After initial
forays into mechanical engineering, art, cultural
geography and anthropology, Darke graduated with a
Bachelor of Science degree in Plant Science from the
University of Delaware in Newark, Delaware in 1977. He
subsequently completed graduate coursework in plant
taxonomy, botanic garden management, and public
policy. Darke received an honorary degree from the Conway
School of Landscape Design in July 2009.
Darke served on the staff of Longwood Gardens, Kennett Square, Pennsylvania for 20 years, beginning in 1977 as Taxonomic Assistant. As Curator of Plants from 1986-1997, Darke played a major role in developing the Gardens' indoor and outdoor displays, and was directly responsible for the identification and data management of the nearly 10,000 different plants comprising Longwoods' grounds and conservatory collections. His work with international plant exploration and introduction has taken him to Japan, South Africa, England, Germany, Brazil, Australia, New Zealand, Costa Rica, and the Canary Islands.
Darke lectures internationally on
sustainable landscape design, planning, conservation
and the ethical underpinnings of all of these. Special
areas of focus include ecological and cultural
landscapes of North America, deciduous woodland
ecology and garden design, grasses for sustainable
global gardens, Arts & Crafts period gardens,
roadside/ruderal landscapes, and regenerative
landscapes. On the broad topic of livable
landscapes Rick has addressed audiences in
North America, Canada, England, Ireland, Japan,
South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, and Chile.
Darke is an active free-lance writer and photographer. His collection of digital photos and 35mm transparencies includes over 200,000 images of plants, gardens, and diverse landscapes around the world. His photographs have been published in numerous books, magazines, newspapers and nursery catalogs. Darke's current cameras include the Sony models A99, A77, NEX-7, RX100, SR11 and iPhone 4S. For digital presentation Darke uses Epson projector models Epson 1730W and 1925W. Darke is available for workshops or presentations on the use of digital technologies for gardeners and green industry professionals. Go to Publications for a complete listing of Darke's published works including free downloadable PDF's of his profiles on Amsonia, Halesia, Fothergilla. Darke has been
studying ornamental grasses for over
30 years, and has had articles on this topic published
in numerous magazines and journals including RHS The
Garden, Garden Design, National Gardening, Fine
Gardening, the Brooklyn Botanic Garden
Record, and Arnoldia , the magazine of
the Arnold Arboretum. He authored the booklet Ornamental
Grasses at Longwood Gardens and was responsible
for the design and plant selection of the ornamental
grass display in Longwood's Idea Garden. His first
book, For Your Garden: Ornamental Grasses was
published in April 1994. Darke served as Consulting
Editor for the Royal Horticultural Society's Manual
of Grasses, published in December 1994. His
book, The Color Encyclopedia of
Ornamental Grasses , including over 500
color photographs by the author, was published in the
U.S. in March 1999 by Timber Press. His next work on
grasses, the Timber Press Pocket Guide to
Ornamental Grasses, was published Autumn
2004. His most recent book on grasses, The Encyclopedia of Grasses for
Livable Landscapes, was published in April 2007
by Timber Press. With over 1000 photos and more
than 130,000 words, it is the most comprehensive
encyclopedia of landscape grasses ever published. It
is available in French from
Editions du Rouergue (Parc Saint-Joseph, France), and
was published in German in 2010 by
Verlag Eugen Ulmer (Stuttgart, Germany) Darke's research has investigated period Arts & Crafts Movement philosophies and their importance to contemporary stewardship of cultural landscapes and local ecologies. He has written about Arts & Crafts gardens for Style 1900: The Quarterly Journal of the Arts & Crafts Movement, has lectured from coast to coast on this topic, and has served as design consultant on Arts & Crafts gardens from California to Pennsylvania. His book, In Harmony with Nature: Lessons from the Arts & Crafts Garden was published in hardcover in March 2000 by Friedman-Fairfax of New York and in softcover in March 2001. Darke has presented various perspectives on the topic of Arts & Crafts gardens for institutions and symposia including: the 9th Annual Grove Park Inn Arts & Crafts Conference in Asheville, North Carolina; the Friends of the Gamble House Greene & Greene Symposium in Pasadena, California; Descanso Gardens in La Canada Flintridge, California; the Rose Valley Anniversary Lecture Series at the Hedgerow Theater in Rose Valley, Pennsylvania; the University of Pennsylvania's Morris Arboretum in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; the Berks County Pennsylvania Horticulture Club; Bok Tower Gardens in Lake Wales, Florida; the New York Metropolitan Chapter of the Victorian Society in America; the Santa Barbara Botanic Garden in California, the 13th Annual Grove Park Inn Arts & Crafts Conference; and the New York Botanical Garden. Darke has been a founding member of the Steering and Program Committees for the Millersville University annual Conference on "Native Plants in the Landscape", co-Chairman of the Native Plant Sale Program Committee for the Delaware Nature Society, Chairman of the AABGA Nomenclature Committee, and is Past President of the Board of Directors of the Delaware Center for Horticulture. He served on the review board for the Chester County Natural Areas Inventory, and on the Public Education Committee of the Citizens Task Force for the Congressionally-sponsored White Clay Watershed Wild & Scenic Rivers Study, on the Delaware Department of Transportation Horticultural and Vegetative Management Advisory Group, the Landscape Advisory Committee of the Whitesbog Preservation Trust, and served for ten years as a Board Member of Pennsylvania's London Britain Township Land Trust. |
