Garden Secrets of Bunny Mellon

by Linda Jane Holden, Thomas Lloyd, Robert Bryan Huffman

A treasure trove of Bunny Mellon’s garden design philosophy and advice from her personal archive.

Garden Secrets of Bunny Mellon is for anyone who has enjoyed time spent in a garden, from aspiring garden makers to those who manage large estates. This collection is comprised of extracts from Bunny’s own writings and garden notes, as well as photographs and drawings from her archive.

Chapters are organized by Atmosphere (sky, horizon, shadows), Climate, Light, Space, Shape, Maintenance, and more―readers will feel as if Bunny Mellon has come alongside as a gardening guide and friend.

Bunny Mellon was of the affluent class and mingled along with her husband, Paul Mellon, in the circles of the East Coast gentry of the Kennedy and Reagan eras. But Mrs. Mellon, as she was respectfully called by those professional gardeners who worked with her most, wasn’t snooty about social position or afraid to get her hands dirty in the rich soil of her family’s Virginia farm. Beyond this, Bunny Mellon was known nationally and internationally as a style icon of her time, enjoying friendships with Givenchy, the Kennedys, and the like. Her personal passion was for design, and that was exhibited in her fashion and her garden.

A late acquaintance, Linda Holden learned that Bunny wanted to write a gardening book but never found the time. Searching the family’s archive after Mrs. Mellon’s death, the editors―whom all shared personal relationships with Bunny―discovered a trove of photographs, illustrations, and writings and have now turned it into the how-to gardening book Bunny had hoped to write.

Linda Jane Holden is the author of The Gardens of Bunny Mellon, published October 2018.

Thomas Lloyd , grandson of Bunny Mellon, is president of the Gerard B. Lambert Foundation which was established by Bunny Mellon to honor her father.

Bryan Huffman is an interior designer based in Charlotte, NC with a client base that spans the East Coast and extends into Texas.

P. Allen Smith is the TV host of P. Allen Smiths Garden Home and P. Allen Smith’s Garden to Table. He is a garden designer, conservationist, and lifestyle expert.

Genres: Nonfiction, Gardening

176 pages, Hardcover

Published October 20, 2020

Reviews

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

While I prefer, and strongly recommend, "The Gardens of Bunny Mellon" by Linda Jane Holden, this book is a visual treat and quick read.
If, like myself, you cannot get your hands on enough reading material about the fascinating Bunny Mellon; or if you simply enjoy looking at beautiful pictures of a gardener's proud accomplishments, you should find much to delight your senses between its pages.
3.5

[L · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like the other book about Bunny’s creations I read previously. This one is that same book with mostly private, family, home snapshots instead of professional photography. I would call this “Bunny light.” If you are a serious gardener read the other one instead, “The Gardens of Bunny Mellon.”

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some people who knew Bunny wrote a book, using some old (not very good) snapshots that she left behind. Bunny has been dead for six years. I wrote down a few ideas, but this book was so much less than I had hoped for.

[Carolyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

So pretty!

[Trish · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice book about Bunny Mellon’s gardens.

[Bethany Hunt · Rating 1 out of 5]

Disappointment.

[Janet · Rating 1 out of 5]

Checked out from the library to see the garden photos. There were a few I liked but in general was not impressed.

[Trish · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’m all Bunny’ed out.