Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The Roseraie du Val-de-Marne was born in 1894 on the initiative of Jules Gravereaus (1844-1916), a businessman passionate about roses. It brings together hundreds of varieties and collaborates with landscaper Édouard André to create a garden entirely dedicated to rose, marking the birth of a new horticultural style. The park, adorned with factories like a chapel and a museum, becomes a model of three-dimensional rose garden, praised for its innovation.

Acquired in 1936 by the Seine department, then transferred to Val-de-Marne in 1968, the rose grove was renamed Roseraie du Val-de-Marne in 1994. Today, it preserves nearly 3,200 varieties, organized into 13 thematic collections (wild roses, gallics, Far East, etc.). In 2005, it was listed in the inventory of historical monuments and labeled a remarkable Garden in 2011.

The renown of the rose garden is such that the commune of L'Haÿ added "les-Roses" to its name in 1914. Jules Gravereaus published an essay on his collections in 1902, and in 1995 the garden received the first Award of Garden Excellence from the World Federation of Rose Societies. Despite recent controversies about nearby real estate projects, the rose garden remains an emblematic place for botanical conservation and landscape art.

Among his treasures are a reconstruction of the collection of Josephine de Beauharnais (roses de la Malmaison), as well as a Temple of Love surrounded by modern French roses. The rose garden has also been recognized since 1991 as a national collection of ancient roses by the Conservatoire des collections plantes spécialisés, highlighting its heritage and scientific role.

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