The National Tomato Conservatory

785 varieties of Tomatoes
with many virtues

In the heart of the Loire Valley, the Château de la Bourdaisière has been home to a tomato kitchen garden-conservatory for almost 25 years. At the time, Prince Louis Albert de Broglie had just acquired the estate and began cultivating some thirty varieties of heirloom tomatoes brought back from India and ordered from Kokopelli in Canada and the United States. The man who was just beginning to be known as the “Prince Gardener” took up the game, happily rediscovering the emotions of his childhood and the pleasure of biting into a “real” tomato with its amazing taste. He then decided to create a sanctuary where he would cultivate heirloom tomatoes, making them known and studying them to uncover their medicinal and cosmetic virtues and rediscover their richness.

The collection soon expanded to include many new varieties, thanks to the participation of collectors and botanical gardens from all over the world.

Ten varieties created by breeder Tom Wagner also join the collection (Zebra Robecq, Betty White, Blue Rubies, Sweet Casady, Abracazebra, Wading Deep…). In 1998, the collection was accredited by the CCVS (Conservatoire des Collections végétales spécialisées) and the garden officially became the Conservatoire National de la Tomate. Today, the collection includes over 700 varieties.

Conceived above all as a place of education, the kitchen garden is open to the public from April 1 to November 15, with the first tomato plants planted in mid-May and starting to produce fruit in mid-July. Visitors can stroll through the alleys, discover the hundreds of varieties in all shapes and colors, and chat with gardener Nicolas Toutain.

“The Conservatory combines a scientific approach with an aesthetic, hedonistic one. Dear friends, what is beautiful is noticed, what is understandable by all strikes the eye in a different way! “

Louis Albert de Broglie