Tea at Trianon: The Tulip Trees of the Queen's Grove

John Wilson Croker on Marie-Antoinette

"We have followed the history of Marie Antoinette with the greatest diligence and scrupulosity. We have lived in those times. We have talked with some of her friends and some of her enemies; we have read, certainly not all, but hundreds of the libels written against her; and we have, in short, examined her life with– if we may be allowed to say so of ourselves– something of the accuracy of contemporaries, the diligence of inquirers, and the impartiality of historians, all combined; and we feel it our duty to declare, in as a solemn a manner as literature admits of, our well-matured opinion that every reproach against the morals of the queen was a gross calumny– that she was, as we have said, one of the purest of human beings."

~from History of the Guillotine by John Wilson Croker, 1844

Edmund Burke on Marie-Antoinette

"It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the queen of France, then dauphiness, at Versailles; and surely there never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she had just begun to move in, glittering like a morning star full of life and splendor and joy. Oh, what a revolution....Little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fall upon her, in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honor and of cavaliers! I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards, to avenge even a look which threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone; that of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded...."

~Edmund Burke, October 1790

Saturday, June 22, 2024

The Tulip Trees of the Queen's Grove

They are my favorite tree, too. Our woods in Maryland are full of them. From the Chateau de Versailles:

Created in 1776 to replace the Maze Grove, this ornamental garden bordering the Orangery Parterre was made especially for Queen Marie-Antoinette. The design reflects the taste at the time for landscaped gardens, combining the precision of the French formal layout, which was so popular at the French Court, with the twists and turns of the walks inspired by the new English-style gardens.

The Queen’s Grove deteriorated considerably during the 19th and 20th centuries, and today it is a mere shadow of what it once was. Although it still retains most of its original layout, the walks with their imposing foliage have become commonplace paths and the botanical diversity has gone, giving way to uniform bushes. When the Grove is restored, it will once again have the rich variety of plant life that the Queen knew and the paths will be laid out as they were at that time. The central square will be replanted with Virginia tulips and the access paths will again be bordered with trees and flowering shrubs (eastern redbud, Virginia bird cherry, rowan, etc.). The arbours on the fringes of the grove will be decked with staghorn sumac, white fringe trees and laburnum, etc.

This was Queen Marie-Antoinette’s favourite tree, which she also had planted in her gardens at Trianon. The Virginia tulip tree (Liriodendron tulipifera) is native to the southern and eastern regions of the USA. Introduced into France at the beginning of the 18th century, this majestic tree can live for up to 500 years and usually grows to a height of 40 to 60 metres. It is distinct for its heavily perfumed tulip-shaped flowers and broad leaves, which turn red and gold in autumn. (Read more.)