Description
Book SynopsisThe Greater Perfection, now with a new foreword by Francis H. Cabot's daughter, tells the story behind the creation of Les Quatre Vents, one of the world's most breathtaking gardens. Featured in the 2018 film The Gardener, Les Quatre Vents in Charlevoix County, Quebec, has been acclaimed as the most aesthetically satisfying and horticulturally exciting landscape experience in North America. This twenty-acre garden seamlessly combines traditional and novel elements into a splendid composition, adorned with unexpected touches and perfectly compatible with its natural surroundings. The Greater Perfection, first published in 2001, illustrates the delights, diversions, and surprises that await the garden's visitors. Francis H. Cabot's account of the challenges he faced in developing Les Quatre Vents reveals the fascinating process behind the creation of a world-class garden that has become a mecca for horticultural enthusiasts around the globe. Winner of the 2003 Annual Literature Aw
Trade Review“Cabot is one of the most interesting figures in American gardening.” * Washington Post *
“The evolutions of that land under different hands interest Cabot almost as much as the evolutions he has brought about. Cabot is also delightfully candid about the range of sources that have influenced Les Quatre Vents. He is an unabashed bricoleur.” * New York Times *
“Les Quatre Vents deploys many different features and styles but manages, by some process or alchemy, to make harmony out of its richly varied ingredients and to preserve a strong sense of individuality.” * Telegraph *
Table of ContentsForewords I A Bridge to the Soul – Marianne Cabot Welch
II A Garden Rooted in the Landscape – Laurie Olin
III A Vision of Perfection – Penelope Hobhouse Introduction
I A Sense of the Place
II The House in Its Setting
III Alpine Plants and Rockwork
IV Refurbishing the Older Gardens
V Borrowing the Landscape
VI The Stream Garden
VII An Indirect Approach
VIII The Pigeonnier Gardens
IX A Japanese Interlude
X Deep Shade and Sunnier Borders
XI The Woodland Garden
XII Potager, Prairie, and Piscine
Afterword
Notes
Acknowledgments
Photography Credits
Index
