Althouse: The political eye.

August 22, 2020

The political eye.

It’s been ruined. https://t.co/zHGsR0ognR
— Markos Moulitsas (@markos) August 22, 2020

112 comments:

hstad said...: Yep the classic - "Orange Man Bad" comment. Tiresome - it's classic of lack of vision as to what's important except 'beat up Trump'.; 8/22/20, 1:06 PM
clint said...: I'd say the dry summer hasn't been good for the lawn. And from what I understand, even in the magical White House Rose Garden, tulips don't bloom in August.; 8/22/20, 1:09 PM
Rick.T. said...: On the other hand the landscaping on the left is colorful and showy for about a week then plain green the rest of the year. Must be a metaphor in there somewhere.; 8/22/20, 1:14 PM
mccullough said...: Elections have consequences; 8/22/20, 1:21 PM
Ralph L said...: It's supposedly close to Bunny's original design which Saint Jackie commissioned.; 8/22/20, 1:21 PM
Lucid-Ideas said...: Markos sees a pretty colorful fairy garden straight out of some teaching your transgender child to go pee book on the left, while I see something straight of Versailles on the right.

Yep. Checks out.; 8/22/20, 1:22 PM
tommyesq said...: Because it is August and the tulips stopped blooming?; 8/22/20, 1:22 PM
Kate said...: Show me photos from comparable times of year (tulips vs no tulips), explain why the cherry trees are gone (Were they diseased? No one uproots a beautiful flowering tree without a reason), etc. I hate this kind of cheap TDS.; 8/22/20, 1:25 PM
rehajm said...: I'm no horticulturist but in that first picture I see daffodils, tulips, a cherry tree, maybe some lupine. No roses...; 8/22/20, 1:27 PM
Yancey Ward said...: You generally do well to plant flower beds in areas without trees- you otherwise expend a lot of time simply replacing the flowers if you have an unlimited budget for doing so. Those trees that were removed are either cherry or crab-apple (can't tell without a closer look- they look like apple to me). I am guessing the small trees were probably moved and not destroyed, which is what is typically done when you have the budget to do it, which I assume the White House does.

No, visually, the older pictures are more enticing, but I suspect the new design is more sustainable, and to fully judge it, you will have to see it in the Spring of next year.; 8/22/20, 1:27 PM
Kate said...: Ugh, it's Markos. And I fell for his petty, cheap-seat trolling.; 8/22/20, 1:28 PM
Robt C said...: I don't often (OK, never) agree with Marcos, but I do here.
The old garden was lovely, the new layout is way too austere.; 8/22/20, 1:31 PM
readering said...: That's the way I feel about the repainting of Air Force One.; 8/22/20, 1:39 PM
robother said...: When the Obamas lived there, tulips and cherry trees bloomed year round. (Planting cherry trees in a rose garden was stupid: roses need sun!); 8/22/20, 1:43 PM
policraticus said...: I think that if you put a gun to my head I couldn't tell which was before and which after. They both look like formal gardens to me. Each beautiful in its own way, according to the season. Choosing one over the other is purely a matter of personal taste, or personal animus, as the case may be. I read some of the comments, we live in a remarkably stupid time.; 8/22/20, 1:47 PM
J L Oliver said...: No one has mentioned safety. The old trees hid sight lines. New priorities.; 8/22/20, 1:55 PM
Hammond X. Gritzkofe said...: Inasmuch as I am paying for it, I'll go with whatever is least expensive to maintain in a decent looking condition.; 8/22/20, 1:55 PM
tcrosse said...: Did they ask Chance the gardener?; 8/22/20, 1:56 PM
gadfly said...: Never before have I ever agreed with the Daily Kos bartender, um, bill-sender, uh, whatever but this time he is strangely right. This ruination is exactly what happens when you give assignments to unqualified family members or perhaps Melania was getting even.; 8/22/20, 2:01 PM
AllenS said...: Slow news day? Fits right in after the bland Democrat coronation.; 8/22/20, 2:03 PM
WWIII Joe Biden, Husk-Puppet + America's Putin said...: blooming trees are very susceptible to problems. I don't know about the climate of DC - it's probably more hospitable to blooming cherry trees - but here in CO - they are often killed by our unrelenting cruel weather/ wild mood swing hot-cold temperature changes within short periods of time, and vicious late and early heavy snows that break limbs and kill blossoms.

