Louis XV had a green thumb, in Auteuil!
And also
The tops
Paris, in order to decorate streets, boulevards and roundabouts with flowers, needed greenhouses.
So, the first Parisian "municipal florist" was founded in 1854 in clos Georges, near porte de la Muette (28 000 square metres).
It embellished Paris for 40 years! Then they decided to extend the florist, in 1895. But, here, they had no available place! Damned...
They had to find another place. They finally owned a land located porte d'Auteuil, in a place called fonds des Princes.
In the past, Louis XV created here a botanical garden and even a small castle known as "château du Coq": the king came here incognito, with ladies...
Architect Gabriel raised this small castle, a real country cottage, with 8 rooms with a view on the garden.
In 1968, they built the Paris orbital: greenhouses area was reduced, from 9 to 6 hectares! Now, Paris city bought their flowers in Rungis of Fresnes market...
But the greenhouse is still here, with huge palm-trees, Koi carps and exotic plants! Of course, with the big greenhouse itself raised by Jean-Camille Formigé at the end of the 19th century...