Tag Archive: garden

Winter color

A touch of color during winter. Photo and caption by Eléonore

Lemon balm

This is a picture of melissa officinalis – lemon balm, I took it because when I saw it I thought it was mint so I ate it, but it was not very good… So I looked it up to see if I was going to die or not, and fortunately it is not dangerous for humans! It is actually quite good, it tastes like citronella. Photo and caption by Victoire

Rainwater collection

A student-made project designed to collect rainwater falling from the shed roof. The water then goes into a container, waiting to be used for gardening. Photo and caption by Hélöise

Spring!

This is Daffodil, it seems to be a really strong plant because it grows even in winter and it is very recognizable. I don’t know if it was supposed to be here because it was in the middle of the path but it makes the garden beautiful. Photo and caption by Camille.

Rainwater!

For the opening week course of the Master 2 in Urban Planning at the Université Gustav Eiffel in liaison with professor, researcher and master builder, Vaclac Stransky, the students created a rainwater capture system extending the roof of our garden shed to double the capture volume. They documented their experience in the following photos. Bravo on this fabulous leap forward for the Jardin pontanique and La Mare (the pond).

Garden Visit

I really like the idea of a waterhole because for me water represents
life. Everyone needs water, animal, plants and humans. It’s a place that
brings us all together. And it’s also very intriguing because just by
looking, we never really know what lives inside of the water. So we are
always surprised by what we see inside because we don’t know what
to expect. For example, when we first came to this waterhole, I thought
there were no life inside it’s too small but after few seconds, I saw
different things moving inside and I learned that there is one frog and two
salamanders living in this place. I also really like the engineering aspect of
this hole that is refueled by the rain and that has a tunnel under the grass
to let animals go back and forth without needed to go out.
I touch these big leaves and it is so strange.
It’s really not soft but it is like raw cement. It
feel like a sturdy materiel like it can resist to
every element like the rain, the sun, the wind
without any problems. And the fact that the
flowers or the butternut are below the leaves
they must be very well protected. I also touch
the butternut and it’s so soft. It’s incredible
that in the same plant we can have so much
different texture.
I recognize this plant because my grand mother used to put this flower
in every salad she made and when I was a little boy I didn’t want to
eat them, because il felt like I was stealing them from the bees. The thing
is I have a very bad memory so I’m not quite sure of their name. It is borage.

I took this branch of lavender and I crushed it between my fingers. It
directly smelled so strong and it reminded me my childhood because back
then, every time I went on vacation in the south of France, with my
parents grandparents and sisters we always took lavender, we dried it
and we put it in little bags for our closet back in Paris. So since then I
still have them on my closet. Text and photos by Thomas

Rosemary

At the entrance of the garden, we can see a flowerbed with rosemary. A part of this is in flower. These are beautiful purple flowers and they match perfectly with the forest green of the rosemary. You can have one in your own garden and it doesn’t require too much maintenance. You can eat some sprigs if you want. Text and photo by Erwann.

Squash Leaves


The shape of these leaves spreads out like a trumpet, allowing them to collect water in the center. Additionally, the overlapping leaves cover the surrounding area, providing hiding spots for small creatures. This suggests the presence of a small ecosystem. Among the visitors I observed were crane flies, ants, and bees. Text & Photo by Kaito

Tipula


« A little Tipula who wanted to chill out on a butternut’s leaf. In this position, she looks like a tightrope walker. Because of the thinness of her legs and the vivid green of the leafs, it’s difficult to see her in the first sigh but when we saw it once, we cannot see anything else! » Text and photo by Maxime

Butternut Flowers


Behind the garden, near the old compost, we found those butternut plants, sprinkled with butternut flowers. I believe that those flowers illustrate the richness of the organic world: even the flowers can be turned in a delicious meal. Don’t hesitate to cook them in butternut-flower fritters and you will see. Text and photo by Eugénie