
苗圃起源与家族经营
法国北部 Hantay 村的一对夫妻, Sandrine 与 Thierry Delabroye, 自上世纪八十年代起在自家土地上打理这片多年生草本花园, 把苗圃直接命名为 Les Vivaces de Sandrine et Thierry. 苗圃坚持小规模手工生产路线, 每一株植物都从种子、扦插或分株开始培育, 在主人的全程看护下长成可以下地定植的健壮苗, 再交到客户手里. 两个人既是经营者, 也是日常浇水、移盆、接待访客的全部人手, 这种家庭作坊式的节奏决定了苗圃一年只在固定的开放日敞开大门, 其他时间闭门专心生产, 苗圃也不提供邮寄服务, 所有植物必须由客户亲自到场挑选并带回.
主打品类与铁筷子选育
苗圃的主打品类是适合法国北部冷凉湿润气候的多年生草本, 选品思路是抗寒耐湿, 在法国各地乃至欧洲大部分地区都能露地越冬, 品类涵盖 Helleborus 铁筷子、Heuchera 矾根、Geum 路边青、Anemone 银莲花、Gillenia、Knautia、Geranium 等常见宿根. 在所有品类里, 苗圃最出名的还是 Helleborus hybridus 杂交铁筷子的选育, Thierry Delabroye 通过人工授粉逐年杂交, 选出色系各异的实生单株, 每一株都不一样, 性状只能现场辨认, 因此苗圃每年二月专门开设铁筷子开放日, 让感兴趣的访客在花期亲临苗圃挑走自己中意的单株, 错过了就只能等下一年.
矾根品种与年度开放日
Heuchera 是苗圃的另一条主线, 除了常见的叶片色调, 苗圃自主筛选的 Heuchera ‘Mega Caramel’ 单株能长到一米高度, 叶片硕大呈焦糖色, 七到十一月抽出奶白色花序, 喜光也能耐半阴, 是花园里少见的大型矾根材料. 类似的自主选育还包括 ‘Dark Secret’, ‘Tiramisu’, ‘Red Lightning’, ‘Citronelle’ 等系列, 都各自对应了不同的叶色与株型偏好. 苗圃的开放日分春秋两段: 春季为四月下旬到六月下旬的连续六个周六下午, 秋季为九月与十月各三个周六下午, 每次都是 14:30 到 18:00 的固定时段, 开放日之外苗圃完全闭门谢客, 把全部精力投入到下一批植物的培育上, 想拿到最新的开放日时间, 订阅苗圃的简讯是最稳妥的方式, 每逢开放日前会发出提醒.
选苗逻辑与种植建议
苗圃的多年生草本全部以法国北部冷凉湿润气候为基准筛选, 这一点直接写进了苗圃自己的介绍里, 也就是说这些植物不是温室里娇生惯养的精品, 而是经得起户外风霜、能稳定复花的地栽型宿根. 在花园里安排位置时, 可以参照苗圃给出的栽培条件: 矾根类喜光或半阴, 土壤保持夏季凉爽湿润; 铁筷子耐阴, 适合林缘或北向花坛; 路边青与银莲花偏好排水良好的开阔地. 由于苗圃坚持现场自取不邮寄, 客户去之前最好提前对照苗圃在线目录与订货单, 把想要的代码 (例如 Heuchera Mega Caramel 的代号 D13) 记下来, 这样到了现场可以直奔目标, 不会在几百株实生苗前挑花了眼.
如何到达苗圃
苗圃位于法国北部 Hantay 镇, 隶属于上法兰西大区北部省, 从里尔向南大约半小时车程, 营业时间严格限定在春秋开放日的下午时段, 不接受预约外的临时到访, 想确认具体日期或路线, 最方便的办法是订阅苗圃简讯或直接参考苗圃站点上挂出的开放日时间表, 一般在每年年初就会把全年的安排贴出来. 对住在欧洲其他地区的园艺爱好者来说, 苗圃也是难得的现场选苗目的地, 春秋两次开放日刚好覆盖大多数多年生草本的最佳观赏与定植期, 一天往返里尔周边即可, 当天挑苗、当天上路、当天回家下地.
