The most famous garden of the island, where lives a wild nature, patiently tamed by the landscape magician Jean-Philippe Thoze.
With more than 3,000 species of plants, Balata is the most famous garden on the island. Tens of thousands of visitors flock there every year to discover the incredible botanical wealth of this garden created from scratch by Jean-Philippe Thoze, a horticulturist and nature lover.
The landscape gardener knows this property well: his grandmother had built a country house in which he stored the plants he brought back from his countless trips and the seeds he found on the spot, in Martinique. In the mid-1980s, Jean-Philippe Thoze had the idea of gathering his collection of plants and seeds in this green setting, which was once entirely covered by the forest, to create a unique garden. In this valley overlooking Fort-de-France, an exuberant and wild tropical nature has flourished freely for centuries. He named this garden Balata, after the neighborhood located north of the city of Fort-de-France, which was once populated by balatas, a tree adored by the Native Americans and now very rare. Begun in 1982 around the family home, the area is constantly being enriched with royal palms, heliconias, hibiscus, bromeliads, ginger flowers, anthuriums and wild orchids.
To complete this visit, the walk “at the top of the botanical garden”, at more than 15 meters high, entirely secured by nets and accessible to all (from 8 years old), offers a breathtaking panorama on the bay of Fort-de-France and the pitons of Carbet.
Members' reviews on JARDIN DE BALATA
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À notre grande surprise et stupeur, l'accès au parc nous été catégoriquement refusé parce que nous étions en habits de cérémonie. Malgré nos instances (Je précise que nous étions prêt à payer comme tout le monde)on nous laissé là plantés pendant une vingtaine de minutes (accueil déserté ) sans se préoccuper de nous. Las d'attendre nous sommes venus aux info ,on a alors répondu d'un ton désinvolte que la responsable était introuvable.Nous avons donc quitté déçus, humiliés les lieux.
Nous avons heureusement en direction du Sud trouvé des sites et des habitations où l'accueil a été des plus charmant.
le cadre , les plantes ainsi que les fleurs sont superbes, et très bien entretenus.
on ne peux que recommander cet endroit.