White House Rose Garden

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Spring in the Rose Garden. Catherine crabapple trees in bloom, bordered by tulips, primrose and grape hyacinth. The West Colonnade, designed by Thomas Jefferson, can be seen in the background.

The White House Rose Garden is a garden bordering the Oval Office and the West Wing of the White House. The garden is approximately 125 feet long and 60 feet wide (38 meters by 18 meters).

The first rose garden was established in 1913 by Ellen Louise Wilson, wife of Woodrow Wilson, on the site of a previous colonial garden. In 1961, during the John F. Kennedy administration, the garden was redesigned by by Rachel Lambert Mellon. Mellon created a space with a more defined central lawn, bordered by flower beds planted in a French style, but largely using American botanical specimens. The present garden follows a layout established by Mellon. Each flower bed is planted with a series of 'Katherine' crabapples and Littleleaf lindens bordered by a low diamond shaped hedges of thyme. The outer edge of the flower bed facing the central lawn are edged with boxwood. The four corners of the garden are punctuated by Magnolia soulangeana, these specimens were found growing along the Tidal Basin by Mellon. Roses, are the primary flowering plants in the garden and include large numbers of "Queen Elizabeth" grandiflora roses, and the tea roses "Pascale" "Pat Nixon," and "King's Ransom." A shrub rose, "Nevada Rose" adds a cool note of white. Many seasonal flowers are interspersed to add nearly year round color. Spring blooming bulbs planted in the rose garden include jonquil, daffodil, fritillaria, grape hyacinth, tulips, chinodoxa and squill. Summer blooming annuals change yearly. In the fall chrystanthemum and flowering kale bring color until early winter.

Rose Garden ceremony honoring the National Teacher of the Year Jason Kamras, April 20, 2005.

Many presidential news conferences take place in the garden, as well as occasional White House dinners and ceremonies. The marriage of President Richard Nixon's daughter Tricia to Edward F. Cox took place in the Rose Garden in 1971. In recent years joint news conference with the president and a visiting head of state take place in the Rose Garden. The phrase "Rose Garden strategy" (such as a re-election strategy) refers to staying inside or on the grounds of the White House as opposed to traveling throughout the country. For example, Jimmy Carter's initial efforts to end the Iran hostage crisis (1979-1981) were a Rose Garden strategy because he mostly held discussions with his close advisers in the White House. On July 25, 1994 a declaration of peace between Israel and Jordan was signed in the Rose Garden.

[edit] References and further reading

The White House: An Historic Guide. White House Historical Association and the National Geographic Society: 2001. ISBN 0-912308-79-6.
Abbott James A., and Elaine M. Rice. Designing Camelot: The Kennedy White House Reconstruction. Van Nostrand Reinhold: 1998. ISBN 0-442-02532-7.
Clinton, Hillary Rodham. An Invitation to the White House: At Home with History. Simon & Schuster: 2000. ISBN 0-684-85799-5.
Garrett, Wendell. Our Changing White House. Northeastern University Press: 1995. ISBN 1-55553-222-5.
McEwan, Barbara. "White House Landscapes." Walker and Company: 1992. ISBN 0-8027-1192-8.
Seale, William. The President's House. White House Historical Association and the National Geographic Society: 1986. ISBN 0-912308-28-1.
Seale, William. The White House Garden. White House Historical Association and the National Geographic Society: 1996. ISBN 0-912308-69-9.