OvS Receives 2011 LongHouse Landscape Award

The LongHouse Reserve Garden Committee awarded Oehme, van Sweden & Associates the 2011 LongHouse Landscape Award on Saturday, September 17th at LongHouse Reserve in East Hampton, NY. The award, given for the first time ever to a firm or group, celebrates the “powerful changes that OvS has consistently and continuously brought to the American landscape for the past five decades.” Prior recipients of the award include landscape architect Dan Kiley, American gardener and horticulturist Frank Cabot, and the founder of the Central Park Conservancy, Elizabeth Barlow Rogers.

L-R: Eric Groft, Wolfgang Oehme, Sheila Brady, Jack Lenor Larsen & Lisa Delplace

Following tours of private gardens in East Hampton, a dinner at the home of Alex and Carole Rosenberg in Water Mill and a luncheon at LongHouse, OvS Principals Sheila Brady, Lisa Delplace, Eric Groft and Founding Partner Wolfgang Oehme accepted the award on behalf of the entire OvS team.

OvS Principal Eric Groft

As part of the afternoon’s events, guests enjoyed a panel discussion between Oehme, van Sweden clients Kris Jarantoski, Executive Vice President and Director of the Chicago Botanic Garden and Todd Forrest, Vice President for Horticulture and Living Collections at the New York Botanical Garden. The panel was moderated by Elizabeth Barlow Rogers, President of the Foundation for Landscape Studies, and previous winner of the LongHouse Landscape Award.

L-R: Kris Jarantoski, Elizabeth Barlow Rogers, and Todd Forrest

LongHouse Reserve exemplifies living with art in all forms. It’s collections, gardens, sculpture and programs reflect world cultures and inspire a creative life.

LongHouse brings together art and nature, and aesthetics and spirit, with a strong conviction that the arts are central to living wholly and creatively. Dedicated to quality and integrity, LongHouse programs encourage a broad concept of learning.

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APGA’s Annual Conference

The annual conference of the American Public Gardens Association took place June 21 – 24, 2011 in Philadelphia, PA. While attending the conference, Oehme, van Sweden Principals Lisa Delplace and Sheila Brady were panelists at a seminar focusing on SITES, the Sustainable Sites Initiative. The idea behind SITES is to create voluntary, national guidelines for sustainable land design, construction and maintenance practices.

Some of the first groups to whole-heartedly embrace and test the ideas of SITES were public gardens – the arboreta, conservatories and botanic gardens of the world. Two of OvS’ current projects, the New York Botanical Garden’s New Native Garden and The Daniel F. and Ada L. Rice Plant Conservation Science Center at the Chicago Botanic Garden, are Pilot Projects of the initiative and were a topics of discussion among the seminar panelists.

In addition to Lisa and Sheila, Melanie Sifton of Humber Arboretum, James Ward from the North Carolina Botanical Garden, Stephanie DeStefano of American University and Kelly Ogrodnik from the Phipps Conservatory discussed how they work with nature to ensure built gardens mimic natural systems at NYBG and gardens worldwide.

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Lisa Delplace at Toledo Botanical Garden

Customers shop the annual plant sale at Toledo Botanical Garden (Photo by the Toledo Blade)

The horticulturally hungry descended upon The Toledo Botanical Garden in Toledo, OH on a Saturday in May for the annual spring plant sale. Oehme, van Sweden CEO Lisa Delplace was among the many to browse the over 10,000 perennials on sale, and also serve as the day’s keynote speaker. Some of the most popular items for sale were of the sustainable variety. For those looking to capitalize on the rain as a way to water their gardens, stormwater management barrels were on sale. For those looking to capitalize on breakfast, chicken coops – which included three hens – were available. It goes to show that no matter where you live – urban or rural – you can enjoy farming and dabble in raising livestock.

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Historic New England Gala

On Friday, January 7^th, Oehme van Sweden principal Sheila Brady attended the sixth annual Historic New England Gala in Boston, Massachusetts. The Gala is a benefit supporting the Preservation Maintenance Fund, which helps to raise money for projects that contribute to the long-term sustainability of Historic New England’s properties.

For the last century, Historic New England has worked to preserve the original architecture and culture that characterizes one of the loveliest regions in the United States. It is the oldest and largest regional heritage organization in the country.

The black-tie event was held at the Fairmont Copley Plaza Hotel in Boston. Bunny Williams, world-renowned interior designer and garden expert, was featured as the guest of honor during the cocktail and dinner hours. Rare items from Historic New England’s collection were on display for everyone’s viewing pleasure.

The Roseland Cottage in Woodstock, Connecticut is just one of the 36 Historic New England properties.

All proceeds from the gala went directly to the preservation fund and were matched one-to-one by an anonymous foundation. If you would like to make a contribution to the fund, visit Historic New England’s Online Shop.

To learn more about the Preservation Maintenance Fund, please call 617-994-5951.

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In Memory of Harry W. Porter

Today, we write with sad news. Mr. Harry W. Porter, former faculty member and Dean of the University of Virginia, passed away yesterday at his home in New Bern, North Carolina. He was 74.

