All the Presidents' Gardens by Marta McDowell

Marta, who teaches landscape history and horticulture at the New York Botanical Garden, is also the recipient of the Garden Club of America’s Sarah Chapman Francis Medal for literary achievement. Marta’s illustrated presentation will focus on her book, “All the Presidents’ Gardens,” an entertaining trip through America’s garden history as seen through the changing landscape at the White House.

Michael Van Valkenburgh and his firm MVVA redesigned the Pennsylvania Avenue entrance between 20.On Sunday, March 26, The Historical Society of the Somerset Hills will host a brunch event at the Grain House restaurant at the Olde Mill Inn in Basking Ridge featuring a presentation by Marta McDowell, the noted author and teacher about gardens, landscape history, and horticulture. wrote a landscape plan for Franklin Delano Roosevelt that is still in use. Beatrix Jones Farrand designed a garden for Mrs. Andrew Jackson Downing made recommendations to President Fillmore. In its more than 200 years of history, the White House grounds have had rows of vegetables, extensive glasshouses, Victorian carpet bedding, and styles ranging from colonial revival to Italianate to the elegant horticultural palette of the Rose Garden.īecause the presidents and first ladies want to show the best that the country has to offer, many luminaries of American garden design have shaped the 18 acres that surround the White House. Thomas Jefferson, with the help of architect Benjamin Latrobe, introduced an English romantic sensibility to the South Lawn. George Washington employed Pierre Charles L'Enfant, who brought a French classical aesthetic to the original site selection. The White House grounds have mirrored American garden history, with modifications over time reflecting changing fashions in horticulture and design. Copies of her award-winning book are available for purchase and signing. Marta McDowell, author of All the Presidents' Gardens (Timber Press), offers a survey of American garden history as seen through the changing grounds at the White House, featuring the presidents, first ladies, and their gardeners. Presented in Collaboration with Smithsonian Libraries and Smithsonian Gardens

All the Presidents' Gardens by Marta McDowell