Plants We Love: Dicentra eximia ‘alba’ (White Wild Bleeding Heart)

Dicentra eximia 'alba'

Native Range: Eastern North America

USDA Hardiness: 3-9

Height: 12″-18″

Growing Conditions: Part shade; moist, rich soils

Who ever heard of a Bleeding Heart blooming from spring into October?  Dicentra eximia ‘alba’ is one of the few woodland wildflowers with such a long bloom time.  We recently fell for its long-blooming delicate dangling white flowers when we planted it for a Native Garden at the New York Botanical Garden.  Its lush, fern-like foliage interplants easily with native woodland sedges and ferns and makes it a wonderfully versatile plant.  We have also recently paired it with Phlox subulata ‘Emerald Blue’ in the shady interior courtyard of a mixed-use building near the National Cathedral here in Washington, DC.

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Monroe Street Market Groundbreaking Ceremony

Architects Rendering of Monroe Street Market

Last Wednesday, November 10, OvS designers Marisa Scalera and Sara Fiore attended the groundbreaking ceremony for the Monroe Street Market in Brookland, Washington DC. The project, developed by Bozzuto Group, Abdo Development and Pritzker Realty Group, is a $200 million mixed use, multiphase development adjacent to the Brookland-CUA Metrorail station. Monroe Street Market project will transform the Catholic University of America’s South Campus by creating a college-town-style Main Street. It will include 720 multifamily residential units and 45 townhomes, 80,000 square feet of street-level retail, 15,000 square feet of artist studio space, and a 3,000-square-foot community arts center. There will also be an 8,500 square-foot public square, a 15,000 square-foot Arts Plaza, and a17,000 square-foot residential courtyard with pool.

OvS is the landscape architect for the project. Approved plans include design of the plazas, courtyard, streetscape and hardscape improvements, which will improve walkability, creating a lively, pedestrian-friendly atmosphere and significantly improving traffic patterns and pedestrian crossings along Michigan Avenue and Monroe Street.

The Ground Breaking

Participating in the groundbreaking ceremony were Catholic University President John Garvey, Bozzuto Group Chairman and CEO Tom Bozzuto, Abdo Development President and CEO Jim Abdo, D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray, D.C. Councilmember Harry Thomas, Jr., and other D.C. government officials. Mayor Gray said the planning and cooperation that went into creating the development should serve as a “prototype” for “how to craft constructive relationships between universities and the communities within which they live and the communities that they serve.”

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An Update on the Green Roof at United Therapeutics

OvS paid a visit to the United Therapeutics Headquarters in Silver Spring, Maryland on May 25th to complete a Final Plant Warranty Inspection for the site. The purpose of the visit was to inspect all plant material and determine if any replacements were required. We completed a walkthrough of the site and were pleasantly surprised to find that there were very few replacements required. We were also shocked at just how much the plants had grown in a two-year period.

The roof terraces in particular were fantastic. The Achillea tomentosa was a full bloom bright yellow, the Salvia ‘Tesquicola’ was just starting to pop blue and the multiple different colored Sedums had spread as intended. Stainless steel planters, the 6th floor arbor, and beautiful site furnishings, together with the plantings, have created pleasant outdoor rooms to be enjoyed by the employees of United Therapeutics.

 

 

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Eric Groft at Kendale Farm

Detail of Honeysuckle blooming on the vegetable garden fence

On Friday May 4th Eric Groft visited Harrison and Sue Wellford at Kendale Farm on the Rappahannock River in Virginia. It had been several years since Eric had a chance to review the garden and in general the garden and grounds look amazing. Kendale Farm is featured in our new book THE ARTFUL GARDEN: CREATIVE INSPIRATION FOR LANDSCAPE DESIGN. You’ll find a panoramic spread of the farm in Chapter 4: Rhythm & Movement.

Lady Banksia Roses just finish blooming in the cut flower garden

 

Iris Ceasars Brother blooming in front of summer kitchenCut Garden detail

 

Sue Wellford standing in front of a glorius stand of PeaoniesCut flower garden framed by old summer kitchen now used as a potting shedFront of Kendale FarmThe fields of barley were simply mesmerizingDetail of Barley

Tree Planting at the Martin Luther King Memorial

Last week, we posted an update to the Martin Luther King Memorial, where the final sections of the Memorial sculpture were recently put in place to much fanfare. Here are our photos from the occasion:

This week, we thought we’d provide a behind-the-scenes look at the work that is going into making the Memorial a remarkable tribute to the life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. The following are photos from tree planting during the last few weeks at the site:

Proposed tree locations are marked using white flags

Overview of planting beds to be planted before the Thanksgiving Holiday

‘Yoshino’ Cherry trees (Prunus Yedoensis) lined up to be planted on Friday 11/19

‘Yoshino’ Cherry trees (Prunus Yedoensis) planted on Tuesday 11/23

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An Update to the Trinca Gardens

The Trinca Home in Greenwich, CT

On Monday and Tuesday September 27th and 28th, 2010 Oehme, van Sweden hosted client Rosita Trinca in Annapolis, MD and Washington, DC. OvS Principal Eric Groft and his wife Shelley took Rosita, a native Australian, out for her first taste of Maryland Blue Crabs at Mike’s Waterfront on the South River in Edgewater. Rosita was taught by Groft sons Forest and Avery how to pick and eat the messy crustaceans.

