Jardin botanique pyrénéen de Melles

Melles, France, France

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The Jardin botanique pyrénéen de Melles, also known as A Fleur de Montagne or Ancolie, is a 3,000-square-meter botanical garden in Melles, Haute-Garonne, in southwestern France near the Spanish border, that specializes in plants native to the Pyrenees mountains.

Conceived in 2002 by the Relais des Arts Culture et Nature with a mission to showcase endemic Pyrenean flora, about 100 plant species were planted by early 2003, and the garden first opened to the public in 2005. Today it contains more than 1,200 species of Pyrenean plants arranged in sections representing different mountain environments—sunny areas, shady areas, bogs, rock gardens, and gravel beds—along with a small stream flowing through the landscape.

The garden is situated at 750 meters (about 2,460 feet) altitude on a mountainside in a protected, wild setting at the edge of the village, allowing visitors to discover the richness of Pyrenean flora in its natural alpine context. It is open in the mornings during the warmer months from mid-April onward, and an admission fee is charged to visit this unique mountain garden celebrating the biodiversity of the Pyrenees chain.