The history of the Garden
The Botanical Garden of Deshaies is located on a 7 hectare property, having belonged to the comedian Coluche. He bought the property in 1979.
It is to the previous owner, Guy Blandin, that we owe a few species of rare plants present in the botanical park. Unfortunately, many of these plants disappeared after Hurricane Hugo hit in 1989.
Michel Gaillard, landscape gardener, friend of Coluche, creator of the profession of "interior landscaper" in metropolitan France, and initiator of the union of the same name, had set up a palm tree production nursery in Guadeloupe to supply his Parisian business.
It was on June 19, 1985 that Coluche asked Michel Gaillard to look after and maintain his property in exchange for the use of the land to create his nursery there. Unfortunately, a year later Coluche will die.
Thanks to his knowledge of the property, Michel Gaillard will buy it on October 1, 1991. And will undertake the enormous challenge of transforming it into a botanical garden.
The concrete realization of this 5-hectare floral and animal leisure park was carried out in 14 months, with the participation of 40 employees, all from the town of Deshaies, and trained "on the job" as the project progressed . construction progress. The work was carried out under the direction of Michel GAILLARD, designer, Didier Rousselle, landscape architect, Richard ROUTHIER, and Daniel PUGET.
Today, the park has more than thirty permanent employees, mostly Deshaisiens. The objective seems to have been achieved. The attendance of tourists and residents of Guadeloupe is significant (more than 150,000 visitors in 2022). They appreciate the richness of the plants presented, their development, the quality of the animations, and the maintenance of the site.
