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Welcome to Brainstuff, a production of I Heart

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Radio, Hey

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brain Stuff Lauren Vogelbaum here back.

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In nineteen o two, First Lady Edith

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Roosevelt, wife of President Theodore Roosevelt,

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took it upon herself to convert an area

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of the White House Grounds that once housed

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stables for horses and carriages into a

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classic colonial garden as part of the Roosevelt

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Renovation. Then in nineteen

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First Lady Ellen Louise Axon Wilson, the

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first wife of President Woodrow Wilson, followed

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her lead by replacing what had become known

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as the West Garden with a rose garden,

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and President Franklin D. Roosevelt went

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on in nineteen thirty five to appoint famed

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landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted

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Jr. Son of the creator of New York Central

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Park, to freshen up the design of the rose

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Garden. In nineteen sixty

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one, under the direction of First Lady Jacqueline

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Kennedy, amateur gardenist Rachel

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Lambert Bunny Melon was asked

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to design the current garden, which led

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to what is known today as the Kennedy Rose

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Garden, adjacent to the Oval Office

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and cabinet room. We spoke

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via email with Dan Roberts, a liberal

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arts and history professor at the University of Richmond

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in Virginia who also serves as executive

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producer and host of the syndicated history radio

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program A Moment in Time. Roberts

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explained it was part of a general landscape

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redesign of the White House complex. The

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Rose Garden balanced the structure with the East

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Garden or Jacqueline Kennedy Garden on

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the other side of living quarters in the central

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and original building of the White House. This

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is essentially the Rose Garden we know today.

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So how did Bunny Melon become involved?

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It all began at a summer picnic at Melon's

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Cape Cod Beach house that included President

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in Missus Kennedy as guests, according to an

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interview Melon conducted for the White House Historical

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Association. In that interview,

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Mellon recalled hardly had the President

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came ashore from his boat when he suggested we

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sit down and discuss a garden for the White House.

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He and Missus Kennedy had just returned from a

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state visit to France, followed by stops

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in England and Austria. The President

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had noted that the White House had no garden

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equal in quality or attractiveness to

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the gardens that he had seen and in which he had

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been entertained in Europe. There

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he had recognized the importance of gardens

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surrounding an official residence, and there appealed

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to the sensibilities of all people. Melan

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envisioned a fifty by a hundred foot lawn

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that's about fifteen by thirty meters,

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large enough to accommodate a thousand people for

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ceremonial activities and receptions, and

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small enough to be covered by a tent flanked

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in all four corners by magnolia trees,

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and twelve foot or four meter wide borders

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planted with smaller trees, roses, and

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other flowers, including flowers used

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during Thomas Jefferson's period in office.

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The plans also called for a platform on the

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west end of the garden near the oval office,

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and a flagstone terrace on the east

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end to serve as a place where the president could

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relax and entertain guests or post

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small luncheons. To

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execute her design, Melan sought out

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Irvin Williams, head gardener of Washington's

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Kennilworth quatic gardens, and then

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asked Jackie to arrange for Williams to be transferred

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to the White House's Chief Gardener, prestigious

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job that he held for almost fifty years. The

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garden was unveiled on April nineteen

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sixty two, and the first ceremonial

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occasion held there in July of nineteen sixty

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two featured swearing in of Anthony

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Celebreezi, the former mayor of Cleveland,

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as the new Secretary of Health, Education

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and Welfare. Melon's

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design created the White House central lawns

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so familiar to today's TV viewers,

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according to Roberts. He said,

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it's surrounded by flower beds anchored

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by crab apple and little leaved linden

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trees. Hedges of thyme and boxwood

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are intermingled with flower beds filled with

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the gardens signature rose varieties Queen

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Elizabeth, Pascali, Pat Nixon,

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and King's Ransom. Blooming

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bulbs of john Quill, daffodils, and

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tulips burst into verdant color in springtime

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and summertime annuals paint the flower beds

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with rich hues until fall, when flowering

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kale and chrysanthemums and live in the garden with

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color almost until the early days of winter.

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While Kennedy was in office, he used the gardens

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to host Peace Corps volunteers before they

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went overseas, invited the award

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winning University of Arkansas choir to join

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him there, welcomed Algerian Premier

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Ahmed ben Bella with a twenty one gun

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salute, and greeted the astronauts

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of Project Mercury. During

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the Cuban Missile Crisis, the Rose Garden also

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served as a dramatic backdrop as he

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and advisers devised a strategy to avoid

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a nuclear war with Russia. Today,

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the Rose Garden is kept as a private reserve

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for the president to relax, read, converse

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with his aids, and engage in contemplation,

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according to Roberts, but he

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added that through the years, presidents

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have also used the space to showcase

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diplomatic, social, and political events,

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making important public proclamations,

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holding press conferences, greeting significant

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guests, introducing political allies

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and appointees, rallying allies

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for partisan battles, and celebrating

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congressional and national victory. Roberts

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said that among some of the most memorable activities

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to take place there where when quote Tricia

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Nixon was wed to Edward F. Cox and

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spectacular nuptials in one

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and President Bill Clinton presided over

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the declaration of peace between Israel and Jordan.

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But it's not all serious stuff. He

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also said, one quirky tradition

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rears its head, or shall we say their

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heads in high summer. On July

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one, garden gnomes mysteriously appear

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scattered throughout the rose garden. The

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number of these stone characters happens to

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coincide with the number of living presidents,

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and on Monday, July, First

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Lady Milannia Trump's office released a statement

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announcing a massive renewal and enhancement

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of the White House Rose Garden. The accompanying

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report lists, as part of its mission statement

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quote to curate an outdoor experienced

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transcendent of each administration and

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promote design solutions that are steeped

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in scholarship and intellect and are reflective

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of meticular liss attention to narrative intent

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and detail. Today's

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episode was written by Wendy Bowman and produced by

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Tyler Klang. For more on this and lots of

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other green topics, visit how Stuffworks dot

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com. Brain Stuff is a production of iHeart

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Radio. For more podcasts my heart Radio,

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visit the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts,

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or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.