Perhaps the cherry trees were past the point of no return and needed to go?
It's not like there is a shortage of cherry trees in DC.

Ever notice the media cannot say a single nice thing about Trump -ever?
No matter what the subject matter. It gets old.

and anyway - Marcos is dick.; 8/22/20, 2:05 PM
Mid-Life Lawyer said...: Flip the pictures but leave the caption the same and Markos would make the same pronouncement. Roughly half the people in the U.S. know this about mainstream media types, but the other half is too emotionally screwed up to be intellectually honest about it. Therein lies the rub.; 8/22/20, 2:07 PM
Joan said...: They were crab apple trees. Here is the WH briefing on the changes.

The major changes were made to make the garden more accessible for people of all abilities, and to make it easier for media to cover appearances there. The limestone path is the big addition.

Someone here linked the 260+ page report on a cafe a few weeks ago, and it was fascinating -- it is linked at the page above. I really want to know what they decided to do with the aging, diseased Jackson magnolia. I hope they decide to chop it and let it regrow. Self-cloning is fascinating!; 8/22/20, 2:07 PM
Earnest Prole said...: It’s supposed to be a rose garden, not a Disneyland backdrop. I had no idea Markos Moulitsas Zúniga was so bourgeois.; 8/22/20, 2:10 PM
Char Char Binks, Esq. said...: As foretold in the prophecy.; 8/22/20, 2:15 PM
Char Char Binks, Esq. said...: You can lead a horticulture...; 8/22/20, 2:17 PM
Ingachuck'stoothlessARM said...: he never promised us a rose garden; 8/22/20, 2:17 PM
madAsHell said...: Beschloss - to decide, or conclude.; 8/22/20, 2:20 PM
Gunner said...: Markos is just mad that people stopped caring about his crappy website when Twitter became a thing. He can't scam the Nutroots so easily now.; 8/22/20, 2:21 PM
iqvoice said...: The photograph of the renovated garden is also under-saturated. You can see they took it on a cloudy day (no blue sky) where the old picture was on a sunny day. Also, looking at the raw photo I can see that not only have they planted roses, but also some stalky looking flowers that look like the kind that attract butterflies.

TL;DR mullet-sauce is always wrong.

P.S. I retouched the image to address the under-saturation; retouched image can be seen at link.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/8hhf3e5cuqrnbum/whit%20house%20gardens.jpg?dl=0; 8/22/20, 2:25 PM
stevew said...: That Trump guy is the worst, amiright?; 8/22/20, 2:26 PM
Browndog said...: Waiting for the meme of AOC crying in front of a crab apple tree.; 8/22/20, 2:35 PM
Tomcc said...: And now I know the definition of "living in someone's head".; 8/22/20, 2:35 PM
Dave Begley said...: This just proves that Markos is a total loon.

Whether the Rose Garden before or after is a matter of taste. And there's no disputing taste.; 8/22/20, 2:38 PM
Amadeus 48 said...: Green and white gardens are classic. The more colorful displays are vulgar and trashy. So, the new one is the one on the left?; 8/22/20, 2:39 PM
Dave Begley said...: The ONLY person in the Universe's opinion I care about on this issue is MEADE.

