The Garden
A garden made
for the love of plants
Across 2,500 m², the garden of Château Catherine brings together plants from many parts of the world, all chosen because the Mediterranean climate suits them. Sixteen tall palms, and many smaller ones, give it its outline.
This coast has always drawn people who loved its light and its plants. Monet painted the pines of Cap d’Antibes; Renoir bought Les Collettes in Cagnes and saved its centuries-old olive trees from being felled; Picasso lived for seven years in Vallauris, a few minutes from here. On Cap Ferrat, nine gardens today surround the villa built by Béatrice Ephrussi de Rothschild, and at Roquebrune, Coco Chanel built La Pausa among old olive trees. Our garden belongs, modestly, to the same tradition.
Born of a love of beautiful plants and flowers, it is cared for constantly, all year round. This guide invites you to walk through it and recognise what grows there.
Corners of the garden
The garden is best discovered on foot: steps, terraces and viewpoints follow one another down the slope, with the sea on the horizon.
The cascade and pond
A small rock cascade and its pond, among the palms and banana plants.
The pergola
A shaded outdoor lounge facing the sea and the bay.
The palm walk
Steps lined with palms climb through the garden.
The paths
Gravel paths wind between pines, palms and planted borders.
Mediterranean trees
They give the garden its outline and its shade. These are the signature species of the coast, the ones you see across the hills of the Côte d’Azur.
Aleppo pine
Pinus halepensisThe pine of Mediterranean shores, found from North Africa to the Côte d’Azur. Its light outline and resin scent define the landscape of the South.
Holm oak
Quercus ilexAn evergreen oak with dark, dense foliage that gives cool shade all year round.
Olive tree
Olea europaeaThe emblem of the Mediterranean. Its silvery leaves catch the light at every hour of the day.
Citrus trees
Scented blossom in spring, bright fruit in winter: citrus trees mark the seasons in the garden.
Orange tree
Citrus sinensisWhite, intensely scented blossom, then fruit that colours the garden in the middle of winter.
Lemon tree
Citrus limonIt flowers and fruits almost all year round in the Riviera climate.
Calamondin
Citrus × microcarpaA small, very decorative citrus covered in miniature, sharp-tasting fruit.
Buddha’s hand
Citrus medica var. sarcodactylisA rare citron named for the striking shape of its fruit, split into long, fragrant “fingers”.
Ornamental trees
Many ornamental trees complete the garden: magnolia, fig, cypress, thuja and mimosa.
Magnolia
MagnoliaLarge creamy-white flowers with a lemony scent, set against glossy leaves.
Fig tree
Ficus caricaBroad, lobed leaves and sun-ripened fruit at the end of summer.
Cypress
CupressusTheir slender outline and bright green give the garden its rhythm.
Mimosa
Acacia dealbataThe favourite tree of the Côte d’Azur: golden blossom in the middle of winter.
Climbing plants
Flowering and fragrant, they are the ornament of the garden, covering walls, pergolas and fences. Star jasmine comes from Asia; mandevilla and bougainvillea from Central and South America.
Star jasmine
Trachelospermum jasminoidesA mass of white, sweetly scented stars from spring to early summer.
Mandevilla
MandevillaLarge trumpet-shaped flowers that keep coming all through the warm season.
Bougainvillea
BougainvilleaCascades of vivid colour, the emblem of southern gardens.
Palms and exotic plants
Sixteen tall palms and many smaller ones tower over the garden and give it its exotic character. Here are the most remarkable.
California fan palm
Washingtonia filiferaA fan palm native to southern California, Arizona and Mexico.
Mediterranean fan palm
Chamaerops humilisA botanical curiosity: a species native to the Mediterranean basin itself.
Sago palm
Cycas revolutaIt looks like a palm but is not one: it is a gymnosperm from Japan, from a line of plants that already existed in the age of the dinosaurs.
Canary Island date palm
Phoenix canariensisThe great signature palm of the Riviera, with long arching fronds.
Shrubs and hedges
They form the borders and outline the garden, green in every season.
Oleander
Nerium oleanderGenerous flowering all summer, in white, pink, red or yellow.
Cherry laurel
Prunus laurocerasusGrown as a free shrub or clipped into hedges, it forms dense, glossy screens of green.
Variegated euonymus
EuonymusAn evergreen shrub with green and golden-yellow leaves, bright in every season.
Thuja
ThujaClipped into a hedge, it forms a dense evergreen screen.
Banana plants and bamboo
Large leaves and slender canes: the tropical touch of the garden.
Red banana
EnseteSpectacular foliage tinged with purple.
Green banana
MusaHuge soft-green leaves that rustle in the slightest breeze.
Bamboo
BambusoideaeA graphic, living and soothing green curtain.
