It is August 1674. Louis XIV celebrates his armies' victory over Holland. Meanwhile, the head gardener at Versailles wages his own war to make its orchards and kitchen gardens works of art. Every day Louis XIV is encircled by a stately collection of courtiers, servants, politicians, seekers, complainers, and above all flatterers and self-servers. Excepted from this company is the man who feeds them, Jean-Baptiste de la Quintinie, the King's gardener. Admired and envied by all, for he is very much his own man, the gardener works to the rhythms of the seasons-and with ironic detachment observes the royal court along with his asparagus and peas.