Earthly Escapes

We visit a group of stylish contemporary gardens created to offer soothing calm and harmony

We’ve mentioned in the past the notion that gardening lets us create a little piece of Heaven here on Earth. A similar philosophy underpins some very special gardens which flourish in deepest Limousin, with an interesting twist: Les Jardins Sothys draw their inspiration not from ‘the heavens’ but from their brightest star. We call it Sirius but in classical antiquity it was known as ‘Sothis’ – a Goddess symbolising fertility, a precious commodity for any gardener.

Fast-forward to 2007, when Les Jardins Sothys were established in a 4 hectare setting already rich in plant diversity beside Auriac, an unspoilt Corrèze village nestled between the Monts d’Auvergne and the valley of the Dordogne (a UNESCO World Biosphere Reserve). The commune possesses both Terre Saine and Territoire BIO Engagé labels for its commitments to organic farming practices and landscape conservation, and Auriac has been home to generations of the Mas family, whose Sothys natural cosmetic and well-being products enjoy a global reputation.

Roses getting established in l’Escapade Roses

©PhilippePerdereau

It’s hardly surprising, then, that the gardens’ owner, Bernard Mas, decided to explore the relationship between nature and our own well-being as an art de vivre, a conviction which underpins his company’s own products. The resulting collection of intimate spaces has received the Ministère de la Culture’s prestigious ‘Jardin Remarquable’ label and offers visitors a succession of sensory escapes or ‘escapades’. L’Escapade Hydrante, for example, is an area devoted to moisture-loving vegetation, including Alchemelia, angelica, Camelia, Carolina silverbell tree (Halesia carolina), fern, maple, rhododendron and willow plus giant Brazilian rhubarb (Gunnera manicata). Surrounding them are pale limestone pebbles found on the bed of the nearby Dordogne, while the setting is given a touch of theatricality in the form of cooling, zen-like mists.

Mists waft through l’Escapade Hydrante

©PhilippePerdereau

Oriental touches in l’Escapade Japonaise

© CJA Fotografia

By way of a total contrast, stepping into l’Escapade Egyptienne (dedicated, appropriately, to the goddess Sothis) evokes the spirit of a remote desert oasis, with billowing palms beside a shimmering water-filled bassin, while underfoot is a bed of fine sand. On hot, sunny days the palms provide welcome shade, while the water feature recalls those of antiquity which added a cooling element and would often have been stocked with fish. The illusion is intensified by dense, crisply clipped hedges isolating the space from the other gardens.

Step into a Japanese garden

©PennGraphics

One of them, l’Escapade Peau, takes as its theme the skin – in botanical terms, the outer surfaces of the planted species, some of which shed and replace sections of their bark during their natural growth cycle. Among them you’ll find cork oaks, Chinese birches and southern beeches, plus copper-toned Tibetan cherries, dogwoods and snakebark maples. Both Serpentine and Rosalie or Père David’s varieties (Acer davidii) are represented, and are highlyprized for their distinctive striated bark and their vivid autumn foliage displays of fiery oranges and reds. L’Escapade Blanche, on the other hand, contains pure white flowering varieties such as magnolias (both loebnerii and sieboldii) and Wisteria floribunda Alba.

Lush vegetation in l’Escapade Velours

Oriental touches in l’Escapade Japonaise

The sensory journey continues in l’Escapade Velours, where an extravagantly curved granite bench sits among the ‘lamb’s ear’ forms of Stachys lantana (a.k.a. byzantina and olympica), Virginian sumac (Rhus typhinum) and others plus clipped topiary. Nearby is l’Escapade Roses – not a garden exactly but a long walkway bathed in the heady fragrance of thirty or so French and English pink varieties reclining upon an elegant pergola. They include Cornélia (a small-flowered perpetual hybrid musk), Heritage (a Fée des Neiges x Wife of Bath hybrid), Narrow Water (a repeat-flowering semi-double hybrid rambler) and Cuisse de Nymphe Émue (an ancient, strongly-scented double shrub rose also known as Great Maiden’s Blush) plus familiar names like Gertrude Jekyll, Constance Spry and Cardinal de Richelieu.

The oasis-like Escapade Egyptienne

© CJA Fotografia

L’Escapade Senteurs brings further olfactory delights, courtesy of caramel tree (Cercidiphyllum japonicum), North American sweet pepper bush (Clethra alnifolia), honeysuckle, star jasmine (Trachelospermum jasminoides), star or étoilé magnolia (Magnolia stellata), Koreanspice viburnum (Viburnum carlesii) and, of course, more fragrant roses. Finally a hilltop belvedere affords sweeping views across the various garden spaces against a backdrop of the Monts de l’Auvergne. Les Jardins Sothys are fascinating, and bring the kind of contemporary sophistication more typical of the sun-drenched hills of Provence to leafy Limousin, and contain many rare species selected to bring harmony to their beautiful, protected environment. The gardens themselves will also continue to evolve, the focus during the next winter closure period being the courtyard and the terraces, which will receive new plant and shrub plantings for fresh colours and fragrances plus trees to provide shade on hot days, while fountains will add a further cooling touch. One thing not destined to change is the gardens’ family-friendly welcome. www.lesjardinssothys.fr

The sun-soaked Escapade Soleil

©PennGraphics

Ancient mythology & a shining star

Sothys evolved from ‘Sopdet’, a name given by the ancient Egyptians to a particularly dazzling pure white star whose radiance and beauty enchanted them. The ancient Greeks also fell under the spell and knew her as ‘Sothis’. According to legend, one night Saturn encountered the young star and instantly fell in love with her; Venus was jealous, and resolved to take her revenge; the chains stretched by Saturn to attract and embrace Sothys broke; Precipitated from the sky, she disappeared. Saturn’s tears flowed continuously for forty days and forty nights, flooding the earth...

Purely Cosmetic

Recent years have seen new ‘bio’ areas established beside the gardens specifically to produce flower and vegetable varieties destined for the Sothys Beauty Garden range of organic tisanes and cosmetics. The emphasis is on plants which take the relatively high-altitude local climate in their stride, with carrots, cucumbers and pumpkins flourishing alongside chamomiles, elder flowers, mallow flowers and thyme.

From potager to dining table

In addition to the themed botanical gardens a more traditional potager area provides a dependable supply of beans, carrots, chives, courgettes, leeks, radishes, strawberries, tomatoes and aromatic herbs for an elegant on-site restaurant, created in a former barn overlooking a large lake.