The Jardin botanique de Gondremer is a private botanical garden

Botanical garden

A botanical garden The terms botanic and botanical, and garden or gardens are used more-or-less interchangeably, although the word botanic is generally reserved for the earlier, more traditional gardens. is a well-tended area displaying a wide range of plants labelled with their botanical names...

 with national collections of rhododendron

Rhododendron

Rhododendron is a genus of over 1 000 species of woody plants in the heath family, most with showy flowers...

s and azalea

Azalea

Azaleas are flowering shrubs comprising two of the eight subgenera of the genus Rhododendron, Pentanthera and Tsutsuji . Azaleas bloom in spring, their flowers often lasting several weeks...

s, kalmia

Kalmia

Kalmia is a genus of about 8 species of evergreen shrubs from 0.2–5 m tall, in the family Ericaceae. They are native to North America and Cuba. They grow in acidic soils, with different species in wet acid bog habitats and dry, sandy soils Kalmia is a genus of about 8 species of evergreen shrubs...

, heathers

Calluna

Calluna vulgaris is the sole species in the genus Calluna in the family Ericaceae. It is a low-growing perennial shrub growing to tall, or rarely to and taller, and is found widely in Europe and Asia Minor on acidic soils in open sunny situations and in moderate shade...

, and Japanese maples, classified as a Jardin Remarquable by the French ministry of culture. It is located several kilometers east of Autrey

Autrey, Vosges

Autrey is a commune in the Vosges department in Lorraine in northeastern France.- Geography :The village lies in the north-western part of the commune, on the right bank of the Mortagne, which forms all of the commune's western and south-western borders....

 and Housseras

Housseras

Housseras is a commune in the Vosges department in Lorraine in northeastern France....

, Vosges

Vosges

Vosges is a French department, named after the local mountain range. It contains the hometown of Joan of Arc, Domrémy.-History:The Vosges department is one of the original 83 departments of France, created on February 9, 1790 during the French Revolution. It was made of territories that had been...

, Lorraine

Lorraine (région)

Lorraine is one of the 27 régions of France. The administrative region has two cities of equal importance, Metz and Nancy. Metz is considered to be the official capital since that is where the regional parliament is situated...

, France, and open at specific periods suitable for the collections; an admission fee is charged.

The garden was begun by Michel and Gisèle Madre in 1974 in a wild and marshy valley, with ponds created for drainage and initial plantings in 1974-1975. Between 1975 and 1990, nearly 2000 plants were introduced, mainly rhododendron

Rhododendron

Rhododendron is a genus of over 1 000 species of woody plants in the heath family, most with showy flowers...

s, azalea

Azalea

Azaleas are flowering shrubs comprising two of the eight subgenera of the genus Rhododendron, Pentanthera and Tsutsuji . Azaleas bloom in spring, their flowers often lasting several weeks...

s, and other Ericaceae

Ericaceae

The Ericaceae, commonly known as the heath or heather family, is a group of mostly calcifuge flowering plants. The family is large, with roughly 4000 species spread across 126 genera, making it the 14th most speciose family of flowering plants...

, and in 1990 the garden expanded into an adjacent forest area with the addition of a botanical trail about 1 km long. In 1998 its collections of rhododendron

Rhododendron

Rhododendron is a genus of over 1 000 species of woody plants in the heath family, most with showy flowers...

s and azalea

Azalea

Azaleas are flowering shrubs comprising two of the eight subgenera of the genus Rhododendron, Pentanthera and Tsutsuji . Azaleas bloom in spring, their flowers often lasting several weeks...

s, kalmia

Kalmia

Kalmia is a genus of about 8 species of evergreen shrubs from 0.2–5 m tall, in the family Ericaceae. They are native to North America and Cuba. They grow in acidic soils, with different species in wet acid bog habitats and dry, sandy soils Kalmia is a genus of about 8 species of evergreen shrubs...

, heathers

Calluna

Calluna vulgaris is the sole species in the genus Calluna in the family Ericaceae. It is a low-growing perennial shrub growing to tall, or rarely to and taller, and is found widely in Europe and Asia Minor on acidic soils in open sunny situations and in moderate shade...

, and Japanese maples were recognized as national collections by the Conservatoire Français des Collections Végétales Spécialisées (CCVS).

Today the garden is divided into a botanical area, in the east, and a naturalistic area in the west. It contains about 4,000 plant taxa

Taxon

|thumb|270px|[[African elephants]] form a widely-accepted taxon, the [[genus]] LoxodontaA taxon is a group of organisms, which a taxonomist adjudges to be a unit. Usually a taxon is given a name and a rank, although neither is a requirement...

 including 650 rhododendron

Rhododendron

Rhododendron is a genus of over 1 000 species of woody plants in the heath family, most with showy flowers...

 species

Species

In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...

