Jardins, Jardin 2026 in Paris, the garden and plant fair awaits you, photos

Jardins, Jardin festival marks its 20th anniversary at Parc de la Villa Windsor, in the Bois de Boulogne in Paris’s 16th arrondissement. The 2026 edition opened its doors on May 28 and runs through May 31, 2026. Here’s a preview of the gardens and stands that await gardening and plant enthusiasts this year.

The Jardins, Jardin festival opened its doors this Wednesday, May 28, 2026, at the Villa Windsor, tucked away in the heart of the Bois de Boulogne in the 16th arrondissement of Paris. For this 20th edition, we’ve laced up our walking shoes and bring you our first impressions, with photos to back it up.

Jardins, Jardin 2026: what exactly is this festival all about?

For twenty years, Jardins, Jardin has brought together every spring plant enthusiasts, landscapers, horticulture professionals and casual wanderers around a unifying theme. This year the festival clearly positions itself as an open-air campus, at the crossroads of life sciences and citizen practices. The idea: move beyond inspiration and actually take concrete steps for urban biodiversity. Stéphane Marie, garden presenter and ambassador of this anniversary edition, puts it plainly: the garden today is the art of guiding plant life rather than trying to master it. A philosophy that you could feel from the entrance, with landscape installations that willingly leave space for living things and the unexpected.

What can visitors see and try out on site?

The big novelty for 2026 is already visible as you enter the park: BioGée, the federation that brings together the National Museum of Natural History and other scientific institutions, occupies a 100 m² garden designed with landscape architect Pierre-Alexandre Risser. The result is a kind of plant manifesto, balancing endemic species with best practices for urban biodiversity.

On the nursery and creator stalls, the plant, flower, and garden-art market lives up to its reputation: you’ll come across varieties you won’t find just anywhere, and the temptation is real. For families, the cyanotype, embroidery, and naturalist drawing workshops are well established and accessible from a very young age. Hortum in Bibliotheca’s bookstore will delight curious visitors with a sharp selection centered on gardening and living things.

Which gardens are must-sees at Jardins, Jardin 2026?

This is clearly the heart of the fair: around thirty landscape design projects by professionals, spread across grand pop-up gardens, small urban gardens, balconies and vegetable plots. Here are the creations that particularly caught our eye.

Hortus Maximus (Les Jardins de Gally) is arguably the most daring of the bunch. The concept: vegetation pushed to the extreme, from basement to canopy, so wellbeing and biodiversity sit at the heart of the city. An intentionally lush, almost utopian garden that invites us to rethink urban spaces on a grand scale.
Bienvenue en Provence ! (Sylvère Fournier) is guaranteed to be a sensory journey. Olives trees, cypresses, rough-hewn stone, an aerial channel, a contemporary basin… a reinvented Provence with a deconstructed geometry that blends tradition and modernity. You almost feel there, except for the crickets.
Symbiose (Fédération BioGée / Horticulture et Jardins) is probably the most educational garden of the exhibition. It tells the silent collaboration between soil, mycorrhizae, trees and micro‑organisms: an invitation to understand that beneath our feet lies a fragile world deeply linked to us.
Au-delà du regard (Unep / Lorge Paysage) is the most poetic garden. Mirrors integrated as compositional elements multiply volumes, extend lines and blur reference points, while a transparent cabin at the center disappears from the outside and reveals everything from the inside. A rain garden threads through the whole, reminding us that water knows no borders.
La Scène de Théâtre (Captain Vegetal) plays on a two‑act contrast: on the front, a neatly controlled, French formal garden; on the back, a lush backstage where plants tangle together and wildlife finds shelter. A real question posed to visitors: why equate control with beauty?
Echo (Prévosteau Paysagistes) explores the physical and visual limits of the urban garden, with plays on reflections, illusions and spontaneous greenery. Synfolia au pays de la biodiversité presents a living ecosystem with an experimental technosol and insect hotels. The Jardin Thérapeutique (Capsel / École du Breuil) is destined after the event for a health facility, giving it a poignantly human dimension. Finally, the Canopée urbaine des Pépinières Imbert, conceived as a modular cool‑spot, directly tackles city heat and drought.

Conferences and activities

Yes, the lineup is packed. Highlights include the French Botanical Society's talks on the medieval garden, a biodiversity mural marking the launch of the brand-new Fresque des jardins, and science on stage with Marc-André Selosse exploring biodiversity as a form of humanism. The International Council for Biodiversity and Real Estate (CIBI) is also unveiling its CIBI – Biodiversity of the Urban Garden Award, a first for 2026. The full conference schedule is available at jardinsjardin.com.

Food and drink: what’s on the menu at Jardins, Jardin?

The Orangery offers a bistro-style setup, a food-truck lineup featuring banh mi, and even waffles from the Gally Farm—your meals are waiting.

Our take on Jardins, Jardin 2026

We spent a wonderful morning in this genuinely pleasant setting, between the shade of the Bois de Boulogne and the bustle of the stands. The blend between scientific approach, plant craftsmanship and the general public works well, and there’s clearly plenty to do for a half day without getting bored. We especially recommend the workshops for children and the stroll through the landscaped gardens, which we found particularly successful this year. Who is it for? Garden enthusiasts, families with kids, landscape professionals, and anyone looking for a green moment just a stone’s throw from Paris.

The Plant and Garden Fair opens from Thursday 28 to Sunday 31 May 2026, with hours to be confirmed at jardinsjardin.com. To get there, Line 1 of the metro (stations Les Sablons or Pont de Neuilly) is the most convenient, with a bus running from Place de l'Étoile straight to the park. Admission is €15 for adults, free for under-12s and job seekers, and €7.50 for ages 12–18.

So, are we going green?

The Plant Festivals, Markets, and Gardens of Paris and Île-de-France in 2026
Attention plant and garden enthusiasts! Explore the can't-miss events for gardening lovers and garden admirers alike. From plant festivals and sales to special tours and exclusive garden openings, discover what's planned throughout 2026 to welcome the upcoming sunny days. [Read more]