As he left the office, he always stopped to say, 'Hi,' or 'How is the garden doing?'" I was aware of and touched by the serious tranquility of this scene. "Often in the late afternoon working there by myself, changing and pruning plants, I would notice that his door would be open.
"His concern for the growth and wellbeing of this garden was never-ending," Mellon recalls.
Irwin Williams, who was head gardener of Washington's Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens at the time, became The White House's chief gardener and tended to its signature rose varieties, including Queen Elizabeth, Pascali, Pat Nixon, and King's Ransom, for nearly 50 years. Either side of the lawn was designed to have a 12-foot border for smaller roses and other blooms-particularly Jefferson-era flora and fauna, per the Kennedy's request. Mellon teamed up with a popular, D.C.-based landscape architect, Perry Wheeler, to create a 50- x 100-foot lawn that could accommodate up to 1,000 people at a time for media and social events, with a flagstone terrace underneath the magnolias for more intimate entertaining and small luncheons. It became the catalyst for a garden design that included these glorious magnolias on all four corners of the garden to soften its harsh angles while still allowing light to stream in for other flowers and shrubs growing alongside the trees. The creative spark Mellon needed to begin designing what would one day be considered the world's most famous garden came from admiring the magnolia trees growing in front of The Frick Collection museum on New York City's Fifth Avenue. " recognized the importance of gardens surrounding an official residence and their appeal to the sensibilities of all people," Mellon writes in an article from The White House History Association. The couple noticed that The White House lacked a green space as lush or beautiful as some of the official residences he visited abroad and asked now-legendary garden designer Bunny Mellon to take on the plans. After a state visit to France, with stops in England and Austria, President and First Lady Kennedy were inspired to create the White House Rose Garden as we know it today.