At Le Jardin Créatif we offer a range of courses in Horticulture and gardening alongside all of our ‘garden craft’ workshops.

This autumn we have a ‘Basic Botany for Gardeners’ course running over three sessions covering the basics of how plants live and grow, reproduce, carry out photosynthesis and use nutrients, their basic circadian rhythms and the way they respond to the seasons and their environment.

Epidermis through the microscope showing stomatal pores

Aeonium

Dissecting lily flower buds

Bedding plants

This course is aimed at those who have been inspired by their gardens and would like to know more about the fascinating world of plants and how they live. Based on the plant science module of the RHS level 2 courses it is suitable for complete beginners. The basic understanding of how plants work will help you to apply this knowledge in the garden and improve success and understanding of the principles and practices of gardening for flowers, fruits and vegetables.

For further information and booking visit our webpage: BOTANY FOR GARDENERS

Throughout the year we offer courses seasonal  in Pruning of orchard trees, Pruning of ornamental shrubs, Plant Propagation for beginners, Grafting of fruit trees, Winter tree identification, Soil Science, Vegetable growing for beginners, Gardening for beginners. If you would like to be notified when these courses are scheduled please use the contact form below to register interest.

If you are looking for a new hobby, a day out learning a new skill or just something different to do this Autumn we have places left on the following willow sculpture & weaving workshops:

Willow Lanterns: make a unique hanging lantern for your home or garden out of willow and other natural materials; 25th September – This half day workshop is suitable for complete beginners and teaches basic weaving techniques in the process of making an ‘Acorn Lantern’

Willow Bird feeders: make a decorative fat ball bird feeder to keep your garden birds happy this winter; 9th October – This half day workshop is suitable for complete beginners and teaches basic weaving techniques in the process of making your bird feeder.

Willow Stags Head sculpture: Make a life sized Stags Head Sculpture to mount in your home, garden or barn wall. This full day workshop includes a light lunch. We have two sessions with spaces available in October – 9th or 22nd.

Hedgerow Baskets: Make a unique and decorative basket from a range of ‘hedgerow’ materials. This half day workshop also coves basic weaving techniques and is suitable for beginners. 30th October

For more details about all of our current Willow courses and others that we offer which you can request visit our web pages: WILLOW WORKSHOPS or COURSES AND EVENTS (this page includes our full range of scheduled courses)

Asclepias are a genus of herbaceous perennials that originate from North America and are tolerant of heat, drought and cold so perfect for growing here in mid France.

They have many common names including ‘milk weed’ because the stems produce latex and ‘butterfly weed’ because the flowers are nectar rich and loved by butterflies as they help to sustain them through the dry summer months. They also produce copious amounts of pollen and each flower has an unusual mechanism for attaching a pair of pollen sacks to the legs of visiting bees. The flowers are followed by interesting seed pods containing numerous seeds embedded in a silky lining.

At Le Jardin Créatif on our Petite Pépinière we have two varieties; Asclepias ‘Deep Silky Red’ with its bright red/orange flowers and Asclepias incarnata ‘Carmine Rose’ with deep dusky rose flowers that have a vanilla scent.

Did you know that most members of the daisy family (or Compositae) have ‘composite’ flower heads? Each ‘flower’ actually consists of hundreds of tiny flowers squashed together – the inner circle containing the true flowers that contain the reproductive organs (known as the ‘disc florets’) and the outer ring of petal-like structures are actually individual flowers posing as petals (known as ‘ray florets’), these are usually sterile but occasionally you can see the tiny stamen or stigma emerging.

A sunflower is the classic example – each individual disc floret has a single ovary and after pollination, each one develops a hard seed coat with a single seed inside, which you will recognise as sunflower seeds.

The bee in the photograph to the left is busy collecting pollen from the stamens in the open ring of flowers within the sunflower head.

Behind, in the flower to the top left you can see the ring of pistils (the female floral parts)

This Zinnia flower clearly demonstrates a ring of tiny flowers opening, they usually open concentrically, one ring at a time to help avoid self fertilisation and spread the flowering period. The pink false petals (ray florets) around the outside give the appearance of a single flower. Check out the Rudbeckia in the feature image too, see if you can spot the true flowers!

Take a close look at all of your daisies! sometimes you need a magnifying glass – to see this interesting and clever trick of nature.

If you want to find out more about the fascinating world of plants, come along on our botany short course this autumn! here is a link to the course post: Botany for Gardeners

The daisy family has recently been reclassified and is now known as the Asteraceae family and consists of over 1500 genera – see how many you have in your garden!

Fascinating fasciation! Sometimes things go a little wrong when the cells divide (caused by genetic mutation or sometimes physical damage to the growing point, causing several stems to be produced fused together. This fascinating phenomenon is known as ‘Fasciation’ look at these amazing sunflower heads we found at Le Jardin Créatif! See if you can spot any fasciation in your own garden!!