apple tree | The Secret Garden

I am very excited to properly introduce our latest contributor. Géraldine Mahé is the founder and editor of a great french garden, landscape and architecture blog BUD UP. It’s awesome to have a contributor all the way from Paris.

Hermès Rooftop Garden by Géraldine Mahé

The perfumer of the house of Hermès, Jean-Claude Ellena, has a long relationship with gardens. He has chosen four special gardens to inspire the creation of four special perfumes. The first a secret Mediterranean garden hints of orange and fig trees. The second, inspired by a garden on the nile of Egypt smells of roses and mangoes. The third comes from the idea of a garden in India after the monsoon – fresh, lemon-scented and spicy.

The final perfume is inspired by the Hermès garden itself. The garden is located sur le toit – on the roof – of the Hermes head office on rue du Faubourg Saint Honoré in Paris. The perfume reflects the three main trees of this garden, magnolia, pear and apple. In the video below the head gardener Yasmine and Jean-Claude give a little tour of this special space (in French!).

All photographs by Quetin Bertoux, translation by Sophia Kaplan. Be sure to check out BUD UP!

I apologise for the lack of posting lately, but it’s because of good news! I have started an apprenticeship with a florist in Paris. A really good one at that! I cannot believe that my dream of working with plants and flowers in Paris has come true. I feel so incredibly happy. Along with the new job I have also moved into a new apartment which has kept me busy and away from my laptop. Hoping to get back into the rhythm starting now…

This past weekend we went to a friends place in the countryside a couple of hours south of Paris. We cooked yummy food, made a bonfire and just relaxed. As usual I spent a lot of time in the garden – picking flowers, cutting herbs for dinner and collecting walnuts to take back to town. It’s beautiful and calm and just what we needed.

Countryside All photographs by Sophia Kaplan.