Boston Flora

Tag: Eric Groft

  • Tuesday, October 30, 2:00 pm – 3:00 pm Eastern – The White House Rose Garden: Renovation of an Iconic Space

    In 2018, OvS embarked on one of its most ambitious projects in the firm’s history: the renovation of the White House Rose Garden. In this Garden Conservancy online presentation on October 30 at 2 pm Eastern, Eric Groft, Principal-in-Charge of the project, will illustrate the research, planning, and design that helped guide the Garden’s renewal and curate an outdoor experience transcendent of each administration. The presentation will address OvS’ White House Rose Garden Landscape Report, and how it informed the design updates that allow for universal accessibility, modernized systems of irrigation and drainage, improved media technology and other electrical infrastructure, as well as a renewed palette of roses and other blight-resistant species that are better suited for this hallowed space. The talk should be enlightening in view of the recent destruction of the garden and transformation into a paved space for parties.

    ERIC GROFT CEO and Director of OEHME, VAN SWEDEN | OvS, is renowned for his diversity in residential, commercial, and institutional work. He prides himself on a sense of regionalism, attention to the vernacular, and his work with cultural landscapes. Eric’s commissions include landscape master planning and design efforts for residential gardens throughout the east end of Long Island and the northeastern region of the United States. His commercial body of work features the American Museum and Gardens in Bath, UK, the Federal Reserve Campus in Washington, DC, as well as the 2020 renovation of the White House Rose Garden. Eric has a passion for horticulture and is dedicated to shepherding the evolution of OvS’ New American Garden Style. He is widely recognized as an industry leader in ecological sensitivity, environmental/wetland restoration, and shoreline stabilization/revetment. He frequently lectures on these topics and the work of OvS.

    Note: You will receive the webinar link directly from Zoom. A recording of this webinar will be sent to all registrants a few days after the event. We encourage you to register, even if you cannot attend the live webinar. $5 for Garden Conservancy members, $15 for nonmembers. Register at https://www.gardenconservancy.org/events/web25-white-house-rose-garden-10-30-2025

  • Sunday, March 19 – Monday, April 3, 2017 – Japan’s Cultural Landscapes

    Following on the success of its annual excursions and Garden Dialogues, The Cultural Landscape Foundation (TCLF) is venturing overseas to offer a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to experience the gardens, architecture, and museums of Japan with TCLF president + CEO Charles Birnbaum, along with the TCLF Board of Directors and Stewardship Council. Loosely based on the extensive travels of well-known landscape architect James van Sweden (who is the subject of one of TCLF’s Pioneers oral histories), the trip will include visits to traditional Japanese gardens, but will also focus on contemporary Japanese landscape architectural design.

    Travelers will learn the secrets of ancient design theory and see Japan through the eyes of landscape architects, architects, and historians. And this two-week immersion in Japanese design, culture, and history will be liberally supplemented with FUN—with TCLF Board Member Eric Groft leading the way, there’s bound to be plenty of sashimi, sake, and shopping as well.

    The full itinerary of the excursion can be found at http://tclf.org/sites/default/files/atoms/files/TCLF%20Japan%202017%20Itinerary.pdf. For inquiries and registration, please contact Susan Gullia, Managing Director at Protravel International, LLC, at Susan.Gullia@protravelinc.com or 800.227.1059 (ext. 9556).