Mr. Porter was one of the founding members of the University’s School of Architecture. Recruited by Dean Joe Bosserman in 1969 after having taught at both the University of Michigan and Harvard, Mr. Porter established the School of Architecture’s Department of Landscape Architecture and served as its first chair until 1982. He was appointed Associate Dean of Administration that same year, and served as Interim Dean of the School until he was awarded the position of Dean in 1989.

During his time at the University, Mr. Porter was awarded the Elson Professor of Architecture chair and the Lawrence Lewis, Jr., Professor of Architecture chair.

Harry became the first University Architect in the Office of the Architect where he advised on the architectural design and development of the University grounds. He was also the first Dean of the School to live in Pavilion IX on the Lawn. He retired in 1994 and in 1996, a pumpkin ash tree was planted in his honor in front of Pavilion IX.

As a sign of the alumni body’s great affection and gratitude for Mr. Porter, the School completed a successful campaign after his retirement to establish the Harry W. Porter Jr. Visiting Professorship in Architecture. This program continues to serve all four departments on a rotating basis to invite outside guest critics and lecturers each year to the School.

Mr. Porter has been recognized nationally as one of the country’s finest educators in landscape architecture. He was a Fellow of the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA), an honorary member of the Virginia Society of the American Institute of Architects (VSAIA), and former president of the Council of Educators in Landscape Architecture.

That was his professional resume. To those of us who had the privilege of knowing him, Harry was invincible – the white knight who could do no wrong. As a student in Mr. Porter’s program, OvS Principal Eric Groft describes him as, “…Omnipotent, almost god-like, and one would do anything to get his favorable recognition.”

Here at Oehme, van Sweden, we are deeply saddened with the news of Harry Porter’s passing, but know that his memory will live on in our hearts, our work, and our passion for the art of landscape architecture. He will be greatly missed by all who had the pleasure of knowing and working with him.

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Snowfall Blankets OvS Plantings at Tanger Outlets

Oehme van Sweden has always paid particular attention to the subtle beauty and strong forms that emerge from the winter garden. After one of the many recent snowfalls that has blanketed the region, the plantings we designed for the Tanger Outlets at the Arches in Deer Park, New York looked beautiful against the thick layer of snow.  We hope that the shoppers taking advantage of the post-holiday bargains appreciated the sculptural forms of the plantings as much as we did!

The muted wheat color of the Hakonechloa macra and Pennisetum alopecuroides glowed against the drifts piled in the planting beds, with the dancing and waving forms of the grasses frozen in place by the weight of the snow.   

Hakonechloa macra (Hakone grass) with Hydrangea quercifolia ‘Snow Queen’ behind

 

Pennisetum alopecuroides (Fountain grass)

The multi-stemmed trunk of the Magnolia virginiana emerged from its blanket of snow. Partially protected by a glass canopy, it still held many of its leaves.

Magnolia Virginiana (with Rohdea Japonica)

At one of the main entries, the dark seed heads of the Rudbeckia fulgida ‘Goldsturm’ punctuated the bed of Perovskia atriplicifolia.  The Japanese tree lilac was silhouetted against the swiftly-moving clouds, bringing attention to the beauty of its form.

Perovskia atriplicifolia (Russian sage) in the foreground with Rudbeckia fulgida ‘Goldsturm’ (Black-Eyed Susans) and Syringa reticulate (Japanese Tree Lilac) behind

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They’re Here!

Any of our followers who have been keeping an eye on Oehme van Sweden lately know that our latest book, The Artful Garden: Creative Inspiration for Landscape Design, will be coming out on February 1^st of 2011.

This afternoon, we were welcomed with a nice surprise. UPS stopped by with a box of eight, brand new, never-been-paged-through copies of The Artful Garden.

We. Are. Thrilled.

Not only do we get the tactile and olfactory experience of our new book (The gloss of the pages! The heft of the binding! The smell of fresh ink!), we are able to experience just how this book will illuminate any gardener’s path to inspired design and creation of a perfect garden from the reader’s point-of-view.

James van Sweden will teach you to think not in terms of borders and beds or even paths and meadows, but of a tapestry woven from sky, trees, rocks, vines, flowers, grasses, and space — all the while providing the practical tools and tips you need to turn this inspiration into reality. 

And the release is just three weeks away…

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Creating Texture in Container Plantings

On a recent glorious fall day, Lisa Delplace and Hilary Oat-Judge installed container plantings for a long-time client in McLean, VA. Lisa selected a mix of evergreen shrubs, grasses, perennials and annuals to create distinct textural compositions at each entry and terrace.

Here are a few favorite combinations in the custom Pennoyer Newman Florentine Planters on the rear terrace:

Pieris japonica ‘Flaming Silver’ with Carex morrowii ‘Ice Dance’

Pennisetum alopecuroides ‘Hameln’ with Bergenia cordifolia ‘Bressingham Ruby’

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OvS Goes Back to School

It’s that time of year again … students all over the country are returning to colleges and universities and school is once again in session. This year, Oehme van Sweden will also be going back to school – only in our case, we’re revisiting our alma maters in our capacity as landscape architects!

Lisa Delplace and Bob Hruby of Oehme van Sweden recently visited the University of Maryland for the kick-off meeting, marking the beginning of the firm’s work on the 2011 facilities master plan update. OvS’ talented team of consultants are eager to dive into this exciting project, and Bob in particular is looking forward to making contributions to his alma mater!

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