The French Sun King's Potager du Roi at Versailles organic shift has left it in sick bed, according to The Times of London last November. It is seen by some, said the esteemed newspaper, as a symbol of French decay. Critics say the fruit trees have been allowed to wither, the walls to crumble and the weeds to spread in an affront to the French heritage of symmetrical gardening and impeccable tidiness as it embraces organic methods.
The Château de Versailles, about 20 miles southwest of Paris, surrounded by 800 acres of gardens, was officially opened in May 1682. The 25 acres of the Potager du Roi adjacent to the château took five years, 1678-83, to complete under the guidance of Jean-Baptiste de la Quintinie (1626-88), a reformed lawyer turned master gardener.
Comprising 29 gardens, it transformed a common vegetable patch into something perhaps only French flare and élan could create. But Quintinie was above all a practical gardener. Composting manure heated hot beds to raise the 5,000 asparagus plants so the royal court could enjoy asparagus as early as December. Frames and glass bells protected melons and other tender crops from the rigours of the northern French climate.
Spinach and peas were produced in abundance to satisfy his royal master's desires. More conventionally cultivated were 12,000 fruit trees, especially Louis' prized pears. His favourite figs, all 700 trees, required protection from inclement weather in a figuerie, as did the oranges.
Not that Louis XIV (1643-1715) did not appreciate his talented royal gardener. Disconsolate when he learned of his royal gardener's death, he observed: "Madame, we have had a great loss which we can never repair."
Wes Porter is a horticultural consultant and writer based in Toronto. Wes has over 40 years of experience in both temperate and tropical horticulture from three continents.
