The Greater Perfection: The Story of the Gardens at Les Quatre Vents [Hardcover]

Francis H. Cabot (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 2001

The story behind the creation of one of the world's most breathtaking public gardens.

Les Quatre Vents in Charlevoix County, Quebec, has been acclaimed as the most aesthetically satisfying and horticulturally exciting landscape experience in North America. The garden seamlessly combines elements from the best gardening traditions with the original and the unexpected into a splendid composition that is nevertheless perfectly compatible with its natural surroundings. The Greater Perfection illustrates the delights, diversions, and surprises that await a visitor to these extraordinary gardens. The book chronicles the family origins of Les Quatre Vents as well as the story of its expansion during the last twenty-five years. Author Francis Cabot's account of the challenges of developing and enlarging Les Quatre Vents reveals the fascinating process behind the creation of a world-class garden that has become a mecca for horticultural enthusiasts from around the globe. Featuring photographs by five of today's leading garden photographers, this is one of the most beautiful books on gardens to appear in years. 382 color photographs, 25 black-and-white photographs. 382 color photographs, 25 black-and-white photographs

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Francis H. Cabot is a horticulturist and founder and president of The Garden Conservancy. He lives in Cold Spring, New York, and at Les Quatre Vents.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 328 pages
• Publisher: Francis H. Cabot; 1ST edition (September 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0393041891
• ISBN-13: 978-0393041897
• Product Dimensions: 11.3 x 9.1 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,567,173 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Great Story of a Great Garden., October 11, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: The Greater Perfection: The Story of the Gardens at Les Quatre Vents (Hardcover)

This extraordinary book chronicles in great detail the development of Les Quatre Vents, an enchanting series of gardens within a garden--formal and informal, sunny and shady, subtle and overwhelming--on the St. Lawrence River in Charlevoix County, Quebec. Beautifully presented with hundreds of truly spectacular color photos and botanically accurate, yet highly personal and witty prose by the garden's creator, this is my favorite book on garden design since Marina Schinz's VISIONS OF PARADISE was published in 1985. The gardens are a multitude of horticultural delights including--
-Tiny alpines growing in the rocks.
-Glorious perennial borders with delphiniums that reach up to nine feet in a good year. It's no wonder the author states, "There is no such thing as too many delphinium."
-Not just lupines, but a lupine prairie that is just amazing from late June to early July.
-A white garden, of course!
-A woodland garden with seven species of meconopsis, a "plethora of primroses" of over 100 species and varieties, and "just about every woodland perennial we can lay our hands upon".
-A plentiful potager where eremurus, delphinium, and hollyhocks tower among the geometric plantings of vegetables.
-And even a rose garden.
There are also numerous water elements, both formal and informal, and an amazingly constructed waterfall, the construction of which is carefully documented.
There are several inspired architectural elements including the Pigeonnier with its reflecting pool--reminiscent of the Pin Mill at Bodnant--and a pair of fifteenth-century-style Japanese contemplation pavilions.
And of course, many sculptures, both classical and whimsical, are found throughout the gardens.
To call THE GREATER PERFECTION, which is as meticulously crafted as the garden it presents, a tour de force would truly be an understatement. Frank Cabot may modestly write that due to the cool evenings and foggy mornings of its maritime climate, "In my opinion there is no easier place to garden in eastern North America than Charlevoix County," but this spellbinding garden and chronicle are the result of an extraordinary vision and steadfastness which have been merely aided by a desirable climate!

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Gorgeous book, gorgeous garden, October 5, 2003

By 

Y. Cunnington (Ontario, Canada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Greater Perfection: The Story of the Gardens at Les Quatre Vents (Hardcover)

The joy of this book is that Francis Cabot writes marvelously about a landscape he has loved from childhood -- and, although his garden is rarified, he remains at heart a hands-on dirt gardener, spending hours dividing and transplanting perennials, weeding, replanting, mulling over how a planting could be improved, and all the other tasks that keep gardeners occupied through the growing season and beyond.

It seems to me that people who make great gardens rarely do it just for themselves, but because they can't help but share their passion with other garden lovers. Francis Cabot has created and nurtured a brilliant garden, and now in this very personal book, he lets us in on its joys and its challenges.

The photography is exquisite. A great gift for your favorite gardener.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great accomplishment, July 15, 2003

By A Customer

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Greater Perfection: The Story of the Gardens at Les Quatre Vents (Hardcover)

This is one of the most beautiful and inspiring books about the creation and restoration a garden that I have ever seen. The Greater Perfection shows what someone with great taste, imagination, skill and yes, resources can accomplish. What is especially impressive for me as a gardening professional is that all this has been accomplished in a zone 3/4 garden in the Canadian Maritimes. A great book for browsing and reading. Absolutely stunning - the garden we wish we all had.