The most spectacular gardens in Switzerland

The sober elegance of the Château combined with the charm of its remarkable gardens make this estate one of the jewels of Swiss heritage.

The sumptuous gardens, unique in Switzerland, enjoy a magnificent view of the Alps, Mont Blanc and the lake and offer a choice destination for lovers of gardens, architecture and art.

In addition to one of the most modern iris collections in Europe with more than 400 different varieties, visitors can admire different spaces constantly renewed through a park of more than 30 hectares.

Between May and October, about 110,000 flowers create a magnificent mosaic of colours between more than 18,000 late tulip bulbs, a collection of peonies and rhododendrons and an impressive rose garden.

History of the gardens

In the fall of 1950, Doreen Bovet, wife of Bernard Bovet de Mestral and mother of the current owner, had a garden planted at the Château. Originally from San Francisco and passionate about irises, it is only natural that she orders five new varieties from Schreiner, a famous Swiss hybridist based in America. 65 years ago, by planting the very first rhizome, Miss California, she brought the Garden to life without imagining that it would become the most important in Europe a few decades later. This is her third project, after two gardens created in the South African veld.

A fine entrepreneur, Doreen inaugurated the first Floralies in 1955, with the idea of subsidizing the costs incurred for the maintenance of the heritage. In a concern for fashion and modernity, the collections are constantly renewed. It may also be that she is fan. Each trip to the United States is then a pretext to buy new varieties, elite rhizomes selected by the most famous hybrids.

For the past ten years or so, the current owner has intensified the development of gardens by creating different distinct spaces in the park and diversifying the collections of flowers: roses, tulips, peonies, rhodendendrons,….