Accepted competition submission for the 25th Anniversary of the International Festival of Gardens, at Jardin de Métis, Grand-Métis, Quebec. Project to be built in spring/summer 2024. Official project page can be viewed here.
The year of the first 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 (symphyotrichum anticostense), a cross between New York (symphyotrichum novi-belgii var. novi-belgii) and Rush (symphyotrichum boreale) Asters. 25 years later, despite habitat protections, the Anticosti and Rush Asters remain imperiled 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?
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?
As people walk through this garden, they are immersed in drifts of Asters, held back by woven dune fencing. The fencing also acts as a path that asters (and other spontaneous vegetation) can grow up between. Repeated foot traffic along the path will help define how far the plants can drift.
