The Gardens of Bunny Mellon by Linda Jane Holden
As Heard on The Daily Gardener Podcast:
The Gardens of Bunny Mellon by Linda Jane Holden
This book came out in 2018, and it is gorgeous and should be; every page is Bunny Mellon.
When she was alive, Rachel “Bunny” Mellon’s greatest love was garden design. Her husband, Paul Mellon, was one of America’s wealthiest men. Bunny and Paul maintained five homes in New York, Cape Cod, Nantucket, Antigua, and Upperville, Virginia. In addition to designing the gardens for all of her homes, Bunny designed gardens for some of her closest friends, including the Rose Garden and the East Garden at the White House and the home of Hubert de Givenchy. These gardens are all featured in Linda’s beautiful book.
In the book, Linda thoughtfully includes Bunny’s garden plans, sketches, and watercolors (which I found fascinating), along with old photographs of Oak Spring, the Mellon estate in Upperville. Linda had the gift of conducting extensive interviews with Bunny before she died in 2014, which gives her book an increased feeling of insight and authenticity.
This 308-page book is about Bunny Mellon and her Gardens, and it really belongs in any serious garden library.
