Fleurs de Cantigny
Step into our spring gardens, blooming this year with French-inspired elegance. The floral displays offer both stand-alone beauty and a symbolic connection between America and France, a bond forever strengthened by the historic events in Normandy 80 years ago. Enjoy the horticultural delights of France at Cantigny, presented in hopeful commemoration of D-Day’s milestone anniversary.
Spring Magnifique
Visitors Center Lawn
The tulip theme on the Visitors Center lawn is Beaujolais™, a nod to the famous wine-producing region of France. Beaujolais wines may be red, white or rosé. These colors are represented in the pink, mauve, white and soft-yellow tulip petals.
French Formality, Fervor, and Fashion
Upper Display Garden
The Typical French garden landscape embraces geometric patterns, hedges, and control of the natural world. See that style in the Upper Display Garden.
Centuries ago, as today, French landscape design was admired and copied across Europe and other parts of the world. At the Palace of Versailles, King Louis XIV used tulips alongside hyacinths and daffodils in the formal hedged gardens. Owning tulips revealed wealth and prominence.
Tulip Splendor
Lower Display Garden
Cantigny horticulturists began the process of creating this tulip display last summer. The bulbs ordered from growers in the Netherlands ensure our gardeners obtain the highest quality and sheer volume of bulbs required for the Lower Display Garden’s expansive beds. More than
20,000 bulbs are planted there.
French Florist Tulips
Octagon Garden
By the end of the 18th century, the French influence and dominance in tulips faded and Holland
became the center of tulip breeding and production. The display in the Octagon Garden is of Dutch origin.
Coming Soon: Summer Garden Displays!
Cantigny’s Summer plantings will recall the 17th century fables of Jean de La Fontaine, such as “The Lion in Love” and “Battle of the Two Roosters.” During World War II, celebrating traditional French history and culture was a form of resistance and comfort under Nazi occupation. Cantigny is reintroducing these fables and bringing them to life in the gardens.