Les Jardins d’Angelique

We were in Normandy recently, on an escorted garden-visiting holiday with The Travel Department, and the first garden we visited was Les Jardin’s d’Angelique which are south-east of Rouen, en route between the airport and our destination hotel in Dieppe. As the title suggests, it was a property of two gardens, one to the front and the other to the rear of a 17th century manor house, of contrasting styles something which I found added interest and variety to the visit. The garden to the rear of the house has a formal layout of heging and roses in what we might describe as Italianate in style. There is a generous forecourt to the house, fronted by a low wall and narrow bed of roses separating it from a lawn. Beyond the lawn is a garden in “the English style”, a romantic woodland garden which features roses. While the rear garden obviously belonged to the house; this second was clearly of a more personal nature and I imagined this was Angelique’s garden.

I approached the garden with a certain emotion, a certain discomfort even and a fear I might be intruding, that this was a personal and private space, one beyond being close to the hearts of the owners. Gloria and Yves Lebellegard had lost their daughter, Angelique, and the garden was made to remember her. I felt it was a garden in which one ought to tread gently and kindly. I expected it to be a special place and it was.

Let’s stay with the house and its formal gardens for a moment. They were impressive and beautiful, well laid out, beautifully planted and immaculately maintained, a perfect match to a beautiful house. Although it was a smallish area, we found we lingered here for quite a while as it had created an atmosphere which was very appealing and because it created such a coherent design with the house, a perfect compliment.

The rear of the house with the formal Italianate gardens where roses flourished within the framework of beautifully designed and maintained hedges:

The garden to the front of the house, what I describe as a woodland rose garden, is entirely in contrast with the formal garden at the rear. Here, all is soft, gentle and romantic without the rigour of the framing hedging but with unhibited exuberance and colour. Various seats are spotted about to tempt the visitor to stop a while, to relax here and to enjoy and appreciate both the atmosphere and the beauty of the flowers. It struck me that Angelique was a dearly loved daughter and that her parents show this beautifully in this very special garden.

Rose-lined vistas draw you into the garden where you wander through the informal layout meeting the most beautiful roses at every turn:

Let’s finish with some of the roses: