Filmed in Montpellier, the entertainment presented by actress Ariane Brodier and landscaper Marcelarium remains on point. No sparkle, no tone… He who sows boredom reaps snore.
The candidates around Ariane Brodier and Marcelarium, presenters. Color is not enough to impress us.… Photo William Moureaux/FTV
Published on June 20, 2026 at 12:00 p.m.
Après la cuisine (Top Chef, on M6) or music (The Voice, on TF1…), France Télévisions applies the now well-established codes of the “talent show” to gardening, with Garden aces. A first, leisure no 1 of the French being surprisingly absent from the PAF with the exception of the magazine Silence, it’s growing!, on France 5. The atmosphere is good humored, without fuss: “Gardening is about plants and friends. And if one day there are no more plants, what is left? Friends! » All that’s missing is the aperitif.
Filmed in the botanical park of the Château de Flaugergues, in Montpellier, this competition brings together eight candidates aged 18 to 71, with varied profiles: Leny, 18, « Ariégeois au cÅ“ur fidèle»HAS ; Oliver, who loves “When the little robin, the gardener’s friend, comes to sing”HAS ; or Maureen, an American based in Paris, who hopes to win because she is « très créative ». Dressed in colored overalls, they face each other through fairly straightforward challenges: creating an independent garden, enhancing flea market objects, designing a green wall or decorating a wedding arch.
Time stretches, boredom wins
« 3, 2, 1, Jardinez! The starting point is given by the actress and comedian Ariane Brodier, daughter of a farmer, who admits to knowing nothing about it (« Je n’ai pas la main verte… »), and his co-presenter, Marcel, aka Marcelarium, landscaper with 462,000 followers and “Force of nature which hides a tender and melting heart”. To pique curiosity and make you climb « l’Électricité giving l’air (sic) »France Télévisions has chosen a sponsor: JoeyStarr. “We are very lucky to have him for this first edition!” Ariane Brodier ignites. What happens next? Not much. No spark. No good valve or caustic punchline. Of course, Joey, very muscular, carries heavy beams to create vegetable plots. Before elegantly estimating that this first day « nous a aidés à nous renifler le derrière » (understand: “get to know each other”). Time stretches, boredom wins. Competition codes (“You only have thirty minutes left!”) semblent usés. “There you go to put it down.” we were promised. The spectator rather has the impression of having taken a blow to the head with a bamboo.
