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Air Tahiti Magazine 54
nature > c est alors que la fleur commence a passionner le grand public. au point meme de provoquer des reactions extremes. «des femmes de notables n hesitaient pas a se lever en pleine nuit pour aller voler chez une voisine une plante introuvable ailleurs», s amuse michel guerin. on jalouse ses fleurs, on est pret a depenser des petites fortunes pour en acquerir de plus belles, de plus rares. un engouement qui gagne toutes les categories de la population. les femmes s emparent de l activite. ce sont elles qui collectionnent, echangent et vendent leur production. les expositions horticoles se multiplient, les modes se succedent. les jardins deviennent des espaces que l on expose avec fierte. tahiti, en plus des ses lagons, dispose desormais de jardins magnifiques. mais cela ne semble durer qu un temps, nuance michel guerin : «alors que l on parle de jardin d eden, on se limite de plus en plus aux colliers de fleurs. le jardin botanique est a l abandon, les murs en bord de route font disparaitre les jardins de notre champ visuel et les concours ont disparu». meme constat de la part de christophe balsan : «on se protege de plus en plus de l exterieur». le jardin d eden est en passe de devenir une multitude de jardins secrets. poussons la porte de ce nouveau jardin. existe-t-il un jardin a la tahitienne ? pour christophe balsan, une definition precise n est pas evidente a proposer. «c est une notion abstraite. je parlerai d un fouillis vegetal, d un jardin de collectionneurs». une plante fait tout de meme figure d incontournable, de symbole du jardin tahitien. c est l auti ou ti, la cordyline des ancetres qui a su traverser les siecles. il y a aussi l opuhi, l heliconia, l hibiscus, pour les couleurs, les fougeres pour le feuillage, le tiare, le taina, le pitate ou jasmin sauvage, le frangipanier pour les parfums. l arbre, quant a lui, perd du terrain. la pression fonciere en fait un hote bien encombrant au sein de jardin que l on partage generation apres generation. «lors du cyclone de 1982, les arbres arraches ont fait beaucoup de degats, les gens s en mefient», explique michel guerin, qui avance le chiffre de 80% de grands arbres disparus des jardins cette triste annee. l ingenieur horticole, inquiet, estime qu il serait temps pour tahiti de prendre conscience de sa richesse vegetale et de se donner les moyens de l integrer pleinement a son developpement. «relancer les concours de jardins aujourd hui disparus, se doter de jardin publics et botaniques dignes de ce nom», voila selon lui des decisions a prendre dans l interet de tous. au-dela de l attrait touristique indeniable que represente une destination incroyablement fleurie, c est au quotidien que les jardins contribuent a l amelioration du cadre de vie et au bien-etre de chacun. "the nuclear tests had such an impact that we could find cherries for sale throughout the year," remembers michel guerin. why bother cultivating a garden when it's so easy to go out and by produce? it was at this point that flowers began impassion the general public, even to the point of taking some extreme measures: "wives of noteworthy men wouldn't hesitate to get up in the middle of the night to steal hard to find plants from the neighbors," laughs michel guerin. so flowers make people jealous as well as inspiring them to spend small fortunes on the most beautiful or rare varieties. this infatuation would win over people from every tier of the population. women seized the activity and they were the ones who collected, exchanged and sold their production. horticultural fairs multiplied and garden styles came and went one after another. gardens became places of pride and because of this the tahiti of today is filled with magnificent gardens. but this time might come to an end insinuates michel guerin, "we talk about this garden of eden and yet we make less and less flower leis. the botanical garden is practically abandoned, big cement walls along the roadside have made it difficult to see the gardens through the countryside and so the competitive spirit has disappeared." christope balsan agrees, "we protect ourselves more an more from the exterior." so has the garden of eden now become more of a collection of secret gardens? open the gate and look at the new tahitian garden - and is there such a thing as a tahitian garden? for christopher balsan, a precise definition isn't easily given. he tells us, "it's an abstract notion. i would say it's a jumble of plants - a garden of collectors." the plants of course are the unavoidable symbol of tahitian gardens. it's the auti or ti (also called ti trees in hawaii), the shrub of the ancestors that has traversed the centuries. it's also opuhi (wild ginger called awapuhi in hawaiian), heliconia and hibiscus for their colors of ferns for their foliage; the tiare and taina gardenias, the pitate (wild jasmine) and frangipani for its perfume. the tree is loosing ground. with housing pressures, trees have become cumbersome figures in the middle of the yard that people share space with generation after generation. "in the cyclone of 1982 trees caused lots of damage and now people are cautious with them," explains michel guerin who estimates that nearly 80% of the island's trees were lost that sad year. guerin, a horticultural engineer worriedly estimates that it's time for tahiti to be conscious of its biological richness and that it should be given the means to fully integrate this into its strategy for development. "we need to start up the garden contests that have now disappeared and dote on our public and botanical gardens," he says, clear about decisions that are in everyone's interest. these places alive and blooming, undeniably act as a tourist attraction but also contribute to the bettering of daily life and the well-being of everyone. 40 r e v u e d e b o r d n ° 5 4 / a i r ta h i t i / o n - b o a r d m a g a z i n e n ° 5 4 3 3
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