James van sweden biography of michael

I first met James van Sweden in 1995 when I was in America to take photographs for a book I was writing at the time on ornamental grasses. Not only was he the perfect host, introducing me to his office and current projects, but we shared a fine lunch together.

He eagerly accepted my invitation to come over to the Netherlands the following year to speak at a symposium I was organising entitled Perennial Perspectives and so began a long association during which I have visited many of the gardens his firm has designed, both public and private.

Most recently I visited his fabulous weekend house in Maryland and together toured some of his most successful garden projects. At the time he was working on a new book which has finally appeared; entitled The Artful Garden it explores how art in all its forms can inform and inspire garden and landscape architecture.

Turning its pages what I discovered was a souvenir, of sorts, of familiar places and anecdotes together with a tantalizing gli