Famille de 5 personnes contemplant un massif d'hortensias bleu à la collection ShamrockFamille de 5 personnes contemplant un massif d'hortensias bleu à la collection Shamrock
©Collection Shamrock|Eric Bénard
Shamrock

A collection unlike any other

Here, hydrangeas are the star attraction! Over the course of 35 years, Corinne Mallet and her husband Robert have amassed a collection that is the only one of its kind in the world, in the fabulous garden they created in Varengeville-sur-Mer, near Dieppe.

Species from around the world

The adventure began in the 1980s. The botany-loving couple started collecting various species of hydrangeas which they found on trips to the UK and Ireland. In her search for rare botanical gems, Corinne travelled all over Europe and then Japan and the Americas, seeking out species in their natural habitats.

The Shamrock Collection opened to the public in 1997 and now has more than 1,500 plants from 70 different species, on 2 hectares of land. This world-renowned site has earned the National Collection and Remarkable Garden labels.

Summertime fireworks

Beginning in mid-June, certain species of hydrangeas begin to rear their heads, but it’s only truly between mid-July and mid-August that the garden becomes a series of fireworks in the form of round, flat and climbing clusters, with an incredible colour palette ranging from white to red by way of every shade of blue and purple.

It is designed to be a real decorative garden with its flowerbeds and groves where hydrangeas intermingle with other plants to further enhance their delicacy and provide the blooms with the shade they need to blossom.

A museum

in the open air

Visitors are able to explore two areas. The first takes the form of a maze where the varieties are organized by breeder (the person who created the variety) and by country or part of the world. This arrangement makes it easy to understand the world of hydrangeas and makes the Shamrock Collection a real “living museum”.

The second, wilder area called Dragon Wood is home to woodland species.

With your little guidebook in hand (provided at the entrance), all that’s left to do is let yourself be carried away by the spectacles of colours in harmony, the interplay of shadow and light, and the shady paths where you can take a seat on a bench to revel in the peace and quiet.

  

Annual sale

Plant days in Varengeville

This is an opportunity to buy cuttings, seedlings and seeds from Mr. and Mrs. Mallet, but also from other gardeners in Varengeville and local nurseries.

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