Gardens in Time: Heritage Gardening Retreats in France

Enjoy a weekend of specialist gardening expertise from Katya Lebedev, owner of the specialist plant nursery Plant d’Avenir and RHS Ivy Cultivar Registrar.  Katya, who is of American and Russian descent, was brought up in France and speaks English, Russian and French. The language of the course, however, will be English!

Visit the Jardins de Gué, with its six specialist gardens and holder of the world’s largest collection of over 600 varieties of Ivies. 

Stay in a delightful 13th century Priory, the home of Paula Dormer for the past nine years and Superhost on Airbnb. Le Prieuré Pressigny sits perched on the edge of a beautiful 10,000 year old river valley in the heart of woods in a beautiful rural corner of Nouvelle Aquitaine close to Poitiers.

• Choose your course from one of six offered in 2026, run by Katya Lebedev, RHS Ivy Cultivar Registrar and Specialist Nursery owner.

• Accommodation, meals and drinks provided, vegans and special dietary requirements catered for.

• Limited to ten participants. Partners not participating in the course are welcome.

• Accommodation visible here www.uniquelyfrench.com

• Plant d’Avenir  www.plantdavenir.com

Book Here

Itinerary

Friday 

Arrive from 4p.m.  Afternoon tea ready to greet you!

Settle into your rooms, meet the other participants, enjoy a swim if weather permits, explore the garden!

7p.m. Dinner with Katya. Coffee and an introduction to the course from Katya.

Saturday

8.30 am Breakfast

9.15 am   Morning session

10.45 am Coffee and biscuits.

12.30 am Lunch break

2pm to 5.30pm Afternoon session

4.30 Tea and cake

7pm Drinks and canapés followed by a four-course dinner.

Sunday

8.30 am Breakfast

9.15 am   Morning session

10.45 am Coffee and biscuits.

12.30 am Lunch break

2pm to 5.30pm Afternoon session

4.30 Tea and cake

7pm Drinks and canapés followed by a four-course dinner.

Monday

8.30am Breakfast

Guests leave after breakfast

Meals are prepared by your hostess, using many of the plants, fruits and herbs grown in the Priory garden or available from Katya’s nursery, Plant d’Avenir.

Book Here

Reviews from the last course in December at Le Prieuré

Thanx dear, darling Paula for your kindness, your magical house, and your wonderful cooking.

Ici, tout est beauté, luxe, calme et volupté.

(Here everything is beautiful, luxurious, calm and pleasurable.)

Merci infiniment pour ton accueil et pour ces merveilleux repas. Nous avons été gâtés!

(Thank you so much for your hospitality and for the wonderful meals. We were spoiled rotten!)

Quelle cuisine merveilleuse Paula, dans vos plats, tantes de saveurs de générosité, d’amour…Nous avons reçu un séjour juste parfait, de plus profond de notre coeur, un immense Merci.

(Paula, what wonderful cooking. Your dishes are bursting with flavour, generosity and love…we had a truly perfect stay. From the bottom of our hearts, a huge thank you!)

Courses and Dates

Friday March 20th to Monday March 23rd.

Gardening Through the Seasons

Learn how to organise a garden that flowers in waves, so that your garden moves from a soft spring flowering to the exuberant summer colors, into the dramatic colors of fall and even a delicate winter interest. We’ll learn about each plant’s rhythm and needs, how to choose plants for your soil and exposure, so that you can bring year-round color and life to your home, however large or small your garden, terrace or window box.

Friday April 24th to Monday April 27th.

Textures and Colours in the Garden

Plants come in all colors, shapes, textures and sizes. The ability to combine them to create a landscape, a mood, a secret garden requires imagination, some creativity, an understanding of each plant’s needs as well as some patience! Learn how to paint with the colors and textures of our plants, how to space them, how to plant and prune them to create the landscape of your dreams - whether a Mediterranean garden, a luminous patch in a shady area, a wild cottage garden or a structured border that doubles as a pollinator’s paradise.

Friday June 5th to Monday June 8th.

Creating a Mediaeval Herb Garden

The medieval herb garden was at the heart of botanical, medicinal, and culinary knowledge during the Middle Ages. Herbs and plants grown in castle and monastery gardens typically fell into three categories: culinary, medicinal, and household use. Discover how to design and organize a medieval herb garden, combine perennial and annual herbs, sow and care for them through the summer months, and harvest, dry, and use their leaves and flowers.

Friday 25th September to Monday 28th September.

A Culinary Journey Across the World

Herbs and spices are integral to cuisines around the world. Many of the herbs considered indispensable to Western European cooking originated in distant lands, arriving through stories of conquest as well as exchange and friendship. Discover a diverse range of perennial herbs and spices that may add new depth and flavour to your cooking—and maybe even inspire an entirely new culinary journey!

Friday 23rd October to Monday 26th October.

Planting for Spring Cheer - bulbs, corms and planning for Spring

The transition from sunny summer days into a grey and rainy autumn can be a tough period, so we’re going to learn to plant our Spring Cheer bulbs to keep the grey away! Learn about storing, planting and pruning bulbs and corms, how to organize them by colors and shapes and how to divide them safely when they get too large. 

Friday 27th November to Monday 30th November.

Preparing for Christmas - Garlands, Ribbons, Wreaths and all things Festive!

Using evergreen plants, berries and beautiful ribbons, learn how to make wreaths, garlands and table decorations for the Christmas season - combine natural colors and shapes from the garden and woodlands to braid and wrap vines and twigs into beautiful shapes that will bring color and cheer to the darkest of winter days.  Enjoy foraging in the garden and local woods for your materials - get the season off to a magical start and enjoy delicious seasonal fare whilst creating!

Cost: 

Participant : 950 Euros.

50% deposit on booking, 50% 30 days prior to the commencement date.

Non-participating partner or friend (sharing bedroom with participant): 350 Euros.

The cost does not include travel, but we can pick you up from Poitiers where there are high speed trains to Paris, Lille and other destinations that connect to Europe and the UK as well as Poitiers Airport (connects to Stansted)

**Guests may stay on for extra nights by arrangement.

Bed and breakfast is 140 Euros.

Dinner is 65 Euros

Lunch is 35 Euros

Please contact Paula if you would like to stay for additional nights before or after the course. (Whatsapp+33 67 40 45 31 5).

Book Here

Katya Lebedev

Katya Lebedev is the daughter of a Russian-American couple who settled in France in the early 2000s. After studying Political Philosophy at Bard College, Katya took a leap into the world of 3D animation—a journey that led her through two master’s programs and work on animated series, blockbuster feature films, and small independent projects.

An avid illustrator, she began to feel the long hours of production work encroaching on her own creative garden and realized it was time for a change. Creating a plant nursery specializing in drought-tolerant plants offered the autonomy, rootedness, creativity, and curiosity that had been missing from a largely digital life.

Working alongside Paula—bringing shared attention to detail, history, and care for guests—has transformed the nursery’s path into a true collaboration. The opportunity to share her passion for all things botanical is a genuine gift.