Melania Trump’s redesigned rose garden given prickly reception

Melania Trump replaces Jackie O’s vibrant display with white and pastel roses and widened walkways, eliciting a decidedly colourful reaction.

The White House rose garden before and after the redesign. Picture: Getty Images/Mary Jordan

Melania Trump has unveiled her redesigned White House rose garden, which will provide the backdrop to a speech she plans to give on Tuesday to support her husband’s re-election, to a decidedly colourful reaction.

The first lady removed a dozen trees planted for President Kennedy and replaced his display of vibrant flowers including tulips with white and pastel roses in carefully manicured geometric beds and widened walkways. Mrs Trump, 50, said that her restoration, which took three weeks and cost an undisclosed sum that officials said was met by donations, was in the spirit of the last overhaul in 1962 by the horticulturalist Rachel “Bunny” Mellon.

Excited to honor history & celebrate the future in our beautiful @WhiteHouse Rose Garden this evening. Thank you to all who helped renew this iconic & truly gorgeous space. pic.twitter.com/ggiqLkdGbw

— Melania Trump (@FLOTUS) August 22, 2020

“The changes … are the result of a thoughtful and collaborative process carefully crafted with the help of scholars and experts in architecture, horticulture, design, and historic preservation,” Mrs Trump said at the launch event, hailing her design as an “amazing achievement” for all involved and “a lasting legacy”.

Meghan McCain, a talk-show host and daughter of John McCain, the late Republican senator, wrote on Twitter: “I normally think Melania has impeccable taste – but removing Jackie O’s rose garden and all the beautiful flowers and colour for whatever reason I find really upsetting, not to mention not nearly as beautiful.”

I normally think Melania has impeccable taste - but removing Jackie O’s rose garden and all the beautiful flowers and color for whatever reason I find really upsetting not to mention not nearly as beautiful. Not everything historical is meant to be redone :(

— Meghan McCain (@MeghanMcCain) August 22, 2020

Charles Blow, a prominent black commentator, said: “If this isn’t a Marie Antoinette moment I don’t know what is. Who cares about a redesigned rose garden when we’re in the middle of a pandemic, 175,000-plus people are dead and millions are out of work?”

Before and after photographs of newly renovated White House Rose Garden:
courtesy #Getty and @marycjordan pic.twitter.com/w6bzoNHMjC

— Michael Beschloss (@BeschlossDC) August 22, 2020

After the garden was unveiled the topic began trending on Twitter with the hashtag #RoseGardenMassacre as critics decried the uprooting of the trees, a variety of crab apple related to the rose. Some said it resembled a cemetery.

Mrs Trump said the tall white roses were chosen in honour of the first papal visit to the White House by John Paul II in 1979, while the walkways were made more accessible for disabled visitors.

Mrs Trump’s tastes in design divided opinion in 2018 when she installed red Christmas trees at the White House.

Mellon recorded that Kennedy had asked for a vibrant look. “The president loved flowers and asked if a variety of other types could be mixed with the roses,” she wrote.

The Times