Rick Darke heads RICK DARKE LLC, a Pennsylvania-based consulting firm focused on contextual landscape design, planning, and environmental conservation. Blending art, ecology, and cultural geography, and relying on the use of narrative imagery, Darke’s work is directed at the ethics of livable landscapes. A widely published author, photographer, and lecturer, Darke travels both hemispheres exploring diverse ecologies and cultural landscapes in search of ideas to enrich the global garden. He has studied and photographed North American plants in their habitats for over 30 years, and this work is reflected in his articles and award-winning books including The American Woodland Garden: Capturing the Spirit of the Deciduous Forest. Darke is an internationally recognized authority on the use of grasses in designed and managed landscapes, and his latest book, The Encyclopedia of Grasses for Livable Landscapes, is the world’s most complete individual reference on this topic. 

Artist’s Statement
"Darke has been studying ornamental grasses for over 25 years. His articles and accompanying photography on the subject have been published in dozens of magazines and journals including Garden Design, National Gardening, Fine Gardening, the Brooklyn Botanic Garden Record, and Arnoldia, the magazine of the Arnold Arboretum. Darke’s first book on the subject, For Your Garden: Ornamental Grasses was published in April 1994. "