Presidents and their gardens

BY RUSSELL NAGATA | SPECIAL TO WEST HAWAII TODAY

In honor of Presidents Day, which is Monday, let’s talk about presidential gardeners.

While many of our early presidents were gentleman farmers out of necessity, several had a true calling for gardening.

George Washington is often linked to the tale of chopping down the cherry tree, one that many historians refer to as a legend. While Washington never lived in the White House because it was being designed and constructed during his eight years in office, Washington was an avid gardener and farmer who did a lot to combine gardening with landscaping.

Washington was a gentleman farmer, who had an intense interest in farming, gardening and landscaping and devoted many acres to it at his home in Mount Vernon outside of Washington. It was this intense interest in farming that led to his death. A few days after inspecting his farm and garden in snow, hail and sleet by horseback, Washington died of pneumonia.

John Adams was the second president and the first to live in the White House. He was also a gentleman farmer and is credited with planting the first vegetable garden at the White House.

Thomas Jefferson was probably the president most passionate about gardening, plants and landscaping in general. He is credited with the introduction of many new crop varieties to the United States, many that are commonly found in gardens today. As a U.S. diplomat, he traveled throughout the world and collected new plant species and varieties to evaluate in his more than 5,000-acre garden and farm at Monticello, his primary farm site and residence. He continually traded seeds with contacts from around the world and approached every new variety in his garden with the eye of a scientist, keeping detailed notes on each variety. It is said he grew more than 250 varieties of vegetables in a garden over three football fields in length. In his orchards, he grew more than 170 varieties of fruit trees. Upon his inauguration, he quickly drew up landscape plans for the White House grounds.

John Quincy Adams, like his father, President John Adams, loved plants and gardening. John Quincy Adams was the first president to plant the flower gardens as planned by Jefferson. He was also the first president to have ornamental trees planted in the President’s Park.

Andrew Jackson’s contribution to gardening at the White House was the installation of an orangery, a type of hothouse where citrus and other plants were kept from freezing. This eventually was replaced by a greenhouse. Jackson also planted the Jackson magnolia tree that graces the south lawn to this day.

As for trees, Rutherford B. Hayes began the tradition of planting commemorative trees in President’s Park for each president, a tradition that continues to this day. While many of the trees survive to the present day as the original or clone of the original, others have died because of age, weather and disease. Hayes also began the tradition of hosting the annual Easter egg roll on the White House lawn, a tradition that began years earlier at the Capitol building.

Woodrow Wilson and his wife began the Rose Garden at the White House outside the West Wing. But it was John F. Kennedy and his gardening advisers who are responsible for the present layout of the Rose Garden where many official ceremonies take place. It is said Kennedy took great interest in the Rose Garden, asking many questions about the plants from gardener, Irvin Williams, who eventually became the White House grounds superintendent. From this acquired knowledge, Kennedy would brag about the Rose Garden to staff and visitors.

President Lyndon B. Johnson was not much of a gardener, but his wife pursued her love of wild flowers.

Jimmy Carter was a peanut farmer, however, at the White House, his particular love was for his herb garden. He was also a former Future Farmer of America member as a kid.

Many people remember the Victory Garden of World War II on the White House lawn during the Franklin Delano Roosevelt administration. From this and other nationalistic inspirations, the nation grew millions of pounds of fruits and vegetables to help support the war effort.

The other Roosevelt in the White House, Teddy, was known to be a get down and dirty, hands-on gardener, especially in planting trees.

Our current president and his wife installed an organic garden on the south lawn of the White House to help educate people about eating healthy. The garden can be viewed from E Street.

For more information on this and other gardening topics, visit ctahr.hawaii.edu/Site/Info.aspx or visit any of the local Cooperative Extension Service offices around the Island.

Russell Nagata is the Hawaii County administrator of the University of Hawaii at Manoa College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources. He can be reached at russelln@hawaii.edu.