The Quiet American Gardener: Jardin Serre De La Madone Lawrence Johnston embarked on creating a second garden at Menton in the South of France. Like Hidcote, Jardin Serre de la Madone was a farm that Johnston turned into a magnificent garden. After Johnston’s death in the 1950s, Serre passed through the hands of a series of different owners and was nearly lost, but its reputation was kept alive by a handful of enthusiastic garden connoisseurs.