Gregory Long, NYBG CEO and President; John Berenstein, Leon Levy Foundation President and CFO; Shelby White, Leon Levy Foundation Trustee; Todd Forrest, NYBG Vice President; Elizabeth B. Moynihan, Leon Levy Foundation Trustee; Sheila Brady, OvS Partner; Joanna Payne, NYBG Director of the Native Plant Garden; Maureen K. Chilton, NYBG Board Chairman; and Hugh Hardy, H3 Hardy Collaboration Architecture Partner. (Photo courtesy of NYBG)

The Native Plant Garden opened to the public with a ribbon-cutting on May 3, 2013 at the New York Botanical Garden in Bronx, New York. The Garden is a gift of the Leon Levy Foundation, and Trustee Shelby White cut the ribbon on their behalf.

The three-and-a-half-acre garden demonstrates the vital role of native plants in diverse ecosystems and highlights the beauty and diversity of native flora throughout the four seasons. The Native Plant Garden is comprised of nearly 100,000 native species are planted in meadow, woodland and wetland habitats.    

Read more about the Native Plant Garden:

- The New York Times 
- The Washington Post
- The New York Botanical Garden

An American native, the tulip tree caused a sensation when American Botanist John Bartram shipped the first one to England in the 18th century.  

Tall and straight, Liriodendron tulipifera is one of the most magnificent trees in the mid-Atlantic. 

Phlox stolonifera and Aquilegia canadensis ‘Little Lanterns’ in bloom in mid-April 2012

Podophyllum peltatum with Tiarella cordifolia and Carex pensylvanica in bloom in mid-April 2012

One of the final areas planted was the garden’s entrance, which features the Entrance Pavilion, designed by Hugh Hardy and John Fontillas of H3 Hardy Collaboration Architecture. A geometric grove of single-stem Magnolia virginiana (Sweetbay Magnolias) frames the pavilion and provides a transition from the modern structure to the dramatic sweeps of spring ephemerals, ferns, and sedges carpeting the woodland beyond.

Grove of Magnolia virginiana at the Entrance Pavilion in early April 2013

Entrance Pavilion in early April 2013, designed and photographed by H3 Hardy Collaboration Architecture

The Native Plant Garden’s opening date was selected in part to highlight the Garden’s extensive collection of spring ephemerals planted below existing mature canopy trees.  Though few plants had emerged on OvS’ planting visits several weeks ago, we look forward to witnessing the transformation that warmer weather and spring rains inevitably bring to the garden.

 Gerhard Meinzer, president of the Association of German-American Societies of Greater Washington, D.C. and Marc J. Wheat, president of the German-American Heritage Foundation of the U.S.A. also participated in the signing ceremony.

Marc Wheat, Karen Cucurullo, Ambassador Peter Ammon and Gerhard Meinzer participate in the signing ceremony.

The German-American Friendship Garden was established in 1983, as the joint effort of the US President Ronald Reagan and German Chancellor Helmut Kohl for the German-American Tricentennial.  Strategically placed between the Thomas Jefferson Memorial and the White House, the German-American Friendship Garden is located on the grounds of the Washington Monument.

The German-American Friendship Garden

OvS founding partner, Wolfgang Oehme, dedicated his time and efforts to the design and installation of the garden in 1983. Oehme, van Sweden is delighted to be assisting in the restoration of the Garden.

Lisa Delplace, Gerhard Meinzer and Karen Cucurullo

Eric was accompanied to the event by OvS client Annachiara Danieli of Manhattan and Springs, New York.  Before the evening ended, Eric and Anna got a chance to take a peek at the New Native Garden slated to open next Friday, May 3rd.

The live plant auction was particularly interesting. It featured a Cornus walkerii which NYBG Arthur Ross Vice President of Horticulture and Living Collections Todd Forrest described as “very rare.”  Eric and Anna were out-bid on the tree by financier Michael Feinstein who will add it to his famous property in Mount Kisco.

