In 2017 we did a small road trip while visiting our colleagues in Italy and France. Almost every stay, the name of Gilles Chaygneaud came up. We were getting more and more curious about him the longer the trip lasted. We were hoping that one day we would be able to meet Mr. Chaygneaud in real life.
On August the 11th, we were getting closer and closer to achieving that dream. We went to meet Florian Henaux, it was almost the last stop, before we would go home. It’s no wonder that there again, the name of Mr. Chaygneaud came up. Florian sees him as his mentor and you can’t talk to him about hybridising without mentioning who teached him everything in the first place. Before we realised it, Florian already arranged for us to meet… we could go on Saturday or Sunday as we saw fit. That’s what we love about going on road trips, there is always the possibility to add an extra halt. That way, we were able to enjoy this additional and unexpected jewel.
It felt like a treasure hunt to find Mr. Chaygneaud’s home, it’s a little bit isolated, but oh so beautiful. As soon as we arrived, we met his lovely wife. Apparently they had a small family dinner planned that day, but we were welcome to visit the garden anyway, how sweet is that! “He’s somewhere in the garden, straight ahead and then to your left, … you might need some boots though….” said his wife.
So we literally took the road to the garden of Eden, surrounded by beautiful trees.
We just saw waterlilies in the mountains, so why not in the midst of the woods? This trip, we were going to see it all, we were curious but prepared for this new adventure.
This green oasis is not just another waterlily garden or nursery, this is a true hidden treasure.
Looking back at the pictures, we still can’t believe this was man-made, it looks more like a natural phenomenon.
How this paradise came to life and who mr. Gilles Chaygneaud really is, … we will try to answer the best we can.
Mr. Gilles Chaygneaud was born in 1945 in Angoulême and studied engineering in Toulouse. This is Mr. Chaygneaud on paper, but most importantly he is an adorable man with a passion for nature and an impressive perseverance.
The fact that he is an adorable person, we were able to experience it ourselves. Even when we came by during a family gathering, he took some time to talk to us and even offered us to eat together with his family.
His passion for nature, does not need any explanation. This is present in the entire garden, this garden is more than a few waterlilies and some ponds. This is an ingenious designed and created green oasis. The way his wife said: “He’s somewhere in the garden, as always :-)” also represents that passion.
And finally that perseverance… just walk and look around in the garden and try to realise that this is made by Mr. Gilles Chaygneaud. This is the achievement of one man and his two hands!
So how did this garden came to exist, except due to his perseverance of course….
The very first pond he ever made was meant for his children to play in the mud. Totally different then what he’s making now, but probably also a little paradise for his children at the time.
Mr. Gilles Chaygneaud started his current garden in 1998 and Met de huidige tuin werd gestart in 1998 and consisted particularly of rare trees, Japanese Acers, Sequoia’s and of course bamboo. At that time mr. Gilles Ghaygneaud had a nursery of bonsai and therefore his intrest in Japanese garden was quite big.
You can feel his love for Japanese gardens also in the balancing rocks throughout the garden. Also the beautiful sculptures of bamboo in the garden give away his passion for Japan…
It’s no wonder that his interest in Japanese gardens, let to a certain interest in ponds. The scenery of his garden was perfect for building ponds. Soon after he build his ponds, het bought aquatic plants, waterlilies and lotus. His interest in waterlilies grew so much, that the amount of waterlelies overtook soon the bonsai.
The garden only exists for 20 years. How mr. Chaygneaud was able to achieve such a wealth of nature is a big mystery to me.
The act he says that digging is a form of active meditation, might explain a little bit.
We suspect balancing stones is also a way of meditation for him… Coming to think of it that some people go sit on a mat to meditate… what if we all did some active meditation, that would make the world definitely a greener place…
In 2006 mr. Chaygneaud bought an adjacent piece of land, more situated in the sun and also less sloping, and thus perfect for growing waterlilies. Mr. Chaygneaud started to build more and more ponds and hence his waterlily collection kept growing. Now, there are more than 150 water features throughout the garden.
Nowadays Mr. Chaygneaud says he doesn’t want to expand his collection anymore, although he’s always happy with every novelty.
We want to share with you the pro’s and con’s of such a garden.
The big advantage of a natural earth bottom pond is that plants can fully develop. Strong growers can grow to their full potential. Nymphaea Escarboucle (the very first waterlily mr. Chaygneaud ever bought) and Nymphaea Sunny Pink are just to examples of waterlilies that grow and flourish to their hearts content. Smaller ones, like Nymphaea helvola, seem to do better in more confined circumstances.
