"Les Quatre Vents;' a Far-Northern Garden

"Les Quatre Vents;’ a Far-Northern Garden Francis H. Cabot Seizing opportunities presented by cool, moist summers and deep winter snows has been the key to success in this northern outpost of Zone 4 A detailed map of the plant-hardiness zones of North America shows Zone 4 sweeping east from Lake Superior to the northern-tier states of New York and New England, thence north through New Brunswick to Newfoundland. As one follows the St. Lawrence River northeast from Montreal, Zone 4 appears to peter out on the north shore of the river a few miles north of the windswept Citadel of Quebec City, which overlooks the river at a point where it suddenly changes into an ever-widening inland sea that ultimatelv seven hundred miles to the northeast, becomes the Atlantic Ocean. The view to the northeast from the heights of Quebec over the thirty-mile-long Ile d’Orleans shows the southern shore of the St. Lawrence receding into the distance as it veers slightly to the east. The view of the north shore, on the other hand, is limited by Cap Tourmente, a stark, eighteen hundred-foot-high headland that curves sharply down to the roiled gray-green salt water. At this point, just beyond the northern tip of lle d’Orleans, the granite mass of the Laurentian Mountains, clothed in the spruce and fir mantle of the boreal forest, meets the salt-water coastline for the first time. From here on, these two elements-boreal forest and salt water-are the norm until one reaches the tundra and permafrost of Labrador. They dominate the ecological and horticultural life of the region. In the following article, Francis H. Cabot, who has been gardening in a small, far-northern outpost of Hardiness Zone 4, shares the horticultural insights he has gained over the course of the past twenty years. The departure of the greater snow geese in North Carolina to its breeding grounds on late May and their return in early October Ellesmere and Baffin islands. The seven have special significance at La Malbaie, hundred-mile flight from the Middle Atlan- Charlevoix County, Quebec, for their migra- tic coast lasts two hundred hours. No one tion flights bracket precisely La Malbaie’s knows how long the second leg of the flight, gardening season, which is seven or eight from Cap Tourmente to Baffin Island, lasts. weeks shorter than those of zones 5 and 6. Virtually the last farming area of any size For six weeks each spring, the great flock along the northern shore of the St. Lawrence, stops to feed on the sedge Scirpus amencan- La Malbaie, thanks to the tempering effect us that grows along the brackish marshes of of its fourteen-mile-wide stretch of the river, the St. Lawrence River to the south of Cap Overleaf: Part of the terraced vegetable garden at "Les Tourmente. The flock, now estimated to Quatre Vents." The beds were constructed from trees number over 250,000, thanks to its protected killed by the spruce budworm Potatoes growm the bed m the foreground. The bed m the center contams sweet makes this one in its status, only stop 2,500- peas, that at the left, red currants. All photographs are mile journey from the coasts of Delaware and by the author 21 Astilbe, delphimums, Cimicifuga racemosa, and Achillea taygetea m the perenmal border. Allium chnstophm (center), Primula flonndae, P. alpicola var luna, Lilium martagon var album, and Meconopsis betomcrfolia m bloom m shade garden Bed No 3, mth asulbe and Aruncus dioicus m the bed m the background. 22 , enjoys a microclimate of Zone 4 in an area of the quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides), of some twenty-five square miles surrounded which the French Canadians call les trem- by a relatively thin band of Zone 3 that soon bles, and several kinds of Amelanchier, whose becomes Zone 2. In the best of years La Mal- burnished-orange autumn foliage comple- baie enjoys both the cool summer evenings ments the tints of the red and sugar maples. and the fog and mists of a maritime climate Acer spicatum, the ubiquitous mountain (its portion of the St. Lawrence warms to 48 maple, needs to be constantly weeded out of degrees Fahrenheit in late summer), as well woodland areas, and A. pensylvanicum as the deep early snows of the boreal forest. (moosewood) to be encouraged. If the snows arrive before the ground freezes While Betula lutea (yellow birch) can be and last throughout the winter, the horticul- found in the forests, far and away the best of turist can proudly display plants that usually the native trees is Betula papyrifera, the thrive only in the Himalayas or in Scotland. paper birch. Invariably decorative at all stages In the worst of years, when the snows don’t of its life, the paper birch enchances its sur- come until it is too late, or even when an roundings whether