Back to All Events

The Art of the Possible: Stories and Lessons from a Self-taught Gardener

  • Elizabeth "Pepper" Dowd Education Building 248 Ridgewood Avenue Charlotte, NC 28209 (map)
Birds eye view of Oakspring gardens
Register: The Art of the Possible
from $10.00

Cost is $50/member for Wing Haven and ICAA members and $60/non-member (Membership Information) Virtual Option: $10/Member, $20/Non-member

Registration includes live presentation (either in-person or virtually), Q&A session and admission to Wing Haven’s gardens.

Space is limited; register in advance.

Viewing option:
Member Status:
Quantity:
Add To Cart

2:00-3:30 p.m. Hybrid Lecture and Q&A

3:30-5:00 p.m. Garden tours and reception to follow at Wing Haven Garden & Bird Sanctuary.  Reception includes wine, beer and light hors d'oeuvres. 

Speaker: Linda Jane Holden
Bunny Mellon was an American horticulturist, gardener, philanthropist, and art collector who designed the White House Rose Garden during the Kennedy administration.

During this presentation, Holden will introduce Bunny Mellon's gardening philosophy -- her modes and methods of adapting outdoor spaces to the natural landscape including plant selection, design, and resolving challenges encountered along the way.

Linda Jane Holden’s books will be available for purchase at the lecture.

This afternoon at Wing Haven is made possible by a partnership between Wing Haven and the local chapter of the Institute of Classical Architecture & Art.

Linda Jane Holden is an author, self-taught garden historian, and former educator. Linda’s passion and curiosity for historic gardens began in her childhood years during numerous family visits to Colonial Williamsburg, Washington, D.C., and Virginia, and continued during the years she worked in the Reagan White House. It was at the White House where she experienced the gardens every day and developed an intimate knowledge of them through daily talks with the gardeners. These unique friendships with the gardeners, the garden designer Bunny Mellon, and their insider views, combined with extensive research, offered many glimpses and insights into the challenges and triumphs of managing the White House gardens and landscapes.

This perspective, along with a life-long appreciation for American history, led to the writing of The Gardens of Bunny Mellon, an illustrated biography that was published by Vendome Press in October 2018 and is now in the 8th printing and many other Bunny Mellon titles. Linda also wrote The Gardens of Bunny Mellon, Hortus Journal of Gardening, UK, 2019; Lady Bird Johnson’s Whistle-stop Tour through the South, White House History, July 2017, and President’s Gardens, Shire Books, 2013. Linda’s new book, Nantucket Looms: A Legacy of Style, will be released by Rizzoli International Publications in March 2025.

Title Sponsor

 
 

Silver Sponsors

 
 

Bronze Sponsors

 
 
Later Event: March 3
Story Time & More - March