Francis Cabot

Francis Higginson Cabot (born 1925), C.M., C.Q. is an American gardener and horticulturist.

A 1949 graduate of Harvard College, Cabot was active in the Hasty Pudding Theatricals and was one of the four founders of the "a cappella" singing group, the Harvard Krokodiloes [http://www.kroks.com/alumni Notable Alumni of the Harvard Krokodiloes] .] . After college he began constructing a garden on private property in Cold Spring, New York, above the Hudson River, beginning a life-long passion for horticulture [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A07E5D7173DF936A1575AC0A9659C8B63&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=print Raver, Anne. "NATURE; In the Lair of a Tender Giant." "The New York Times", 2003-09-25, Style section.] ] . Cabot was appointed Chairman of the New York Botanical Garden in the Bronx from 1973 to 1976. In 1989, he founded the nonprofit Garden Conservancy [http://www.gardenconservancy.org/index.pl?Title=About%20Us Website of the Garden Conservancy.] ] , after noting that two-thirds of America's great gardens had been destroyed by development. The Conservancy began with "four acres of giant cactuses, succulents and native species" in Walnut Creek, California, the life's work of gardener Ruth Bancroft [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C01E0DC1339F932A15753C1A96F958260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=print Raver, Anne. "HUMAN NATURE; The Keepers of the Garden's Soul." "The New York Times", 1999-11-21, Style section.] ] . The organization's Open Days program has opened more than three hundred private gardens to the public throughout the United States [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C0DE7DA1239F930A25754C0A961958260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=print Spiegel, Meryl. "Enjoying Pleasures of Special Gardens." "The New York Times", 1997-07-13, New York and Region section.] ] and has been active in the preservation of seventeen important private gardens for posterity, including the rehabilitation of the gardens at Alcatraz [http://www.gardenconservancy.org/news.pl?ID=13 Garden Conservancy Webpage for the Alcatraz Historic Gardens Project.] ] . Cabot has become renowned for his personal gardens around the world. His own garden in Cold Spring, known as Stonecrop, was opened to the public in 1992 and is now one of the premier public gardens in the United States, encompassing sixty-three acres [http://travel.nytimes.com/2007/07/13/travel/escapes/13gardens.html?sq=&pagewanted=all Dobrzynski, Judith H. "The Hudson Valley’s Fields of Joy." "The New York Times", 2007-07-13, Escapes section.] ] . Its components were influenced and improved in the 1980s by horticulturist Caroline Burgess, who became the garden's director, having previously worked with legendary English gardener Rosemary Verey. Cabot's private garden in the Charlevoix region of Quebec covers more than 20 acres and is called Les Quatre Vents. He is credited with introducing a number of plants and grasses to North America, including Japanese blood grass [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9807E5DC173DF934A25753C1A9649C8B63&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=print Raver, Anne. "NATURE; In the Thick of Great Grasses." "The New York Times", 2002-10-17, Style section.] ] .

In 2005, he was made an honorary Member of the Order of Canada. [http://gg.ca/media/doc.asp?lang=e&DocID=4523 Governal General site announcing Cabot's C.M.] ] In 2000, he was made a Chevalier of the National Order of Quebec.

In 2001, he wrote the book "The Greater Perfection: The Story of the Gardens at Les Quatre Vents", which was the recipient of the 2003 Literature Award of the Council of Botanical and Horticultural Libraries and which the "Oxford Companion to Gardens" referred to as "one of the best books ever written about the making of a garden by its creator." [http://www.hortuspress.com/ Website of the Hortus Press.] ]

External links

* [http://gg.ca/media/doc.asp?lang=e&DocID=4523 Governal General site announcing his C.M.]
* [http://www.gardenweek.org/PerfectionLo.pdf Garden Week article]

References