In addition to Victor-Thuillat park, the botanical garden of the Bishopric occupies an excellent location for the observation of plants. Created between 1956 and 1961, then extended in 1990 to occupy 1.3 hectares, the botanical garden is situated at the foot of Saint-Étienne cathedral, making it one of the most beautiful in Europe along with that of Oxford. It features a systematic section where botanical collections are classified by family and a themed garden where plants are grouped according to use, toxicity or regional rarity. Medicinal plants grow alongside aromatic plants, with nectar plants and tinctorial plants nearby. On one of the terraces, five natural environments of the region have been recreated: the oak grove-hornbeam forest, typical of the valleys; the beech grove with holly, a natural forest of acid plateaux; the heath land, characteristic of the Limousin moorland; the wetlands, the land of willow trees; and a sphagnum moss swamp.

A rare eco-system

A sphagnum moss swamp is featured amongst the recreated natural environments of the botanical garden. Characteristic of the high plains of the "Limousin mountains", they are formed in hollows where cold, acidic water with low mineral content enables the development of sphagnum moss and aquatic mosses which then develop into peat. Rare insectivore plants such as sundews, thrive in this environment.

The exchange of seeds is organised for professionals