I'm rather proud of this 'stitched together' panorama of the Orangerie garden at the Palace of Versailles near Paris. My camera lens wasn't wide enough angle to show everything, so I used some software to join three pictures seamlessly:


More details at
http://www.homecitrusgrowers.co.uk/citrusplaces/versailles.html

Mike aka Citrange

Wow!!!
Magnifico!

Citrange,
That is one of the better pictures I have ever seen of Versailles ! Thanks for sharing this with us. When you go to Versailles, do they give you a list of the citrus holdings so you can explore those as well as the architecture?
What kind of citrus trees do they have?

Although all the citrus trees are labelled with a numbered tag, I never managed to get hold of a variety list. I e-mailed several times, but got no answer.
However, I know the owners of a French citrus nursery who say they will send me a list when they get back from their current vacation.

Very nice picture! You did a great job putting it together-- the picture gives you a nice sense of perspective that is so difficult to capture in a picture.

I figure if I win the lottery and work real hard I might have a garden like that in 50 -60 years. Great pictures maybe you should go into the photo editing business. If you need more info about the garden you may want to contact member Ineluctable he is a member of the french version of Citrus.forumup in France.

Hi Mike,

as you may know I am allways on tho hunting for Orangeries which are used as their original purpose. Very impressive pictures and nice report. Really a must on my to do list may be I´ve got the opportunity for a visit next season.

As a recommondation (and if it is not to far from your traveling tours) it might be worth to visit




Schloss Schönbrunn , Vienna





Schloss Schwetzingen near Heidelberg

They haven´t the same dimensions like Versaille, but architecture and collection is also interesting.

regards

Mike, you are killing me here. I visited Versailles this past April 29th, but did not get around to the Orangerie. After the hottest and one of the driest Aprils on record, the skies opened up and poured just as I concluded the main palace tour and headed for the gardens. Although I still managed to cover quite a bit of the grounds, I missed the Orangerie. Oh well, at least I will have something new to see next time.

Kent

Andy - thanks for those pictures. I have been to Schönbrunn very many years ago, before I got the citrus bug! Here in England there are many stately homes with orangeries, but very few still grow citrus apart from perhaps one or two pots. I don't know of any significant collections today that were maintained through the World Wars, when heating restrictions didn't allow for growing oranges! Having said that, there is one small orangery that I have not yet visited that is said to contain three orange trees quoted as between 200 and 300 years old. It is Peckover House, north of Cambridge, and on my list for visiting next year. See
http://www.localauthoritypublishing.co.uk/councils/wisbech/peckover.html

SunriseCowboy - I'm looking forward to seeing your future garden. Let me know when it's ready for visitors!

SonomaCitrus - shame you missed it. In fact, most people entering the grounds go straight ahead towards the main vista over the long water. The orangerie is on the left of the main terrace, and at a much lower level, so it's not immediately visible. But it's a very good excuse for a return trip!

Citrange, I've been to Versailles. Did you take the picture from the main terrace of the "castle"?

More or less. To be exact the photos were taken from the second staircase down from the main terrace towards the orangery garden. As I said on the web-page, 'stitching' the images together results in considerable geometric distortion to the foreground.
I've now put the original complete sequence of 5 pictures at
http://www.homecitrusgrowers.co.uk/temp/versaillestemp.html
In the first picture you can just about see people looking down from the main terrace. The last photo shows the lower part of the staircase where I was standing.
Mike.

Hi

for those who are especially interested in Orangeries I recommand the following link to a orangerie-tour.

http://www.historischegaerten.de/Orangerien/exkursion/sk/orangerien/slide1.html

Nice pictures gives your an idea for the next skandinavian visit...




brgds