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It housed press conferences during the Cuban Missile Crisis and welcomed Project Mercury astronauts. Kennedy's dream of a world-renowned official garden was quickly coming true. There is often unspoken encouragement when trees or shrubs are planted and you review the original plan to see how the reality of three dimensions measures up. Now in the Rose Garden shadows gave a quality of aliveness that could be repeated by the smaller trees I hoped to plant in the two flanking twelve-foot borders. The force of the summer sun that bakes the city of Washington would be broken by the height and width of these trees. The tree whose trunk reached higher than the others was planted in the northeast corner by the White House.
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In addition to influencing the design and decor of the refurbished White House, Edith Roosevelt replaced the greenhouses torn down for the expansion with a "colonial" garden filled with old-fashioned flowers like pansies, daisies, and wildflowers. I spoke to Mrs. Kennedy about this, with the hope that if he were willing, Mr. Williams could be transferred by the Park Service to become head gardener at the White House. This strategy worked out well for everyone, and Mr. Williams soon took up his duties there, becoming involved with all the details of building a new garden.
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Architecture buffs such as Eric Groft of Oehme, van Sweden are delighted to see the colonnade, designed by Benjamin Latrobe and Thomas Jefferson, so fully visible now, but the crab apples’ disappearing act remains perplexing. President Johnson is seen at the podium from above in this photo, speaking to reporters on April 23, 1964. The gardens are in full spring bloom, and five crab apple trees run along the garden's borders. The gardens are designed to change with the seasons, and be flexible to adapt to the tastes of the president, with a mix of annuals and perennials. People shared their opinion about the renovation on social media, alongside images showing the garden before and after the renovation.
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These trees would soften the difficult corners that were now bare and would permit sufficient light to fall beneath and around them to allow planting. A 50-by-100-foot lawn, large enough to accommodate a thousand people for ceremonial activities and receptions and small enough to be covered by a tent, would be in the center of the garden. I vividly remember my first impression of the scene and the setting for the projected garden. The White House proper seemed exceptionally tall where it joined the long, low colonnade that linked it to the Oval Office and Cabinet Room.
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A Discussion with the Voices of Lafayette Park

President Kennedy made frequent use of the new Rose Garden for a variety of functions. The president had specified there were to be functional steps that could also serve as a stage at the west end of the garden near the Oval Office. In this photo, Kennedy addresses Boys Nation, a young men’s civic group, at a Rose Garden ceremony on July 24, 1963.
White House Gardens
He wanted to start, in the greatest haste, to remake the area near his office at the west end of the White House, known as the Rose Garden, into an area both useful and attractive. He and Mrs. Kennedy had just returned from a state visit to France, followed by stops in England and Austria. The President had noted that the White House had no garden equal in quality or attractiveness to the gardens that he had seen and in which he had been entertained in Europe. There he had recognized the importance of gardens surrounding an official residence and their appeal to the sensibilities of all people. Soo covered the COVID-19 pandemic from 2020 to 2022, including interviews with chief medical advisor to the president, Dr. Anthony Fauci. Soo has reported on various major events, including the Black Lives Matter movement, the U.S. and Canadian elections, and the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
Visitors have the opportunity to see the two formal gardens, the Rose Garden near the West Wing and the Jacqueline Kennedy Garden near the East Wing as well as the Kitchen Garden which was established in 2009. Along with the gardens, visitors can view many of the ornamental trees planted by former presidents. In spring there would be flowering bulbs, such as tulips, with a border of lapis blue Mùscari.
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It all began at a summer picnic at Mellon's Cape Cod beach house that included President and Mrs. Kennedy as guests, according to an interview Mellon conducted for the White House Historical Association. "Hardly had the President came ashore from his boat when he suggested we sit down and discuss a garden for the White House," she recalled in the interview. In the years following, the garden grounds of the White House continued to bloom, with the planting of various flowers as well as ornamental and commemorative trees.
On either side of the large lawn there could be a border 12 feet wide in which to plant smaller trees, roses, and other flowers. The President loved flowers and asked if a variety of other types could be mixed with the roses. He had read the published garden notes of Thomas Jefferson and hoped for flowers used in Jefferson’s period.
Today, the Rose Garden is kept as a private reserve for the president to relax, read, converse with his aides and engage in contemplation, according to Roberts. Today the almost six-acre (2.4 ha) estate includes about 9,000 square feet (840 m2) of living space, with tile and hardwood flooring, arched doorways and detailed groin-vaulted ceilings. Among its key features is the ocean-view office used by Nixon, an entertainer's pavilion, and a master suite with an expanded bathroom and closet area. Formal living spaces open to a classic hacienda-style patio courtyard with a hand-painted tile fountain in its center.
The estate sits just north of some of the West Coast's best and most well known surfing spots, which cover four miles from San Onofre State Park through Lower and Upper Trestles and ending at Cotton's Point, itself one of the best big summer wave spots along the entire coast. Although the trees were pretty, McDowell said, they have always been problematic because as they grew they shaded out the roses, and "if you want roses, you can't grow them in the shade." On March 31, a workman poked a shovel deep into the earth, and suddenlyalarms went off and security guards materialized. The president asked Bunny to complete the garden in four months and tokeep costs down, although the National Park Service would cover theexpense. Jackie Kennedy, wife of Massachusetts senator John F. Kennedy, liked toescape life in D.C.
The garden was the backdrop thefollowing month when the president hosted the Peace CorpsVolunteers before they left for Ghana and Tanganyika. In September, heinvited the award-winning University of Arkansas choir to join himthere. In mid-October, he welcomed Algerian premier Ahmed Ben Bella witha 21-gun salute, which prompted Jackie to crouch behind a hedge holdingon to 23-month-old John junior so the toddler wouldn’t be frightened bythe noise and smoke. The request from the president was simultaneously unnerving andexhilarating.
Even though she could now imagine thepossibilities, the prospect of moving forward was daunting. PerryWheeler agreed to help, but this was a project that would require theresources of the National Park Service. Bunny was initially baffled by the prospect of creating a visuallyelegant stage set, using trees, flowers, and hedges to serve as abackdrop for state occasions. She brought Perry Wheeler, the landscapearchitect favored by Georgetown society, along on her first visit to thegarden, and the two of them sat on a white bench under Andrew Jackson’smagnolia tree. As they mulled the possibilities, the president steppedout of the Oval Office.
And with its white facade, towering pillars and symmetrical windows, the Neoclassical building is instantly recognisable. Located outside of themain entrance, just west of the entrance drive, there is a smaller road which runs to the west and leads to the white, marble mausoleum of Henry Huntington. In December 2009, the city of San Clemente passed a "Historical Property Preservation Agreement"[9] to restore, improve, and preserve this historical building.
“Jack and Jackie jumped off and came in to the beach.”Graham brought a camera to capture the occasion. Bunny knew that greenery could enhance a drab room in far less time thanit took for a paint job. At her request, the dreary potted palms at theWhite House were replaced with fig trees. She filled her chauffeured carwith blossoms from her greenhouses at Oak Spring Farms, her Upperville,Virginia, estate, and took them to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, where sheshowed the government staff how to make elegant floral arrangements.“Mrs.