Sensuality and Alchemy in Provence .. Garden of the Alchemist

In the charming Provençal village of Eygalieres, in the region of les Alpilles,

Garden of the Alchemist – White Garden Photo © Alice Joyce

I once ventured to a charming country hotel housed in a Renaissance manor, Mas de la Brune, to experience the quietude of early morning, in a place where one is enveloped by the fragrance of Iceberg roses. A gentle breeze causes the tall plumes of miscanthus to brush up against your face as you lose yourself in the sensory delights unfolding along the path of the White Garden, a magically lush oasis in Le Jardin de l’Alchimiste – The Garden of the Alchemist!

Garden in Red – Photo courtesy Jardin de l’Alchimiste

My all too brief stay at Mas de la Brune enabled me to wander in the Alchemist’s Garden whenever I wished, as the gardens are adjacent to the Bed & Breakfast lodgings. Nestled in the bewitchingly blue Alpilles mountains of France, the garden opened to the public in 1999, on a site adjoining Mas de la Brune.  The owners worked with renowned designers Arnaud Maurieres and Eric Ossart to create a uniquely conceived, contemporary gardenscape.

Garden of the Alchemist Red Opening to White Photo © Alice Joyce

Above: Looking through the circular entry to the White Garden from the Garden in Red.

Inspired by the belief that the property’s main building had once been the home of an alchemist,  the garden took shape using symbols, colors, shapes and forms, directing visitors along a trail of discovery. The sensual atmosphere of the garden is experienced after traveling through a narrow labyrinth sculpted into a section of dense hedging. Going forward, one enters a botanical garden of magic plants, serving as a prelude to the Alchemist’s Garden.

Garden of the Alchemist Passageway Photo © Alice Joyce

The ample, open layout of the botanical plantings is intersected by wide aisles, where the species celebrate the esoteric repute of local flora; taking in aphrodisiac qualities, divining rods crafted of hazel branches, nettles, and a botanical assembly from olive trees to apothecary’s roses.

Garden of the Alchemist – Eygalieres Photo © Alice Joyce

Decorative devices employed in the magic plants’ garden include a vine-shrouded arch, spanning the garden at midpoint to provide a pleasing balance. A long rill cut into the ground plane flows silently crosswise, while magic forests – wooded plots with curving paths – bracket the outer boundaries.

A far-reaching row of white curtains stands opposite wreathed fencing of living willow, acting to screen and separate horticultural groupings of magic plants from the mystical garden beyond.

Composed in 3 parts, the Alchemist’s Garden – Le Jardin de l’Alchimiste, proposes a transformative walk through the stages of life – from the early years to mellow adulthood, and finally, to a spiritual state of being. The alchemist’s methods are presented in the enchanting guise of tonal works, i.e. the work in black, in white, and in red. Each area is imbued with an acute materiality. The black garden features a shaded passageway upholstered in leafy shrubbery, transitioning into a space furnished with black mondo grass aligned in pots perched on metal stands. Around the corner, emerald hedges set the stage for a queue of terra cotta planters showcasing fleshy, claret-hued Aeonium arboreum. Entering the luxuriant white garden, a gently twisting path paved in glistening gravel guides you on a course through an overabundance of ‘Iceberg’ roses intermingled with a silvery-striped cultivar of  Miscanthus sinensis.

One more experience must unfold before the unusual garden journey culminates – the satisfying architecture of the Red garden. A fountainhead rises up at the heart of the space, from a water feature shaped like the Star of David. Hue and texture marry in a level expanse of iron-red stones complemented by sections of green turf, while an ordered structure composed of row upon row of red roses radiates outward from the pool’s central star.

Update: I believe this lovely bed & breakfast hotel and its unique garden are no longer open to the public.