Family Nursery Origins
Les Vivaces de Sandrine et Thierry is a small family-run perennial nursery in the village of Hantay in northern France, founded and operated by the husband-and-wife team of Sandrine and Thierry Delabroye. The nursery carries the owners’ first names on its sign and has been producing hardy perennial plants on the same piece of land since 1984, and every plant is grown from seed, cutting or division under the close watch of the owners until it is sturdy enough to be planted out in a customer’s garden. Because the nursery is run by just the two of them, it opens only on scheduled open days throughout the year, and outside of those dates the gates stay closed so the team can focus entirely on propagation; the nursery does not ship plants, every order is picked up in person at the site during an open day.
Hellebore Hybridisation as Core Specialty
The catalogue focuses on cold-hardy perennials that thrive in the cool, damp climate of northern France and survive winters across most of France and Europe, covering Helleborus, Heuchera, Geum, Anemone, Gillenia, Knautia and Geranium with an emphasis on plants that come back year after year without pampering. Among these genera, Helleborus hybridus is the nursery’s signature line: Thierry Delabroye carries out manual crosses year after year and selects unique seedlings in a wide range of colour forms, and because each seedling is distinct, customers have to come in February during the dedicated hellebore open days and choose their plants in flower, anyone who misses the date has to wait for the following February to find the colour they want.
Heuchera Selections and Seasonal Open Days
Heuchera forms the nursery’s other major breeding line, and among the most striking selections is Heuchera ‘Mega Caramel’, a vigorous clone that reaches about one metre in height with large caramel-coloured foliage and creamy-white flower spikes from July into November, happy in sun or partial shade as long as the soil stays cool in summer. Other Delabroye selections in the same genus include ‘Dark Secret’, ‘Tiramisu’, ‘Red Lightning’ and ‘Citronelle’, each picked for a particular leaf colour or habit, and the catalogue also lists other selected Geum, Anemone, Knautia and Iris forms. The nursery runs two open-day seasons each year: from late April through June, the gates are open on six Saturday afternoons from 14:30 to 18:00, and in September and October the same hours apply on three Saturdays per month; outside of these slots the nursery is closed, and the most reliable way to receive the exact dates for each season is to subscribe to the newsletter, which sends out reminders a few days before each open day.
Planting Notes and Site Choices
Because the entire catalogue is screened against the cold, damp winters of northern France, the perennials on offer are field-tested garden plants rather than greenhouse novelties, and for garden placement the nursery’s own cultivation notes give a useful starting point: Heuchera prefers sun or part shade in soil that stays cool and slightly moist through summer; Helleborus tolerates shade and is well suited to woodland edges and north-facing borders; Geum, Anemone and similar sun-loving perennials prefer open ground with good drainage. Since the nursery does not ship, visitors are encouraged to consult the online catalogue and order form before travelling and to note down the codes for the plants they want, such as D13 for Heuchera ‘Mega Caramel’, so that an afternoon at the nursery can be spent efficiently choosing between the seedlings on the bench rather than hunting through the lists.
How to Visit the Nursery
The nursery sits in Hantay, a small town in the Nord department of the Hauts-de-France region, roughly half an hour south of Lille, and the site is only open on the scheduled Saturday afternoons during the spring and autumn open-day seasons, with visits outside those times not accepted. The most reliable way to confirm exact dates and plan a trip is to subscribe to the newsletter or to check the open-day calendar on the official site, which is usually published at the start of each year, and for perennial enthusiasts travelling from elsewhere in Europe the open-day format is part of the appeal: a day trip from Lille or the Channel ports is enough to combine a visit to the benches with a scenic drive through the Flemish countryside, and the autumn dates line up well with planting time for most hardy perennials in temperate gardens.








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