, 450 rhododendron

Rhododendron

Rhododendron is a genus of over 1 000 species of woody plants in the heath family, most with showy flowers...

 hybrids, 500 azalea

Azalea

Azaleas are flowering shrubs comprising two of the eight subgenera of the genus Rhododendron, Pentanthera and Tsutsuji . Azaleas bloom in spring, their flowers often lasting several weeks...

 hybrids, 80 Calluna

Calluna

Calluna vulgaris is the sole species in the genus Calluna in the family Ericaceae. It is a low-growing perennial shrub growing to tall, or rarely to and taller, and is found widely in Europe and Asia Minor on acidic soils in open sunny situations and in moderate shade...

, 80 Erica

Erica

Erica ,the heaths or heathers, is a genus of approximately 860 species of flowering plants in the family Ericaceae. The English common names "heath" and "heather" are shared by some closely related genera of similar appearance....

, 40 Kalmia

Kalmia

Kalmia is a genus of about 8 species of evergreen shrubs from 0.2–5 m tall, in the family Ericaceae. They are native to North America and Cuba. They grow in acidic soils, with different species in wet acid bog habitats and dry, sandy soils Kalmia is a genus of about 8 species of evergreen shrubs...

, 35 Pieris

Pieris (plant)

Pieris is a genus of seven species of shrubs in the family Ericaceae, native to mountain regions of eastern and southern Asia, eastern North America and Cuba. Known commonly as andromedas or fetterbushes, they are broad-leaved evergreen shrubs growing to 1–6 m tall and wide...

, 25 Vaccinium

Vaccinium

Vaccinium is a genus of shrubs or dwarf shrubs in the plant Family Ericaceae. The fruit of many species are eaten by humans and some are of commercial importance, including the cranberry, blueberry, bilberry or whortleberry, lingonberry or cowberry, and huckleberry...

, 20 Cassiope

Cassiope

Cassiope is a genus of 9-12 small shrubby species in the family Ericaceae. They are native to the Arctic and north temperate montane regions. Common names, shared with several other similar related genera, include heather and heath....

, 20 Leucothoe

Leucothoe (plant)

Leucothoe is a genus of about 45 species of flowering plants in the family Ericaceae, native to Asia, the Americas and Madagascar.They are shrubs growing to 1-3 m tall, either deciduous or evergreen depending on species. The leaves are alternate, oblong-lanceolate, 2-15 cm long...

, 15 Andromeda

Andromeda

Andromeda may refer to:* Andromeda , a damsel in distress of Greek mythology** Andromeda, also known as Andromeda chained to a rock, a c...

, 15 Phyllodoce

Phyllodoce

Phyllodoce is a small genus of plants which includes the mountainheaths or mountain heathers. These are low matting shrubs with distinctive leaves which roll under themselves so tightly they resemble pine needles. They bear attractive flowers in shades of pink and purple...

, 10 Ledum

Ledum

Ledum is a genus name formerly widely recognised in the family Ericaceae, including 8 species of evergreen shrubs native to cool temperate and subarctic regions of the Northern Hemisphere and commonly known as Labrador Tea....

, and 6 Menziesia

Menziesia

Menziesia is a genus of flowering plant in the family Ericaceae.Species include:* Menziesia ciliicalyx* Menziesia ferruginea - False azalea or Fool's huckleberry* Menziesia multiflora...

. It also contains about 160 varieties of maple

Maple

Acer is a genus of trees or shrubs commonly known as maple.Maples are variously classified in a family of their own, the Aceraceae, or together with the Hippocastanaceae included in the family Sapindaceae. Modern classifications, including the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group system, favour inclusion in...

 trees including 130 cultivar

Cultivar

A cultivar'Cultivar has two meanings as explained under Formal definition. When used in reference to a taxon, the word does not apply to an individual plant but to all those plants sharing the unique characteristics that define the cultivar. is a plant or group of plants selected for desirable...

s of Acer japonicum

Acer japonicum

Acer japonicum is a species of maple native to Japan, on Honshū, Hokkaidō, Kyūshū , and also southern Korea....

and Acer palmatum

Acer palmatum

Acer palmatum, called Japanese Maple or Smooth Japanese Maple is a species of woody plant native to Japan, North Korea, South Korea, China, eastern Mongolia, and southeast Russia. Many different cultivars of this maple have been selected and they are grown worldwide for their attractive leaf...

, 270 types of conifers, and a further 750 varieties of other trees and shrubs, as well as 50 types of vine

Vine

A vine in the narrowest sense is the grapevine , but more generally it can refer to any plant with a growth habit of trailing or scandent, that is to say climbing, stems or runners...

s, and 800 varieties of herbaceous

Herbaceous

A herbaceous plant is a plant that has leaves and stems that die down at the end of the growing season to the soil level. They have no persistent woody stem above ground...

plants.