On Tuesday it was into the OvS office in Washington where Rosita lunched with OvS Founder Jim van Sweden, current Principals Eric Groft and Sheila Brady, and John Knowlton and brought them up to date on her two OvS projects in Greenwich, Connecticut and Wantagong Station in Holbrooke, New South Wales, Australia.

The Trinca’s first OvS garden in Greenwich (featured on page 136 of James van Sweden’s book Gardening with Water) recently suffered from the spring and summer storms which brought down a number of large trees. The downed trees are being used as a reason to update the garden, which is now decades old. Photos of the proposed specimen Pinus parvifolia and Pinus flexilis were reviwed and approved for fall planting. A list of spring ephemerals including Trillium, blood root, Mayapple and Hellebores was approved to fill the ground plane in the woodland setting and will be planted in the spring.

All enjoyed the pictures of Wantagong and surrounding dramatic landscape from the entry gates, swimming pool, terraces, retaining walls and potage garden – all designed during a site visit by Jim van Sweden and Eric Groft back in the year 2000.

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James van Sweden on the Federal Reserve Building

As part of its What’s Out There Weekend on September 25-26 in Washington, DC, The Cultural Landscape Foundation has produced a wonderful online oral history featuring Oehme van Sweden founder James van Sweden discussing the work he and partner Wolfgang Oehme did on the Federal Reserve Board garden in Washington, DC.

http://www.youtube.com/v/DhgUr3kAYXI?version=3

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The Martin Luther King National Memorial

Oehme, van Sweden Principal Sheila Brady (FASLA) was honored to attend the Washington DC Martin Luther King Jr. National Memorial Project Foundation Inc.’s Defender of Democracy Awards ceremony on September 16. The awards were presented to U.S. Congressmen John Lewis, Steny Hoyer, James Clyburn, and Bennie Thompson, as well as Maryland State Delegate Herman Taylor.

Oehme, van Sweden has been selected as Landscape Architects for the Memorial, which is currently under construction on the National Mall in Washington, DC. Our work encompasses the landscape design through construction administration. Our designs feature natural elements – water, stone, and trees – used to underscore the themes of justice, democracy and hope. The Memorial’s design is by Kathleen Roma of ROMA Design Group.

Aerial photo (August 2010) of construction work on the Memorial

More information about the landscape elements of the memorial is available here.

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The Art of Planting Design

Plants bring joy, inspiration, and beauty into our lives, feeding the soul and connecting us to the natural world. Although landscape architects are increasingly proficient with the tools and techniques of ecologically sustainable design, it is equally important to plant for beauty and delight. This past Saturday, September 11, Oehme, van Sweden Principal Eric Groft (ASLA) joined two other award-winning landscape architects who are distinguished in the fine art of planting design to discuss how to create works of landscape artistry with plants. The presentation took place at the American Society of Landscape Architects 2010 Annual Meeting in Washington, DC as was attended by more than 550 professionals.

In addition to Mr. Groft, the roundtable included Gary Smith of W. Gary Smith Design in Austin, Texas and Craig Bermann of Craig Bermann Landscape Design in Wilmette, Illinios.

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Revisiting the Fed

August’s stifling heat has some advantages – many plants have been lured by the sun into their full summer exuberance. Oehme, van Sweden staff members spent a recent lunch break basking in the sun ourselves and enjoying lush plantings at the Federal Reserve campus in Washington, DC.

The Federal Reserve was one of OvS’ earliest “big breaks” – our first large government project, designed and planted in the late 1970’s. Bold sweeps of perennials and grasses marked a striking departure from the formal style of the surrounding federal landscapes. Over the decades, Oehme, van Sweden has maintained a close relationship with the Federal Reserve and recently designed improvements for integrated perimeter site security (including custom bronze bollards, raised planters that incorporate benches and walls, pedestrian and vehicular access and circulation, and kiosk locations).

During our lunchtime tour, OvS Principal Eric Groft pointed out ways in which the new design is integrated into the original and how the integrity of the original design (including now mature canopy trees, sweeps of ornamental grasses, and robust perennials) is honored. Eric was joined by OvS Associate Marisa Scalera (who has been involved in the Federal Reserve designs since 2003) and members of the OvS design staff including Christie Ciabotti, Lisa Cutshaw, John Knowlton, Nick Ries, and Liz Stetson.

See our website for photos of our work at the Federal Reserve.

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