Boston Flora

Tag: James van Sweden

  • Tuesday, August 8 – Wednesday, August 16 – Piet Oudolf & Dutch Wave Gardens Trip

    Tuesday, August 8 – Wednesday, August 16 – Piet Oudolf & Dutch Wave Gardens Trip

    Tower Hill Botanic Garden will sponsor a trip August 8 – 16 to the Netherlands. Today naturalistic planting styles are being enthusiastically embraced by plant lovers and designers from around the world. At the forefront of this movement is Dutch plantsman, Piet Oudolf (pronounced Peet Ow-dolf), whose work in private and public gardens is celebrated for its artistry in emulating the freedom and romance of natural habitats. Mr. Oudolf has described his approach this way, “My biggest inspiration is nature. I do not want to copy it but to recreate the emotion.” In this spirit, our travelers can expect to be awed by the gardens we will see on this tour and captivated by the rich history that continues to shape the trend toward naturalism in gardens today.

    The heritage of this popular style can be traced back directly to Germany and The Netherlands where several figures were working in the early 20th century. German plant breeder Karl Foerster and his pupil Ernst Pagels introduced a new style of gardening with huge drifts of perennials and grasses that required little maintenance. Dutch landscape architect Mien Ruys was a friend of Foerster and she did much to popularize designs using loose groupings of herbaceous perennials that looked like native plants found in natural settings. Mien’s influence was widespread. She inspired Wolfgang Oehme and James van Sweden in the United States, who created the New American Garden style.

    In The Netherlands, another naturalistic style, that later became known as the Dutch Wave, was adopted by four designers who began collaborating in the early 1980’s. They included Rob Leopold, owner of a wildflower seed company; Ton ter Linden, painter and garden designer; Henk Gerritsen, a designer, writer and plantsman; and Piet Oudolf, the designer who continues to inspire and influence the international gardening world.

    Tower Hill member price per person, double occupancy, is $4,100, nonmembers $4,200, with a $1,000 single supplement available. Air fare not included. Deposit of $1,000 is due by February 3, final payment due May 1. For complete itinerary details and information, visit www.towerhillbg.org.  Register at https://towerhillbg.thankyou4caring.org/pages/event-registration-form—piet-oudolf–dutch-wave-gardens

  • 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).

  • Thursday, April 14, 10:30 am – Boston Committee Spring Meeting & Luncheon: The Artful Garden

    The Boston Committee of The Garden Club of America invites members of its constituent fourteen clubs to its Spring Meeting and Luncheon on Thursday, April 14, beginning with registration at 10:30 am at The Country Club, 191 Clyde Street in Brookline.  The featured speaker will be Sheila Brady, a partner at the renowned landscape architecture firm Oehme, van Sweden and Associates, pioneers of the New American style.  Ms. Brady will talk about the new book The Artful Garden: Creative Inspiration for Landscape Design by James van Sweden and Tom Christopher.  Whether it’s a ten-foot-square city terrace or a ten-acre expanse, the same principles of design apply.  Ms. Brady will discuss the connection between the path in a garden and the horizon of an iconic painting, the syncopation of jazz and the free form of nature, the intrigue of a good novel, and the mystery of a thoughtfully sculpted landscape.  Copies of the book will be available at the meeting by pre-order, at a cost of $35, with proceeds benefiting The Blossom Fund.  The cost of the lecture and luncheon is $50, lecture only $25.  Please make your check payable to The Boston Committee of the GCA and mail to Diane Cullen, 52 Willow Street, Dover, MA 02030 before April 8, 2011, and note on the memo portion of your check your Garden Club affiliation.  All reservations will be held at the door.  Garden Club of the Back Bay members will receive written invitations and a car pool notice in the mail.

  • Friday, September 10, 10:30 am – 2:30 pm – A Moveable Feast

    For the fourth consecutive year, The Cultural Landscape Foundation is planning a garden program on Friday, September 10 for a very limited number of attendees, in conjunction with the American Society of Landscape Architects’ Annual Meeting in Georgetown, Washington, DC.  In the past, these exclusive events have included last year’s private lunch at Mies van der Rohe’s masterwork Farnsworth House in Plano, IL; “Patterns,” the Governor and Elise duPont’s estate that includes Dan Kiley’s last significant garden commission; and the Donnell Garden, a modernist icon in Sonoma with its celebrated kidney-shaped pool.

    This year, under the umbrella of “A Moveable Feast,” you will have a “curated” visit to three private gardens designed by James van Sweden (Oehme van Sweden + Associates). This progressive lunch and excursion will begin with a walk around one garden, the next garden will include light refreshments, while the third will include a buffet lunch. The on-foot garden excursion will be followed by a premiere of the James van Sweden Pioneers Oral History module and a seated conversation with Mr. van Sweden himself. Join Jim and TCLF Board members for this celebratory event. $700 – Garden Excursion; $75 – Moveable Feast Reception.  To register, and for more information, log on to www.tclf.org/event/moveable-feast.

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