Jardin des Plantes

When the weather is agreeable, a visit to the Jardin des Plantes is a pleasant way to spend an afternoon. This 28-hectare botanic garden houses a natural history museum, a zoo, a botanical school and many specialty gardens. We concentrated on the botanical study beds that cover one hectare and contain more than 10,000 plants that are classified by family.

I was interested in finding familiar plants of the Lurie Garden in the study beds. Paris had experienced a wet spring and many of the beds had not been refreshed. The garden staff was at work in several areas tilling the soil and transplanting from the greenhouses. Identification tags were missing in some of the newly planted beds. But we did manage to find some old friends.

In the section of ornamental grasses, several sedges were blooming. A complimentary speciman found in the Dark Plate is the Carex pennsylvanica (Pennsylvania Sedge.)

Although it was early spring, a single Tradescantia was beginning to open. A stand of Tradescantia 'Concord Grape' (Spiderwort) will bloom in the center of the Light Plate, between the two paths.