Large, monumental sculptures set amongst thousands of irises, blooming in every colour imaginable, my idea of heaven!
I hadn’t heard about the Château de Vullierens until a friend posted some pictures on Facebook. It is famous for its irises and in May and June they are blooming in every colour imaginable – all 24,000 of them! There are 400 varieties of irises and it is the largest collection in Europe.
The château itself is not open to the public, it has belonged to the same family for over 700 years. The grounds were opened to the public in 1955 and there are now 86 sculptures by 25 Swiss and International artists set in 30 hectares of gardens. Each year, from May to October, around 110,000 flowers bloom. Apart from irises other flowers include roses, daylilies (The flowers open in the morning and die by night. Each flower stem has, on average, at least a dozen flower buds, so the plant stays in bloom for several weeks.), tulips and hyacinths.
Some of my favourites, from left to right above:
- Silhouette (2018); Markus Graf and Gabriel Mazenauer, Switzerland From a certain angle it looks like someone running.
- Wood (2007-2014); Christian Lapie, France
- Kavex Series (2003-2009); Herbert Mehler, Germany
- God is a Seamstress (2017); Nicole Dufour, Switzerland
- Stones (2018); Pol Quadens, Belgium Made of stainless steel the sculpture is 4.5 metres high.
- Paradigme (2015); Mireille Fulpius, Switzerland
The gardens are open from May to October with varied opening hours. For more detailed information visit their website.
All in all it was a perfect way to spend a sunny Sunday afternoon. We combined it with a visit to Château de Prangins and a short trip to Morges (10 minutes away by car) for a wander by the lake and through the old town.
