Following the success of the gold medal winning L'Occitane Garden at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show last year, L'Occitane is delighted to return to Chelsea once again in 2016 with a new show garden to celebrate its 40th year anniversary, this time bringing to life Haute Provence where the brand was founded in 1976
With the help of award-winning garden designer, James Basson, we are transported to Provence where the brand was created by Olivier Baussan. At 23 years of age, he found a discarded old steam distiller and started producing essential oils from wild rosemary and lavender, which he sold at open- air local markets. The garden presents the edge of a lavender field and looks out onto the rolling hills and stunted woodland of Provence. The plain beyond the garden represents local agriculture with the almond trees typical of this area. A gentle stream runs from a stone hut through the middle of the garden before disappearing under a dry stone bridge. Scent and colour play an important part and add to the sensorial atmosphere of this garden.
Garden Designer, James Basson who has won awards at RHS Chelsea and Hampton Court shows, as well as a Gold medal and a ‘Flowers and Peace’ award at the Gardening World Cup, will be designing the L’Occitane garden. Modelled around Basson’s first-hand experiences in Provence where he has a home, the garden will bring together over 250 different plant varieties specific to the region, with all additional materials also native to the area.
“The garden is inspired by the landscape where L’Occitane founder Olivier Baussan grew up. It includes aspects from the open river plane though to stunted woodland, where the agricultural lavender fields and almond groves coexist with a beautiful natural landscape where hot summers and scarce water leave their imprint.” James Basson
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