18. LA PHYTOTHÈQUE
To mark the anniversary of the Blois School of Landscape's foundation, the Domaine has invited the school and its students to present a project on the theme of collections.
In the beginning, man was fascinated by the plant world around him. Each new discovery was given a new name. But there were soon so many plants that it became common to get them confused: such was the diversity that some were almost identical.
The first solution that botanists found was to conserve and categorise species. They collected one sample of each plant which they put into categories entitled "family", "genus" and "species". Each sample was carefully dried and very often drawn in detail.
Since the aim was to possess the finest specimen, botanists then began to domesticate plants, keeping only the very best. At each new generation, the most promising seeds gave rise to the hardiest plants, and so on and so forth...
The botanist Mendel made the extraordinary discovery of genetics in the late 19th century by revealing the existence of hereditary characters in plants that it has become possible to combine: this is what is known as hybridisation.
Botanists, scientists and researchers alike swiftly became experts in this regard. They selected the specimens they wanted from their large collection of natural plants, crossed them, and waited to see what happened... The young plants were carefully arranged on the shelves of the laboratory, which can be described as a plant library, until, sometimes, leaves would blossom or even an extraordinary flower!
This garden invites you to experience this exhilirating discovery for yourself, just a step away from the natural plants that led to these extraordinary hybridisations.
