When first published in 1990, Bold Romantic Gardens: The New World Landscapes of Oehme and van Sweden, became a watershed work that revealed a new course in late 20th century American gardening. At a time when the general public's appetite for gardening was flourishing and being fed a singular diet of flowers, and landscape architects continued to distance themselves from the cliches that tied them solely to gardening, Oehme and van Sweden were making a compelling case for rediscovering the power of making landscapes from the whole realm of materials available. By not limiting the palette of their designs, they would not limit the range of possible experiences. This lesson remains potent today and, with the reissue of this book by Spacemaker Press this year, it deserves a second examination.

Although largely a book about planting, it offers so much more to contemplate. The authors' concerns for garden design extend to infusing the ephemeral, creating romance, challenging the perceptions of scale, introducing elements of time, transforming through personal experience, and managing the prosaic. These were not new ideas about garden design. What made, and still makes, this discourse engaging is that Oehme and van Sweden showed us how to do it with grasses, sedges, and perennials in a style that distinctly pointed to the American psyche — extroverted yet puritanical, independent yet connected to community, forward-looking yet deferential to history. Their style is manifestly bold yet the authors' work is not solely about a design style but rather an approach to living with the landscape.

Save for new introductory remarks, this edition is unchanged from the previous. However, since this was republished in an age when new and improved often gets undeserved attention, this is a comforting book to reread. Nonetheless, there is a nagging desire to see how time has treated Oehme and van Sweden's work. New photographs of several projects would add depth to their theories. We know from introductory remarks that the authors' thinking has changed but they prefer to keep these reflections to themselves, content with the stasis achieved nearly ten years ago. This is a loss but not one so deep that it should discourage a new generation of devotees. If you do not own this book, add it to your library. If it is already yours, take it out again and enjoy the visit.

Laura Solano is a senior associate with the landscape architectural firm of Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates. She is an instructor at the Harvard University Graduate School of Design and has taught courses at the Arnold Arboretum.