This is in Meade's wheelhouse.; 8/22/20, 2:39 PM
Michael K said...: This ruination is exactly what happens when you give assignments to unqualified family members or perhaps Melania was getting even.

gadfly is going even crazier. Who the fuck do you think does the White House gardening ? What an idiot.; 8/22/20, 2:40 PM
Openidname said...: "Most notable is the absence of the 10 crabapple trees that were part of the original design. However, per a White House official, the shade they were casting over the flowers, as well as root growth, made it difficult to keep other plantings alive and healthy. The official also said the trees were taken to the offsite White House greenhouse to be cared for and that they will eventually be replanted around the White House grounds."

https://justthenews.com/government/white-house/first-lady-unveils-restoration-rose-garden-where-shell-give-gop-convention; 8/22/20, 2:43 PM
Ironclad said...: Even the Whopper Post says the changes and renovation was needed and necessary and that the "vision" is close to the original design. Also that there are roses there now - not tulips and daffodils. The "cherry trees" are crabapples too - but who needs accuracy when you are bitching?

Main thing is that it was funded by private donations.

Comments at WAPO were the usual crude insults to the First Lady - because Moochie and her "garden" were so much better.; 8/22/20, 2:43 PM
WWIII Joe Biden, Husk-Puppet + America's Putin said...: gadfly - you're a petty little dick too.; 8/22/20, 2:44 PM
Earnest Prole said...: Melania Trump’s Rose Garden Renovation Gets Torn Up On Twitter: ‘Funeral Home For White Supremacists’; 8/22/20, 2:53 PM
Matt Harris said...: Meh - I like em both.; 8/22/20, 2:59 PM
Skeptical Voter said...: Who knew the dunce from Daily Kos was a garden maven.; 8/22/20, 3:05 PM
Drago said...: The Poor Man's LLR-lefty Chuck, gadfly: "Never before have I ever agreed with the Daily Kos bartender..."

LOL

Lies more transparent than Chuckles!

A feat not easily accomplished.; 8/22/20, 3:07 PM
Clues? said...: That does it!! Now I’m voting for
the Liar, the Witch and the Woke-crowd; 8/22/20, 3:08 PM
Mr. O. Possum said...: Maybe 20 years ago Michael Beschloss, who is a historian of presidential politics, published an audiobook of secret recordings LBJ made in the Oval Office.

One was with Georgia Senator Richard Russell, I think. LBJ had sent him to Vietnam on a fact-finding trip in 1965 or thereabouts.

"What are we going to do there?" asked LBJ, who clearly had not a clue.

"I don't know, Mr. President," replied the Senator. "It's a mess."

"I don't know what to do either," replied LBJ.

And that was the gist, the summit, the pinnacle of American policy making on Vietnam around the time of the escalation.

This is not what you want to hear in the Oval Office during a war.; 8/22/20, 3:09 PM
JML said...: What does Meade think?

I like seeing the lines and columns of the building. It is more simple in looks. You do give up the shade of the trees, which is good and bad depending on what plants you want under them and if the shade is for the people, but as someone pointed out above, you have better views from a security stand point.

I just cut down a bunch of shrubs on my property - high desert climate. I hate to remove plants, but these were all volunteer four-wing saltbush and were crowding out some of my cactus or growing too close to the driveway.

They will be back, I'm sure.; 8/22/20, 3:11 PM
Beth B said...: "The plan for renewal went through the approval process of the Committee for the Preservation of the White House (CPWH) and aligned with the recommendations of their sub-committee, Committee for the Preservation of the White House Gardens (CPWHG). As the honorary chairwoman of CPWH, the First Lady established CPWHG to ensure the standards of the Rose Garden are maintained and ensure scholarship and research went into its renewal. The project is supported by the National Park Service, who has cared for the White House and its grounds since 1933, and funded with private donations."

Oh, but this is a testament to the First Lady's bad taste and the Trump's general disdain for beauty, truth, and the American way. This according to the same butt-hurt radicals who have not a bad word to say about actual looters and rioters and historic statue vandals.; 8/22/20, 3:20 PM
ALP said...: I can't think of a more conflict-inspiring subject than garden design. OK, maybe abortion or gun control. But if you have ever been in a landscape architecture or landscape design class...whoo boy! The ARGUMENTS over using grass, using this, using that.... does it use native plants? Will it attract pollinators? And the worst, my pet peeve: is it a show stoppind design that is 'low maintenance' (aka "I don't want to have to work to maintain it").