The Native Plant Garden at NYBG

The double-flowered bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis f. multiplex) was among the first of the ephemerals to bloom during OvS Senior Associate Hilary Oat-Judge’s visit last week. The tightly furled leaf revealed a blush pink bud that opened to a ruffled, pure white bloom. It was a delicate start to the spring show in the garden, but by May, the display will be at its peak and well worth a trip to NYBG. 

sanguinaria canadensis f multiplex (bud)

We hope that the garden will inspire you to use native plants in new ways. Come to the symposium on Friday, May 3 to hear from these renowned figures in the horticulture and design fields:

• Dr. Robert Naczi, Arthur J. Cronquist Curator of North American Botany at NYBG, will speak about how plant populations are responding to environmental change

• Dr. Douglas Tallamy, Chair of the Department of Entomology and Wildlife Ecology, University of Delaware, will discuss the essential role native plants play in sustaining native birds and insects

• Rick Darke, President of Rick Darke LLC, author, photographer and lecturer, will discuss using natives to create vibrant designed landscapes

• Sheila Brady, FASLA, OvS principal, will speak about her vision for creating the new Native Plant Garden

The Hamamelis ‘Arnold Promise’ and Narcissus ‘February Gold’ in our front garden here on Capitol Hill certainly don’t mind a little winter weather.  In fact, these and many other plants thrive during late-season cold spells.

OvS Principal Eric Groft grew up in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, where the farmers would call these late winter storms “Onion Snows,” named for the fact that the tubular Allium plants were emerging and visible above a blanket of white.        

Hamamelis ‘Arnold Promise’

Narcissus ‘February Gold

OvS’ Eric Groft, John Knowlton and Lili Herrera attended this year.  Our team benefited from conversations with Pierre Bennerup, Marc Laviana and Peter Culp at Sunny Border Nurseries, Katy Bolt and Alex Bluemel Betz of Kurt Bluemel, Inc, Ed Tankard and Mary Beth McManus at Tankard Nurseries, Claudia West of North Creek Nurseries, Paul Babikow of Babikow Nursery, Nancy Young of Manor View Farm, George Bridge of Acorn Farm and many others. 

MANTS is known for attracting a colorful cast of characters and this year was no exception.  However, one character missing was Wolfgang Oehme, founding partner of OvS.  Wolfgang passed away in December 2011 but had made his attendance at MANTS an annual event for decades.  He and his entourage were known as the “Wolf Gang” and always were a highly anticipated part of the show.  He was missed but remembered by many this year.

 Some of the new plants that caught our attention this year include the following: 

Sporobolus Wrightii ‘Windbreaker’ (North Creek Nurseries)

Schizachyrium scoparium ‘Standing Ovation’ (North Creek Nurseries)

Rudbeckia fulgida var. deamii (Sunny Border Nurseries)

Lonicera Edmee Gold (Star Nursery)

This article in the latest issue of America in World War II Magazine entitled “ The Bloodying of Bloody Ridge” highlights the events on Guadalcanal and the venerable Edson’s Raiders’ taking of this strategic landform during the early warfare of the Pacific Theater in 1942.  The article is based on the oral and written history of Marlin Franklin Groft, father of Eric D. Groft, Principal at OvS.  In 2002, Eric accompanied his father to Guadalcanal to mark the occasion of the 60^th anniversary of the Marines landing in August 1942.  The success of taking Bloody Ridge, securing Henderson Field and Guadalcanal and the rest of the Marshall Islands turned the tide in favor of the United States and the eventual defeat of the Japanese in the Pacific.  Today, Marlin is amongst the last surviving members of Edson’s Raiders and Eric was fortunate to attend the dedication of the World War II Memorial on the Mall in Washington, DC with his father by his side back in May 2004. The occasion was especially poignant because OvS was the landscape architect of record for this important memorial between the Lincoln Memorial and the Washington Monument (click here to learn more about the project).

As our nation takes the time to honor our veterans, we salute both those whose service is completed and those who are currently deployed.

Click here to view the article referenced above.

Image courtesy of Bowie Gridley Architects

Oehme, van Sweden is pleased to announce that the UVA Bookstore expansion has been awarded Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Silver certification.

OvS was the Landscape Architect on the project, which was designed by Architect Paul Lund of Bowie Gridley. Rebecca Aarons-Sydnor of Sustainable Design Consulting assisted with LEED certification. The scope included renovation of the existing Bookstore and adjacent parking garage, including a new new entrance and streetscape along Emmet Street which serves as a gateway to the University of Virginia.  The landscape design included Green Screens to shield the parking structures, street trees and masses of native perennials and shrubs as part of a surface water retention program.