Loire Valley château gardens
Parterres, kitchen gardens and vistas from the Loire Valley, including the gardens of Château de Villandry. 24 photos
About this gallery
This gallery centers almost entirely on the gardens of the Château de Villandry, in the Centre-Val de Loire region: wide aerial views spread out the clipped box-hedge parterres and the decorative kitchen garden, where vegetables and flowers form geometric patterns. The canal bordering the estate and the château itself, with its towers, are mirrored in a still pool.
Closer in, the gallery lingers on details: a black-and-white photo isolates the façade and its stonework, while visitors stroll through the kitchen garden with the village rooftops and church spire behind them. Other images move in close on the estate's flowers — blue echinops thistles, pale yellow roses with ruffled petals, pink phlox, begonias — and a grapevine ripening along a pergola.
These images suit articles on gardening or heritage, a travel blog about the Loire Valley, teaching material or a wallpaper. Like the rest of Karl Forterre's work, they can be downloaded for free on Pexels, with no rights to clear.