Further - photo #1 (before) is dominated by spring bulbs. That is a wave that doesn't last long - photo #2 (after) appears to be more dominated by perrenial plants.

Our. Species. Will. Fight. Over. ANYTHING.; 8/22/20, 3:22 PM
ALP said...: And another thing....

This is another example of how science knowledge is so very low in our species. The very *idea* that trees have a life span or, gasp, can become diseased seems to go over most people's heads.; 8/22/20, 3:23 PM
chuck said...: I always thought tulips blooming in August were the best part of late summer :); 8/22/20, 3:25 PM
ALP said...: Final post.... cherry trees are susceptible to many diseases. We had two of the weeping kind on our property - both diseased and had to be taken down. The rot in the center of the trunk a clear indication something was wrong.

The University of Washington (Seattle) has much-loved cherry trees in their main quad area. When I was in classes there, fortunate to study under some very accomplished horticulturalists/botanists, we were warned that these cherry trees are beginning to show their age and are coming to the end of their life span. Can you imagine the *protests* that will happen once UW makes the decision to take them down - due to plain old age?; 8/22/20, 3:29 PM
Sara D said...: Daily Mail has the whole story, lovely photos, elegant garden.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8653999/Melania-Trumps-new-White-House-Rose-Garden-unveiled.html; 8/22/20, 3:30 PM
StephenFearby said...: WaPo (unexpectedly) has a favorable take:

Home & Garden
Melania Trump’s Rose Garden redo draws criticism, but it’s long overdue

'...Inevitably in these politically charged times — little more than three months before the general election and in the midst of Black Lives Matter protests and a deadly pandemic — the lavish redo of the Rose Garden has generated Marie Antoinette comparisons. In reality, the renovation is long overdue.

The project, designed by landscape architects Perry Guillot and Oehme, van Sweden & Associates in consultation with a subcommittee of landscape experts under the aegis of the Committee for the Preservation of the White House Grounds, was well in the works before the current upheavals. Among the problems to be addressed: a poorly drained lawn that had to be replaced annually, constant disturbance of roots of trees and shrubs by the seasonal planting of annuals, the die-off of rose bushes to the point where only a dozen or so remained, and the susceptibility of the defining boxwood parterres to a new, devastating disease named boxwood blight.

The path running north to south on the eastern side of the garden will be straightened, and the accretion of paths of different materials will be replaced with elegant and uniform limestone pavers, some set in an attractive diamond pattern. The boxwood will be replaced with new varieties developed to be resistant to the blight. New infrastructure will be installed.

The renovation is said to restore Mellon’s original design, though there will be a couple of significant changes. One is the limestone path frame to the new lawn, which will be regraded to fix drainage issues. The other is the removal of the old crab apple trees. These were important elements; they brought verticality to the garden but also Mellon’s hallmark Francophilic blend of horticulture and formal design, so evident in her Oak Spring garden in Upperville, Va.

The opposing ranks of five crab apple trees in the Rose Garden had been replaced over the years but struggled in large part because of a willow oak tree planted nearby during the Johnson administration. It is now 80 feet tall and casts deep shadows into the Rose Garden.

One plan called for the number of crab apple trees to be reduced from 10 to six, but by the time the final design was presented to Melania Trump on July 21, they had been eliminated. Eric Groft, vice president of Oehme, van Sweden, noted that in the early 1980s, first lady Nancy Reagan had asked Bunny Mellon to address problems with the garden. “At that time she suggested reducing the crab apple trees from five to three,” he said. “None of her recommendations were implemented.” Mellon died in 2014 at the age of 103...'; 8/22/20, 3:34 PM
Rick.T. said...: I really want to know what they decided to do with the aging, diseased Jackson magnolia. I hope they decide to chop it and let it regrow. Self-cloning is fascinating!
———————————

They’ve been growing on seedlings for quite a while to replace the original one chopped down. Not sure why they didn’t take scion wood and graft onto a root stock which would be close to self-cloning. A true clone would probably be out of tissue culture. They do this for perennials like hostas - how they get all the hundreds of different ones - but not as common for woody plants as far as I know.; 8/22/20, 3:34 PM
chickelit said...: They took out 2 trees and put in a sidewalk alongside the low shrub. Other than that, no major changes.

