Jardin des Plantes de Rouen

Scottish banker John Law purchased the garden in 1719, and in 1741, after several other owners, it was opened to the public.

In 1806 Sophie Blanchard made a solo balloon ascension from the grounds, in 1811 Napoleon purchased the garden to establish the Sénatorie de la Seine-Inférieure, and in 1817 Élisa Garnerin parachuted from a balloon launched on the site.

The municipality of Rouen purchased the site in 1832 for its botanical garden, to designs by Désiré Lejeune and construction by Guillaume Dubreuil, which in 1840 opened to the public as the Jardin des Plantes.

Today the garden contains over 5600 plant taxa, representing 600 species, with a notable collection of fuchsias (991 varieties).

The garden also contains statues of local writer Eugène Noël (1816-1899) and a runic stone from Norway placed in 1911.