LITTLE ROCK — “The White House Garden” exhibit is new to Laman Library, offering a stroll through 200 years of history made on the grass. Photos and historic documents tell the story, today through July 21 at the library in North Little Rock.
Mike Lawn, former White House executive groundskeeper, will speak during the exhibit’s opening reception, 6-8 p.m. Friday. Arkansas Democrat-Gazette garden columnist Janet Carson will speak on “Making Your Mansion Bloom: Tips from the White House to the Backyard,” at 10 a.m. June 2 at Laman Library. The events are free.
Displays of old and contemporary photos and garden plans document the 18 acres of lawns, gardens and retreats that surround the nation’s executive mansion in Washington. Assembled by the White House Historical Association, the exhibit comes from the Smithsonian Institution.
The annual White House Easter egg roll is one use of the lawn. But the grounds have served in many other ways for generations of presidential families and visitors,landscapers and horticulturists.
Third President Thomas Jefferson mapped a garden plan, according to the Smithsonian. President John Quincy Adams dug the dirt with his hands. President Harry S. Truman threw horseshoes. President Dwight D. Eisenhower installed a putting green. President Lyndon Johnson and his wife, Lady Bird, held outdoor barbecues. President John F. Kennedy invited 1,000 people at a time to the Rose Garden. President Jimmy Carter’s daughter, Amy, planted trees.
President Bill Clinton and first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton planted a dogwood in memory of children killed in the 1995 bombing of the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City.
Royals have walked, and dogs have romped the grounds. And if ever a famous foot steps on a flower, the groundskeepers are quick to repair the damage.
The White House is the “people’s house,” according to the Smithsonian, and the surrounding greenery represents “the oldest continuously landscaped garden in the U.S.”
More information about “The White House Garden” is available at lamanlibrary.org, or by calling (501) 758-1720.
HomeStyle, Pages 35 on 05/26/2012