Garden Secrets Of Bunny Mellon

A treasure trove of Bunny Mellon’s garden design philosophy and advice from her personal archive. Garden Secrets of Bunny Mellon is for anyone who has enjoyed time spent in a garden, from aspiring garden makers to those who manage large estates. This collection is comprised of extracts from Bunny’s own writings and garden notes, as well as photographs and drawings from her archive. Chapters are organized by Atmosphere (sky, horizon, shadows), Climate, Light, Space, Shape, Maintenance, and more―readers will feel as if Bunny Mellon has come alongside as a gardening guide and friend. Bunny Mellon was of the affluent class and mingled along with her husband, Paul Mellon, in the circles of the East Coast gentry of the Kennedy and Reagan eras. But Mrs. Mellon, as she was respectfully called by those professional gardeners who worked with her most, wasn’t snooty about social position or afraid to get her hands dirty in the rich soil of her family’s Virginia farm. Beyond this, Bunny Mellon was known nationally and internationally as a style icon of her time, enjoying friendships with Givenchy, the Kennedys, and the like. Her personal passion was for design, and that was exhibited in her fashion and her garden. A late acquaintance, Linda Holden learned that Bunny wanted to write a gardening book but never found the time. Searching the family’s archive after Mrs. Mellon’s death, the editors―whom all shared personal relationships with Bunny―discovered a trove of photographs, illustrations, and writings and have now turned it into the how-to gardening book Bunny had hoped to write. Linda Jane Holden was a trusted friend of Bunny Mellon. She authored The Gardens of Bunny Mellon (October 2018). She lives in Chantilly, VA. Thomas Lloyd, grandson of Bunny Mellon, is president of the Gerard B. Lambert Foundation, established by Bunny Mellon to honor her father. Lloyd lives in Washington, DC. Bryan Huffman, an interior designer based in Monroe, NC, was a close friend of Mrs. Mellon for ten years. P. Allen Smith is the TV host of P. Allen Smiths Garden Home and P. Allen Smith’s Garden to Table. He is a garden designer, conservationist, and lifestyle expert.

Throughout her long and storied life, Rachel "Bunny" Mellon's greatest passion was garden design. She and her husband, Paul Mellon, one of the wealthiest men in America, maintained homes in New York, Cape Cod, Nantucket, Antigua, and Upperville, Virginia, and she designed the gardens at all of them. She also designed gardens for some of her dearest friends, including the Rose Garden and the East Garden at the White House, at the request of President Kennedy, and the gardens at both the Paris home and the ch�teau of couturier Hubert de Givenchy. All of these gardens are featured in The Gardens of Bunny Mellon, illustrated with Mellon's own garden plans, sketches, and watercolors, as well as with archival photographs and specially commissioned photographs of Oak Spring, the Mellon estate in Upperville. Author Linda Holden's text is based on extensive interviews with Mellon before her death in 2014.

Bunny Mellon Style is the intimate story of one of the most unintentionally influential women of twentieth-century design. Learn how her style developed, take a look inside the family homes she designed, get the flavor of her collaborations with French designers of fashion and jewelry, and begin to understand her vast and lasting influence on the world of design. Original research by the authors uncovered Mrs. Mellonâe(tm)s personal writings and correspondences. They talked with people who knew her, who were employed by her, and who spent time in her home and gardens. From published works, they extracted information about personal relationships between Mrs. Mellon and Jackie Kennedy Onasis, designers Billy Baldwin, Balenciaga, Givenchy, and more. Blending stories and accounts from such a wide variety of viewpoints results in a unique perspective of this extraordinary woman who moved in the upper echelon of society but preferred not to be noticed in the public eye. This book reveals Mrs. Mellonâe(tm)s style in furnishings, art, and collectibles; her dietary habits and penchant for picnics; her personal investment in designing every aspect of her homes, secondary buildings, and gardens. Come away with the highest regard for a woman who was disciplined and self-taught, who loved learning from historic texts, who was accomplished in myriad ways, and who was as utterly unpretentious and down-to-earth. A foreword by her grandson Thomas Lloyd is both surprising and warm. An abundance of imagery is used, including professional and archival photography, watercolors, whimsical hand drawings, and sketches. Cover © 2021 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris. Used with permission of Isabelle Rey.

A biography of Bunny Mellon, the style icon and American aristocrat who designed the White House Rose Garden for her friend JFK and served as a living witness to 20th Century American history, operating in the high-level arenas of politics, diplomacy, art and fashion. Bunny Mellon, who died in 2014 at age 103, was press-shy during her lifetime. With the co-operation of Bunny Mellon's family, author Meryl Gordon received access to thousands of pages of her letters, diaries and appointment calendars and has interviewed more than 175 people to capture the spirit of this talented American original.

The White House is the most famous house in the world – yet its 18 acres of perfectly manicured grounds and magnificent gardens, much beloved by the Presidents and their families, are rarely seen by the public. This book is a horticultural celebration of all the Presidents' gardens, beginning with George Washington's beloved Mount Vernon and looking at the development of White House gardens over two centuries. Rare photographs perfectly illustrate highlights from the best of the presidential gardens, including Jackie Kennedy's Rose Garden, the Roosevelt wartime White House greenhouses and Michelle Obama's sustainability-inspired vegetable garden, which now produces food that is served to the First Family. The text is peppered with lively comments and useful tips from gardeners who contributed to White House beautification projects under many different Administrations.

Illuminated with Bunny Mellon's own sketches and quotes about gardening and life. With alternating blank and lined pages, this journal satisfies every gardener's need to draw and write. It is for the garden designer, not just the grower. The dainty sketches throughout are taken from notes and letters that Bunny wrote to her friends and family. An elastic band closure, inside pocket, and a ribbon bookmark makes this a lovely keepsake, wherever your journaling may take you.

Foreword by Alan Titchmarsh For more than 45 years Hugh Johnson has written Trad's Diary, delighting in recording his observations of his own garden, as well as many others, and of the wider natural world. Free to turn his attention to whatever is happening in that season, or simply something that piques his interest, his subjects are as diverse as the sounds of water, forest walks, the names of roses, the taste for shade he shares with Handel, the colours of autumn, the smell of rain, the private garden discovered within Beijing's Forbidden City or the first crocuses of spring. Month by month, Hugh shares with the reader through his easy, evocative writing an eclectic mix of thoughtful, topical and whimsical insights that will delight not only gardeners but anyone with an interest in nature in all its costumes.

If you mention Guy Wolff to a serious gardener, that gardener will almost certainly admit to either owning a Guy Wolff flowerpot or coveting one. Wolff's pots--some small and perfect for a sunny windowsill, others massive and just right for a favorite outdoor spot--are widely considered to be the epitome of gardenware. Their classical proportions, simple decoration, and the marks of Wolff's hands all combine to make plants look their best. His pots possess an honesty and liveliness that machine-made flowerpots lack. Wolff is probably the best-known potter working in the United States today. In gardening circles, he is a highly revered horticultural icon; gardeners flock to his lectures and demonstrations. His work also appeals to lovers of design and fine arts: visit the personal gardens of landscape designers, and you will see Guy Wolff pots. Step inside the gates of estate gardens, and you will see Guy Wolff pots. Yet he is a potter's potter. He's a big ware thrower, a skill few have today. He thinks deeply about what he calls the architecture of pots and the importance of handmade objects in our lives. Whether you are a longtime collector of Wolff's pots, anxious to buy your first one, or simply intrigued by the beauty and practicality of hand-crafted goods in our fast-paced era, you'll want to add this richly illustrated book to your library.