In fact, Louis XIV loved flowers and the garden of the retreat which was built for him on the site of the former village of Trianon, in the park of Versailles, was always filled with flowers.; thousands of potted flowers were grown in greenhouses to keep the garden blooming during the winter.
The next king, Louis XV, disliked the grandeur of Versailles and preferred the more intimate Trianon. The king's mistress, Madame de Pompadour , persuaded him to create a "ménagerie" to the east of Trianon's garden, this was begun by the architect Ange-Jaques Gabriel in the spring of 1749.. The "Nouvelle Ménagerie" was an elegant dairy surrounded by ornamental henhouses, aviaries and cowsheds, which housed a collection of chickens, pigeons and other domestic livestock. The king needed a suitable place to rest and play cards, so Gabriel created the Pavillon Français (1749-50), to the south of the ménagerie. This elegant pavilion was set in the center of a small formal garden.
Madame de Pompadour also encouraged Louis XV's interest in the science of horticulture and in 1750 Louis XV gave Claude II Richard (1705-84), who Linnaeus described as "the ablest gardener in Europe", the position of "jardinier-fleuriste du roi" and asked him to create a botanical garden near the ménagerie. This garden, with its immense greenhouses and over four thousand varieties of plants, became a center for botanical research when Bernard de Jussieu, who has been called the "Newton of botany", was brought here from the Jardins des Plantes in Paris.
In 1761 Louis XV asked Gabriel to create a house for himself and Madame de Pompadour at the east end of the garden which surrounded the Pavillon Français. They called this house the Petit Trianon and Louis XIV's larger retreat became known as the Grand Trianon. The Petit Trianon was completed in 1768; by this time Madame de Pompadour had died. The king and his new mistress, Madame du Barry, enjoyed it until his death.