The drawbacks for this kind of pond are more numerous. We instantly thought of all the maintenance, but mr. Gilles Chaygneaud didn’t mention that at all 🙂
Mister Chaygneaud does talk about the lack of water in summertime and the many invasive plants and parasites.
The water in the ponds is a bit acid and very cold, the dirt is not very rich and the ponds stay dry for a long time during summer.
In addition there are a lot of pests that damage the waterlilies, like beetles and caterpillars. We know how that is here in our nursery…
But, at Mr. Chaygneaud’s place they also have coypu and wild boar visiting the premises… that’s a whole other kind of vermin and probably a lot harder to defeat. There are also crayfish that seem to damage the plants, but apparently they are part of the diet of mr. Chaygneaud, so that seems less of a problem.
All these “disadvantages” are the reason that Florian Henaux likes to test his hybrids in these ponds. Florian calls it his ‘crash test’. If his waterlilies can thrive there, they can withstand everything.
The pupil getting even better than his mentor
As said before, Florian Henaux and Gilles Chaygneaud have a very special bond. We asked mr. Chaygneaud how this bond started:
“I’ve got to know Florian in 2009, while I was searching through the list of WGI members in France. I was searching for someone to exchange plants with. Florian only had his pond for about 2 years at that time. Since I had been hybridising for about 4 to 5 years, I passed on the virus to him.
I showed him how to fertilise waterlilies using a feather, how to conserve seeds and how to grow seedlings in a confined environment.
Very soon, he became better than mee and I’m very proud to have some of his beautiful ISG hybrids growing here in my ponds.
I have never been to Florian’s place, but he does visit me every year with amazing friends. He is absolutely my favourit hybrydizer.”
The respect for each other is huge, this not only shows because Florian named a hybrid after Mr. Chaygneaud, but also on how he talks about his mentor…
“It’s almost impossible for me to describe what Gilles means to me.
First of all, he is a friend. Although he lives far away and we don’t see each other that much, it’s always such a pleasure to meet him.
Most people who visit him, do so for his beautiful ponds and garden, his wonderful plants. Me, I visit him for who he is. I love to spend time with him, talk to him about his garden, the plants, the parasites,…
The subjects we can talk about are numerous, well honestly he talks and I listen, he has so much to say, I could listen all day.
Secondly he is my mentor. He has such an amazing experience and knowledge. He knows how to grow, hybridise and identify waterlilies like nobody else. And of course, he is the one that taught me everything about hybridising, I will be grateful for that for the rest of my life.
He is the only hybridizer in France and the only one I can talk to. I also use some of his hybrids to make my own crosses. Nymphaea Dahlia is one of the parents I use quite often for all my double hybrids. His work is as important to me as Perry Dean Slocum is, concerning the DNA of my hybrids. And I am certain that I would not have been able to make my favourit hybrids without him.
Actually he is a fantastic gardener with a filosofie I admire the most. Although I am quite good at making crosses, he is so versatile. He knows about growing waterlilies, but also bamboo, bonsia,… He has an eye for everything that’s green, I can only dream of having his skills.
And he is definitely a natural wonder, at 70 years of age, still digging ponds by hand…
His garden is pure beauty and harmony. He is a man who does not want to control nature, but want’s to whisper to her. He definitely found his spot amongst mother nature.”
As you can see on the pictures, mister Chaygneaud has a lot of pink and red waterlilies. This is not a choice, but for some reason these do best in his ponds and climate. it might be the acidity, but we don’t really know.
This garden is more than a few ponds with waterlilies, this garden is a walk in a beautiful piece of nature, where you could get lost and almost hope to never find your way out again.
His favourites:
Favourite waterlily: The perfect waterlily doesn’t exist for me, I think the beauty of waterlilies is that they are all so different. I found a waterlily succesful when they are able to immediately catch my eye, like: Nymphaea Hidden Violet, Nymphaea Perry’s Orange Sunset, Nymphaea White 1000 Petals
Favourite nurseries: Santonine of Crhistine Verneuil, Jardins de Neptune of Patrick Charlé
Favourite tugardensnen: Latour-Marliac
Favourite hybridizer: Florian, definitely his number 1 and nr 2 Dr. Rober Kirk Strawn
His own hybrids
Gilles also made some hybrids, he all named them after family members. We are lucky that he has such a big family!
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More pictures here.