The sidewalk was probably a safety measure for when Biden moves in. It'll be easier to get gurneys in and out.; 8/22/20, 3:40 PM
JAORE said...: Impeach!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!; 8/22/20, 4:20 PM
FWBuff said...: Thank you, @Joan (2:07) for the link to the official landscape report and plan. It was fascinating! Contrary to Kos’s cheap shot, Mrs. Trump and her committee carefully documented the Rose Garden’s history and chose a cohesive and updated design to highlight roses and annual/ perennial beds that don’t have to struggle under the shade of too many short-lived ornamental trees. I also like how they have unified the hardscape, added integrated walkways with stone borders for raised beds, and eliminated the mishmash of the outdoor furnishings.; 8/22/20, 4:25 PM
WWIII Joe Biden, Husk-Puppet + America's Putin said...: I don't care for the straight line concrete foot path. but, in dealing with classical architecture and security, it's probably fine and/or necessary. The gardens are nice. I actually prefer the softer colors.; 8/22/20, 4:28 PM
Spiros said...: A crab apple tree died on me. I chopped it down and I took all the large limbs and cut them into one foot segments. I piled a huge amount of wood at my curb and kind of panicked. I had no idea what I was going to do with all this crap. And then all of the wood disappeared. Apparently people use crab apple wood for smoking/barbecue.; 8/22/20, 4:28 PM
stonethrower said...: Be Best.; 8/22/20, 4:31 PM
SweatBee said...: The new one is more my style.

Plus you have to remember you're looking at new plantings. They will get taller and more full as they mature.; 8/22/20, 4:33 PM
Ann Althouse said...: I don't see the charm of red and yellow tulips.; 8/22/20, 4:58 PM
Ann Althouse said...: I don't know if they took out the tulips though. If anyone's miffed about the absence of tulips in a photo taken at a time when you never see tulips, they are quite dumb..; 8/22/20, 4:59 PM
Howard said...: It's landscaping, not gardening.; 8/22/20, 5:02 PM
Jim Ellison said...: If the order of the phots was reversed, his opinion would be the same; 8/22/20, 5:06 PM
WWIII Joe Biden, Husk-Puppet + America's Putin said...: I love tulips, but they are a pain in the A. They bloom for a short time in the spring, and then give way to ugly dying foliage.

It's difficult to grow sun-loving flowers, like most variety of roses, under trees, in the shade.
Perhaps that is why the trees are gone. You cannot grow a thriving rose garden in the shade. It's the rose garden, right?

It's probably a Russian conspiracy.

Moulitsas prefers the Clintons stealing stuff on the way out. So pretty.; 8/22/20, 5:10 PM
WWIII Joe Biden, Husk-Puppet + America's Putin said...: "the sidewalk was probably a safety measure for when Biden moves in. It'll be easier to get gurneys in and out."

LOL.; 8/22/20, 5:11 PM
Michael K said...: The last I heard, the White House dug up all the tulip bulbs every year and refrigerated them, replanting the viable ones in the fall. Yup, a natural garden that idiots love.; 8/22/20, 5:12 PM
iowan2 said...: This ruination is exactly what happens when you give assignments to unqualified family members

The mind reading is always fun to witness.; 8/22/20, 5:24 PM
Francisco D said...: Ann Althouse said...
I don't see the charm of red and yellow tulips.

Have you ever been to the Tulip Festival in Holland Michigan? I used to consult to a company there.

