White House gardens

I enjoy visiting gardens of historic places. This cold weather and the celebration of President's Day seemed an ideal time to explore the gardens of the White House. And so I have read and now recommend to you the book All the Presidents' Gardens by Marta McDowell. I knew some things about the Presidents and gardening before I began reading. Founding Gardeners by Andrea Wulf discusses George Washington's love for native trees and plants and Thomas Jefferson's interest in new plants and cultivation techniques. I was also aware that the cherry trees were connected to First Lady Helen Taft. There is much more to learn. The book's subtitle is "Madison's Cabbages to Kennedy's Roses – How the White House Grounds have Grown with America." There are eight chapters with a preface, prologue, and epilogue. The author also has brief biographies of the extraordinary gardeners and a list of all the plants with botanical names. The book ends with a bibliography and index. There are photographs of the gardens and documents related to gardening. Most of us know that John Adams was the first President to live in the White House, which was unfinished when he moved in 1800. He lived there a year. George Washington had wanted to have some say in the building of the U.S. Capitol and had laid out the plans for the city under the direction of architect Peter L'Enfant, but Pres. Washington died in 1799. So Thomas Jefferson was the first President to have much impact on the gardens. The book discusses his plans with Benjamin Latrobe. The book contains an old existing design for a "curving English romantic garden," a beginning of the White House gardens. The burning of the White House during the War of 1812 stopped the growth of the gardens for a few years. It was, however, a gardener named Thomas McGraw helped save the Gilbert Stuart of George Washington. And after the reconstruction, the gardens began to flourish again. Vegetable gardens were key for some of the early Presidents as a way to help feed their family and guests. Of interest is an order for vegetable seeds by President Madison at a shop in Philadelphia (p. 61) and the story of the Shakers' invention of the standardized paper seed packet (p. 63). And of course, First Lady Michelle Obama's new gardens to the side of South Lawn. In her goal to promote healthy eating (p.243-247). Of particular interest to me were the conservatories (greenhouses) on the west side of the White House during the 1800's. Harriet Lane, who served as hostess for President James Buchanan, had a collection the author called "an accidental ark, a global roundup of plants." (p.94.) President Andrew Johnson replaced it with a bigger better structure and President Hayes expanded it in 1877 and hired Henry Pfister from Ohio as head gardener. By the 1893 during the second term of President Grover Cleveland, the glass houses were as quoted from the New York Times ' "undoubtedly one of the handsomest and most complete in the country...filled with rare foliage and flowering plants…"'. The picture on p. 127 shows a huge array of glasshouses, places where the visitors would walk and visit. Another interest is the Rose Garden. The greenhouses were torn down during the presidency of Theodore Roosevelt to enlarge the White House and construct the West Wing. The Rose Garden is located along the West Wing and West Terrace. First started by First Lady Edith Wilson in 1913, the current design of the Rose Garden reflects changes requested by First Lady Jaqueline Kennedy in 1962 and designed by Rachel Lambert Mellon. (This book did not cover the 2020 renovations at instruction of First Lady Melania Trump.) The book also contains stories of trees planted during the years and preserved by later presidents. In the "All the Presidents' Plants" section at the back, it mentions that some invasive species were introduced but are no longer added. It also mentions cultivars or plants and hybrid tea roses names for the First Ladies. One particular story struck me as important. Sixth President John Quincy Adams entered the office in a hostile political environment and only served one term. During his presidency, he learned to garden. His instructor was John Ousley, an Irish immigrant who served as gardener from 1825-1852. John Quincy Adams is quoted from his diaries: "'My health and spirits droop, and the attempt to sustain them by… botany, the natural history or trees, and the purpose of naturalizing exotics is almost desperate." ' He recorded the plantings and tried to learn the botanical names. He wished he had begun sooner. John Quincy Adams left the Presidency in 1829, but two years later returned to the House of Representatives where he served for two decades (always among other things fighting for abolition) until he suffered a stroke at his desk in Congress in 1848. He died two days later. This after many years of service to his country. I have always admired him and am glad to know that he, too, found gardening to a balm to his soul.