Foreword by Roy Lancaster :

The Princess Greta Sturdza is a woman who knows her plants and how best to use them in a garden. Her practical skills as a hands-on gardener are complemented by an artist's eye and imagination. She knows just when and where to prune a flowering shrub to encourage maximum performance and where to position a treasured tree or dimber to make the best possible use of the early morning or evening sun. Her many years expérience in planting and cultivation during which time she has developed numerous personal techniques is demonstrated in the quality and vibrance of her plants and planting whether it be a flowering cherry, a sparkling magnolia or a drift of rodgersias or astilbes. Her use of ground cover plants whether in sun or shade is masterly whilst her placing of a single spécimen is planned with care and sensitivity so as to achieve the optimum effect, whatever the season.
But, her garden is not simply a beautiful statement. Behind the subtle shifts of light on flower and foliage, the bold drifts, dramatic highlights and seasonal surprises so lovingly described and illustrated in this book, there is a plant collection whose scientific and educational value is signifiant and growing. This book is a tribute to a woman whose energy, strength of mind and purpose and spirit of adventure hâve made Le Vasterival one of the truly great gardens of modem times.
Fortunate we are then to have a glimpse of the garden's spécial magie in the photographs that illustrate this book. Inspiring they most certainly are yet they are merely visual confirmation of the imagination and skills used by Creta Sturdza over so many years and so clearly explained in the text. Succession Planting as practised so effectively at Le Vasterival is more than a philosophy, it is a way of life.