Four projects have been selected for the 25th edition of the International Garden Festival in Grand-Métis, Quebec, called The Ecology of Possibility.
In celebration of its 25th anniversary, Ève De Garie-Lamanque, artistic director, has invited designers to imagine the future of the garden. A total of 216 projects were submitted by designers from 30 countries.
The four gardens selected for the 2024 edition include the following.
Couleur Nature by Vanderveken, Architecture + Paysage | Saint-Lambert, Québec, Canada
Couleur Nature is a study into the roles gardens play in society. The installation strives to juxtapose two visions of the garden. It compares the great areas of utilitarian lawn and individual leisure devices with poor social and ecological indicators with contemplative gardens with high reflexive and ecological indicators. Additionally, it demonstrates the “absurdity of a dominant mono-culture.”
Couleur Nature (exterior views) Photo credit: Vanderveken, Architecture + Paysage

FUTURE DRIFTS  by Julia Lines Wilson | United States
In the first year of the festival, priority plant species were identified for habitat protection in the St. Lawrence Vision 2000 Action Plan. Among these species was the Anticosti Aster, a cross between New York and Rush Asters. Despite habitat protection, the Anticosti and Rush Asters remain endangered species 25 years later. This garden poses the following as a question on the past and future: “If New York and R...