it is used as a lawn spec- atypical winter thaw destroys the snow cov- imen, in the garden, or as an allee. I cannot er, it is another story, and a humbler horti- decide whether its bark is more beautiful in cultural outlook prevails. Most years the early youth, when it has fawn-like spots; in results are in between and are horticulturally adolescence, when it develops coral and satisfying. peach tints; or in maturity, when it takes on a pristine whiteness. In this northern setting the paper birch seems to be whiter than it is Limitations to Northern Gardening farther south and is hard to improve upon in The principal drawback to gardening in the landscape. northern zones is the limited choice one has Many non-native species love the North of trees and shrubs, yet this limitation does also. The Lombardy poplar (Populus nigra simplify the landscaper’s task. At La Malbaie ’Italica’) achieves impressive heights at La the wisest course often has been to use native Malbaie, for example, as does the Carolina (or naturalized) species for the backbone of poplar (P. canadensis). The former’s relative- the landscape plan. On the whole, the native ly short life span and pruning needs at matu- species are a useful and appealing lot. rity give one pause, however, but, used as an The conifers are represented by the spruces accent or as a specimen, there is nothing Picea abies, P. glauca, and P. nigra; the bal- quite so effective or so appropriate for French sam fir (Abies balsamea~; the American Canada. The Carolina poplar is far less larch (Larix laricina); and the pines Pinus demanding, it would appear, and longer lived. strobus, P. resinosa, and P. banksiana. Thuja Undistinguished in its early years, the Caro- occidentalis thrives near the shores of the St. lina poplar achieves dignity and grace with Lawrence, growing to majestic proportions, age and can be a useful part of the landscape. and Juniperus communis var. depressaa The Amur maple (Acer ginnala), the ear- abounds. There are a few shoreline speci- liest maple to take on color in the autumn, mens of juniperus horizontalis, and Taxus is also useful. Hardy to Zone 2, it forms a canadensis is prevalent in the forest. graceful, medium-sized tree but requires Sorbus americana, the mountain ash, is pruning and thinning as it matures. It is everywhere, enlivening the late-summer and worth the trouble, though, for its brilliant autumn landscape with its abundant clumps scarlet foliage in September. Along one of the of red berries. There are groves and hillsides farm roads we have planted an allee of Amur 23 maple that is becoming increasingly colorful A Botanical Ramble in the Boreal Forest as the years pass. While a few of the hardier species of Malus An English friend of mine, walking through can withstand the winter temperatures of the woodlands surroundmg the gardens at La Zone 4, the diversity of blossom color avail- Malbaie, was struck by the number of great able in Zone 5 and points south is missing, botanists and plant hunters who were com- as are the flowering cherries. Apple trees are memorated in the flora. Not only the great close to their northern limits at La Malbaie. Linnaeus in the twinflower (Linnaea boreal- They grow very slowly there, but it is worth is) that carpets the woodlands, but John the wait for their crisp and flavorful fruit. Goodyer in the three species of Goodyera ’Fameuse’ is one of our favorite varieties. that abound (Goodyera oblongifolia, G. Plums do beautifully at La Malbaie and seem repens, and G. tesselata~, Sir Joseph Banks in healthier and more productive there than the stands of Pinus banksiana, and John Bar- they do in more-southern climes. Our crop tram in the serviceberry, Amelanchier bar- of ’Mirabelle’ and other small varieties of tramiana. plum is abundant. The serviceberries are edible but not par- The Zone 3 and Zone 4 climatic limita- ticularly interesting. The best of the lot are tions on trees are felt equally severely among the oval fruits of Amelanchier bartramiana, shrubs, but there are sufficient species of which are larger and more succulent than Rosa Syringa, Spiraea, Berberis, Viburnum, other varieties. It seems strange that this Philadelphus, Neillia, Lonicera, Caragana, most garden-worthy species, which is found Cornus, and the like to make do and to fur- in the Laurentians and at the higher eleva- nish the garden adequately. tions of the Appalachians, is not more widely It is when one comes to herbaceous plants used in horticulture. The white flowers are that one forgets about the lack of diversity in the largest of the genus, comparable to those trees and shrubs and begins to chortle over of Potentilla fruticosa and borne in a very the salubrious northern maritime climate.

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