Bunny Mellon Potting Shed in Oak Spring Farm
A photograph by Jonathan Becker featuring, Rachel "Bunny" Mellon's potting shed, situated within Oak Spring Farm, Upperville, Virginia.
Bunny Mellon was a horticulturalist, gardener and collector, most notably she was commissioned by the Kennedy's to reinvent the White House Rose Garden. She also was known to have assembled one of the largest collections of rare horticultural books.
An account by Rachel Mellon herself, on how she came to reinventing the White House Rose Garden.
"My involvement began at a picnic on a hazy summer day in August at our beach house on Cape Cod, surrounded by sand dunes, the sea, and sailboats. It was a picnic for a few friends and included President and Mrs. Kennedy. Hardly had the President came ashore from his boat when he suggested we sit down and discuss a garden for the White House.
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."
Originally published in White House History 1983.