Looking at five floral categories in the 200 largest U.S. cities, Lawn Love came up with these two lists.
They checked out access to flower shops and specialty-cut flower vendors, consumer ratings, and the number of …
On the occasion on its twenty-fifty anniversary, Ève De Garie-Lamanque, Artistic Director of the International Garden Festval, has invited designers to imagine the future of the garden. A total of 216 projects by designers from 30 countries were submitted.
The four gardens selected for the 2024 edition are:
Couleur Nature
Vanderveken, Architecture + Paysage | Saint-Lambert, Québec, Canada
Couleur Nature is a curious study into the roles gardens play in our society, comparing the great swaths of utilitarian lawn and our individual leisure devices (with poor social and ecological indicators) with contemplative gardens (with high reflexive and ecological indicators). The installation does not attempt to compare nature with culture or the natural with the artificial. In fact, it strives to juxtapose the two visions of the garden. It demonstrates the absurdity of a dominant monoculture which, in general terms, has no use apart from simply enabling humans to experience satisfaction watering and mowing their lawn and filling their swimming pools on a perpetual cycle that contributes to the gradual decline of our biodiversity.
FUTURE DRIFTS
Julia Lines Wilson | United States
In the first year of the International Garden Festival, priority plant species were identified for habitat protection in the St. Lawrence Vision 2000 Action Plan. One of the species was the Anticosti Aster, a cross between New York and Rush Asters. 25 years later, despite habitat protection, the Anticosti and Rush Asters remain endangered species. This garden is posed as a question on the past and future. If New York and Rush Asters crossed again, what would that look like? What possible futures can be sown by these species’ interactions?
Rue Liereman / Organ Man Street
Pioniersplanters | Belgium
In such a densely populated and urbanized area such as Flanders, the fraction of land occupied by domestic or private gardens (of which there are approximately 2 million) is estimated to be 12%. That’s four times the total surface area of natural areas in the region. As such, as long as they are designed and maintained naturally, domestic gardens have the potential to help reduce the effects of climate change and halt the impoverishment of biodiversity, encouraging people to reconnect with nature.
Superstrata
mat-on | Italy
This year’s theme is explored through the lens of the rhizomatic system, emphasizing the intrinsic value and interconnectedness of life forms and ecosystems. Using a geological map as a metaphor, the garden proposal illustrates the tension between nature’s freedom and humanity’s inclination to impose order. Learning from nature, the installation highlights the co-creation of landscapes by human and non-human entities, showcasing the dynamic, interconnected nature of their interactions.
Special Mention
Three projects received a special mention from the jury: Welcome, Yellow Bricks Garden, by Azzurra Brugiotti (Italy); En Équilibre, by Sonia and Natalia Dacko (Spain); and Aguas, by Jomarly Cruz Galarza and Virgen Berrios Torres (Puerto Rico).
The International Garden Festival is recognized as one of the most important events of its kind in North America and one of the leading annual garden festivals in the world. Since its inception in 2000, more than 180 contemporary gardens have been exhibited at Grand-Métis and as extra-mural projects in Canada and around the world
Presented at Les Jardins de Métis / Reford Gardens, at the gateway to the Gaspé Peninsula, Quebec, Canada, the Festival is held on a site adjacent to the historic gardens created by Elsie Reford, thereby establishing a bridge between history and modernity, and a dialogue between conservation, tradition and innovation.
Each year the Festival exhibits over twenty conceptual gardens created by more than seventy architects, landscape architects and designers from various disciplines. The event acknowledges the support of the Canada Council for the Arts, Canadian Heritage, Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec, as well as of friends of the Festival and donors.
A cultural space and tourist destination for 60 years, the gardens are an iconic landscape that offers visitors experiences for all of the senses and opportunities to connect to nature. Located at the confluence of the St. Lawrence and Mitis rivers, they were designed by the adventurous
Twenty-Fifth Anniversary Celebrations
Celebrations are in order: in 2024, the International Garden Festival turns 25! While it is certainly something to celebrate, hitting this milestone is also an invitation to reflect on our journey thus far and to look to the future. So, what was the premise for the Festival, the first edition of which was held at the turn of the millennium? What issues and themes have been addressed since then? How have our concerns and ideologies evolved? And what kind of future do we envision for the gardens?
A number of exceptional projects – including a symposium – are on the agenda for this landmark year. Be on the lookout for a special “25th anniversary press release” this spring and plan to join us in Grand-Métis for our opening weekend (June 22-23).
About the Les Jardins de Métis / Reford Gardens
A National Historic Site of Canada and a Quebec heritage site, Les Jardins de Métis / Reford Gardens is a must-see stop for horticulturist Elsie Reford from 1926 to 1958 and are recognized as one of the top gardens of America and rank
Close to 60,000 people visited the Gardens in 2023. Hydro-Québec has been the lead sponsor of Les Jardins de Métis / Reford Gardens since 1999.
Barnsdale Gardens in Rutland, England, has a collection of 38 individual small gardens on an eight-acre site ranging from traditional English cottage gardens, to wildlife, Japanese and French gardens as well as areas for growing …
Shocking pink bougainvillea in full bloom in Nazareth, Israel, in February 2012.
According to Wikipedia, bougainvillea is a genus of thorny ornamental vines, bushes, and trees belonging to the four o’ clock family, Nyctaginaceae. The inflorescence …
The bouquet in a hotel lobby in N’Djamena, Chad, included bougainvillea in 2014.
(Photo ©2014 by Susan McKee)
Especially geared for youngsters two to six, Story & Stroll in the Gardens is an early literacy series at the Rotary Botanical Gardens. Each is a themed one-hour program that includes a half-hour story time …
An early autumn bouquet graces the foyer of Woodstock Club in Indianapolis, Indiana. Sunflowers are in the starring role.
(Photo ©2023 by Susan McKee)
For two weeks in November, as the colors fade outdoors, floral fireworks erupt inside the Lyman Conservatory during the annual Fall Chrysanthemum Show at Smith College, 16 College Lane, Northampton, Massachusetts.
This year’s dates are November …
Ghosts, goblins, and gourds galore fill the foggy forest for Harvest Nights in the gardens of Newfields, 4000 Michigan Road, Indianapolis, Indiana, from Friday (September 29, 2023) through October 31, 2023.
Wander through thousands of …
As of Sunday (October 1, 2023), rare and endangered plants have a new place to call home: the St. Johns Botanical Garden & Nature Preserve, 8310 County Road 13, Hastings, Florida
Located along Deep Creek in …
Mark Weathington (pictured, at left), Director of the JC Raulston Arboretum at North Carolina State University, shares shortcuts and techniques during his presentation on Gardening in the South: Confessions of a Lazy Gardener. It’s the …
In the waning days of summer, scarlet impatiens brighten the downtown of Columbus, Indiana.
Your Road Trips Gardener snapped these on a walk to check out this year’s edition of Exhibit Columbus, public art installations installed …
