Alpine Botanical Garden Saussurea

The garden is situated on a high ridge south of Mont Blanc, and contains a rockery, alpine pasture, talus slopes, and wetlands.

Snow covers the area for 8 to 9 months per year, to a depth of 3–4 metres, disappearing in late June.

The garden, which is home to 900 species, brings together the main environments of the Aosta Valley, and in this sense promotes the enhancement of the local botanical heritage, combining it with public enjoyment.

In the first part of the Garden, the rockeries house the botanical species according to the logic of their geographical origin; in the innermost sector there are reconstructions of mountain environments.

The botanical garden was founded in 1984 by the Donzelli, Gilberti and Ferretti Foundation, dedicated to the protection and study of the Mont Blanc flora, with the support of the Autonomous Region of Valle d'Aosta and the State Forestry Corps, but was only inaugurated three years later.