Rachel Lowe Lambert Lloyd Mellon
Bunny Mellon
Today is the birthday of Rachel Lowe Lambert Lloyd Mellon, also known as Bunny Mellon.
She got her nickname from a family nurse.
Bunny's earliest memory was shared in the preface in one of her books. Bunny wrote that she remembered,
"... being very small near a bed of tall, white, phlox in my godmothers garden. This towering forest of scent and white flowers was the beginning of ceaseless and trust, passion, and pleasure in gardens and books.“
Bunny’s greatest passion was garden design.
She became well known after designing the White House Rose garden. Bunny was a close friend of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis.
One of Bunny's first gardens was designed for Hattie Carnegie, who was a clothing designer. At the age of 23, Bunny created her garden and even planted it. In exchange, Carnegie gave her a coat and a dress from her salon.
A woman after my own heart, Bunny loved books, and she had a beautiful collection of rear garden books, manuscripts, and botanical prints.
In fact, Bunny credited her books for inspiring her designs. She said,
“my beginning, started with rare books on plants and garden plants, mostly French or Italian. They were like my Bibles.“