Garden flowers
Strelitzia, the bird of paradise, owes its name to the shape of its flower, which recalls an exotic bird. Hydrangeas keep it company.
Bird of paradise
Strelitzia reginaeAn orange and blue flower shaped like a bird, of unmatched elegance.
Giant bird of paradise
Strelitzia nicolaiThe monumental version: broad banana-like leaves and white and blue flowers.
Hydrangea
Hydrangea macrophyllaThe garden hydrangea, with generous flower heads, for shaded corners.
Panicle hydrangea
Hydrangea paniculataLarge white panicles that turn pink in late summer.
Garden flowers (continued)
Lavender, cannas, agapanthus and irises carry the flowering from spring through to autumn.
Lavender
LavandulaThe scent of Provence and the blue of summer.
Canna
CannaNative to Central and South America: broad leaves and flamboyant flowers.
Agapanthus
AgapanthusLarge blue or white umbels held above strap-shaped leaves.
Iris
IrisTwo varieties flower in the garden: white irises and blue irises.
Herbs and architectural plants
The garden holds many other plants; these stand out for their scent or their shape.
Rosemary
Salvia rosmarinusThe classic herb of the South, in blue flower from the end of winter.
Yucca
YuccaSword-shaped leaves and tall spikes of ivory bells.
Phormium
PhormiumNew Zealand flax, with long architectural leaves striped white and green.
Seasonal flowers
Throughout the year, seasonal flowers are planted so the garden is always in colour: pansies, impatiens, African daisies, cyclamen and many more.
Pansies
Viola × wittrockianaThe colours of winter and early spring.
Impatiens
ImpatiensContinuous flowering for shaded spots.
African daisy
OsteospermumLarge daisies that open in the sun.
Cyclamen
CyclamenA touch of colour for autumn and winter.
Enjoy the garden
Château Catherine
Vallauris – Golfe-Juan · Côte d’Azur
Some photographs are illustrative: all the plants shown grow in the garden, but they flower at different times of the year. The illustrative photographs listed below come from Wikimedia Commons (commons.wikimedia.org) and are used under the free licences indicated (title — author — licence). All other photographs © Château Catherine.
- Local Orange Variety of Kozan - Kozan Yerli Portakal 04 — Zeynel Cebeci — CC BY-SA 3.0
- Citrus flower 2019-06-13 09-54-06 (C)-PSD — Ermell — CC BY-SA 4.0
- Каламондин DSC 0342 — Сарапулов — CC BY 4.0
- Citrus medica var. sarcodactylis, Phipps Conservatory, 2015-10-13, 02 — Cbaile19 — CC0
- Magnolia grandiflora - flower 2 — Ianaré Sévi — CC BY-SA 3.0
- Ripe fig fruit on tree (Ficus Carica) in Southern France — Stefan Thiesen — CC BY-SA 3.0
- Acacia dealbata flowers (9570486474) — John Tann from Sydney, Australia — CC BY 2.0
- Trachelospermum jasminoides closeup — Macbookair3140 — CC BY 3.0
- Blue wall and flowers in Varadero — Dinkum — CC0
- Flower of Prunus laurocerasus 02 — FrancyDB — CC BY-SA 4.0
- Banane&frwi(h) — Jean-Marie Hullot — CC BY 3.0
- Strelitzia reginae Porto Covo November 2025-2 — Alvesgaspar — CC BY-SA 4.0
- Strelitziaceae Strelitzia nicolai 1 — NasserHalaweh — CC BY-SA 4.0
- Hydrangea macrophylla - Hortensia hydrangea — Raul654 — CC BY-SA 3.0
- Hydrngea paniculata 'Vanille-Fraise' bloeiwijze — Homoarborea — CC0
- Lavandula angustifolia (11) — Laslovarga — CC BY-SA 4.0
- Canna indica Flower — Dolon Prova — CC BY-SA 4.0
- Agapanthus africanus from Ooty India — Navaneeth Krishnan S — CC BY-SA 3.0
- 香根鳶尾 Iris pallida -巴黎植物園 Jardin des Plantes, Paris- (9198184371) + Iris 'Celestial Flame' 02 — 阿橋 HQ / Kor!An (Андрей Корзун) — CC BY-SA 2.0 / CC BY-SA 3.0
- Rosmarinus officinalis kz03 — Krzysztof Ziarnek, Kenraiz — CC BY-SA 4.0
- Flor de pita en Bastavales - Brión - Galiza — Luis Miguel Bugallo Sánchez — CC BY-SA 3.0
- Viola x wittrockiana in bloom — Joselodos — CC0
- Impatiens walleriana 01 — Prenn — CC BY-SA 3.0
- Osteospermum hybrid August 2026-9 — Alvesgaspar — CC BY-SA 4.0
- CyclamenPersicumMill20 — Fanghong — CC BY-SA 3.0