
We did nothing so pedantic as counting plants in bloom - there were far too many and too numerous enticing distractions led us off the recommended path to wonder at towering trees and palms. Now administered by the Uyiiversity of Genoa, the place, which extends over 40 acres, presents, in parts a melancholy, neglected air. Conservation is in progress and one feels a little more enthusiasm and effort could be applied, but that is only to carp. La Mortola is a most memorable place and quite the venue for a New-Year outing.
For details of gardens to visit, read Gardens of the French Riviera by Louise Jones, published in Paris by Flammarion. All of the gardens mentioned above are open all year round and this book also gives details of private gardens, some of which can be seen by prior appointment. Michelin produces a gardens map which is useftil, even if it does not list some of the best places: Cart Des P/iis Beaux Jardiris de France. The Eyewitness Travel Guide for Provence and the Cote D'Azur is a very visual guide and lists several gardens.