Jardin botanique d'Alaije

Brantôme en Périgord, France, France

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The Jardin botanique d'Alaije is a unique botanical garden located at Chemin du Vert Galant in Brantôme en Périgord, Dordogne, in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region of southwestern France.

Founded in 1994 as a collective garden and opened to the public in 1998, it is France's only "jardin botanique d'insertion" (botanical garden for social integration), operated by the ALAIJE association which works in economic and environmental social integration.

The garden contains approximately 800 to 850 plant varieties with a special emphasis on ancient and forgotten vegetables, as well as ornamental, aromatic, and medicinal plants, and is organized into eight thematic sections: medieval garden, vegetable garden, Solanaceae family, square gardens, aromatics, grasses, Cucurbitaceae family, and medicinal plants.

Visitors can explore themed gardens including a "jardin des toxiques" (garden of toxic plants), a turf/mire, medicinal plants, and impressive collections of perennial geraniums and sages, where flowers, vegetables, and fruits coexist harmoniously. The garden is cultivated with complete respect for the environment and biodiversity, using no chemical inputs, with mulching and manual weeding to preserve water and foster a natural ecosystem.