Rachel (“Bunny”) Lambert Mellon embarked on her lifelong passion for plants and books as a young girl. Brought up near Princeton, Mrs. Mellon’s earliest memories were of the peace and serenity she found in nature: the refuge of her godmother’s garden, the freedom she felt among her family’s fields of wildflowers, and the whimsical drawings of Beatrix Potter and Kate Greenaway. (Illustration from: The Tale of Peter Rabbit, Beatrix Potter, 1902)

Her first flower book, a gift from her grandfather when she was 11, “travelled everywhere with [her], a bible in its importance.” Inspired to bring the stories and pictures to life, she began planting her first miniature gardens in small plots outside her bedroom window. (Book: Chester A. Reed, Doubleday, Paige & Co., 1926)

Mrs. Mellon’s curiosity eventually brought her far beyond the family’s garden and into gardens across America, England, France and Italy. A self-taught horticulturalist, she immersed herself in books about plants and garden design, often reaching deep into history for advice on fruit trees, pruning techniques, herbalist remedies and botanical illustrations. At 23, she designed her first professional garden for Hattie Carnegie in exchange for a dress and coat. (Photo: Fred R. Conrad/The New York Times, 1982) 

Future commissions were of greater renown. Among her many accomplishments, Mrs. Mellon contributed to the restoration of Louis XIV’s Potager du Roi in Versailles, designed and laid out the Rose Garden at the White House, and built the Eastern Garden, which was later renamed in honor of her dear friend Jacqueline Kennedy. (Photo: John-John Kennedy in Rose Garden ca. 1963/The Kennedy Library) 

Mrs. Mellon’s home at Oak Spring, in Upperville, VA, is perhaps the greatest tribute to her “ceaseless interest, passion and pleasure in gardens and books.” She is pictured here in an Oak Spring Greenhouse. (Photo: Horst P. Horst/Conde Nast Archive) 

Mrs. Mellon spent decades meticulously crafting the gardens with her signature touches: plentiful topiaries and wildflowers, grand crab-apple tree entrances, and stone walkways with plants emerging from the cracks. Enchanting, yet understated, the gardens exemplify her preference for imperfect perfection and a desire that “Nothing should be noticed.”

Equally enchanting to Oak Spring’s visitors is the Library, a gift from her husband Paul to house the books his wife collected over decades. Within its walls are over 10,000 modern reference works and more than 3,500 historical manuscripts and rare botanical books, prints and illustrations dating as far back as the 14th century.  “These books about the outdoors live not in dusty darkness but behind simple, pale oak doors, easily opened to the world they tell about.”

Throughout her life, Mrs. Mellon retained a deep passion for learning and discovery.  She helped create four books that were published late in her life, on topics including tree species, fruits, garden design, flowers and herbs. (Photo: Fred R. Conrad/The New York Times) 

Oak Spring Garden Foundation is a testament to Mrs. Mellon’s hopes and ideas. Our mission is to ensure that her legacy will endure through the works of future leaders in the fields of plant- and garden-related study and practice. (Image by Michael Gaige)