It is incredibly boring, but I guess that is a matter of taste.; 8/22/20, 5:24 PM
ALP said...: The landscape designer's statement on their perspective:

With a body of work that is best described as landscapes that are planted - not built, Perry Guillot Inc. begins every project with the stated goal to relieve a garden from an overabundance of constructed elements. These lushly composed landscapes instead rely on an edited palette of plantings that become the raw materials used to mold a site into a harmonious place of purpose. Sensitive to the history and natural features of a given site, these gardens become designed landscapes where the articulation of outdoor space allows for a range of experiences and visual discovery that intend a deeper awareness of the natural world. With clearly defined objectives, each project is thoughtfully grounded in the Principals of Art: movement, unity, variety, balance, emphasis, contrast, proportion, and pattern – as all are instilled with the notion that gardens be places idyllic and beautiful. Realizing the dramatic changes taking place in the profession’s definition and relationship with nature, it is a deeply held belief that gardens be not only green at their core - but strive to leave the lightest of footprints.

http://perryguillotinc.com/perspective.php

You can see how this designer goes for simple clean lines by viewing the projects page:

http://perryguillotinc.com/projects.php; 8/22/20, 5:29 PM
Chris of Rights said...: I'll be honest. I actually misread the caption. I thought the one on the left was Trump's and the one on the right was before. I was going to say that I like the one on the right better.

Personal taste.; 8/22/20, 5:33 PM
Laughing Fox said...: The cute little trees don't help a rose garden. Roses like full sun.; 8/22/20, 5:35 PM
Bruce Hayden said...: Reminds me of Melania’s Christmas decorations a couple years ago. My partner, who I previous incarnations was a floral d3signer, interior designer, and model, thought that it was a strikingly good job, and that she had a better eye than the previous several First Ladies. I expect that she will think the same here. The “old” picture shows a bunch of tulips of different colors thrown together in a mishmash. The “new” design is well tied together. Very striking. Melania has more design sense and a better eye in her left toe than Michelle ever did, but the MSM loved Michelle, so thought that her mishmash of styles, including colored tents, was better. Nope. The only thing that Michelle was expert at was grifting. Melania wins again.; 8/22/20, 5:40 PM
Big Mike said...: I happen to like the “after,” but I’m pretty sure Meade could have done better than either design.; 8/22/20, 6:10 PM
JaimeRoberto said...: If anything the one on the left is gaudier, which you'd expect to be more Trump's style. The new one would be improved by a golden statue of Trump on a pedestal, perhaps something in the style of Manneken Pis.; 8/22/20, 6:13 PM
The Cracker Emcee Refulgent said...: I’m a big fan of the redo. Simple, attractive, a bit austere. Romans, not Italians. It’s what I strive for in my own landscaping. Mainly for the symmetry and ease of care. Asserting my White supremacy is a secondary concern.; 8/22/20, 6:18 PM
Browndog said...: Oh look at Melania's renovated rose garden at the White House. Does anyone else see how the small bushes spell KKK in rows?; 8/22/20, 6:23 PM
traditionalguy said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 8/22/20, 6:29 PM
traditionalguy said...: Formal gardens are Presidential. Flower gardens are for children. Trumps wins again, and we are never going to be tired of it.; 8/22/20, 6:31 PM
Xmas said...: From Joan's link to the White House press release:

"In addition, the plans include improved Americans with Disabilities Act accessibility..."

So, the ADA strikes again!; 8/22/20, 6:42 PM
Narayanan said...: My conspiracy theory : the special roses will bloom in November only if Trump wins; 8/22/20, 6:44 PM
Meade said...: "This is in Meade's wheelhouse."

Ha. More like my wheelbarrow. But I totally disagree with Kos. And I can't really improve on Joan's comment at 2:07. The designer of the updated Rose Garden seems to have done an excellent job of consulting the genius loci. As other's here have pointed out, the neoclassical‎, ‎palladian architecture of the White House calls for a formal landscape design with strong lines-of-force and well-defined axes. I say the Trumps have made the Rose Garden great again. A+; 8/22/20, 6:44 PM
MayBee said...: Everybody is disappointed that she didn't make it all gaudy and golden, right? They wanted that to hate.; 8/22/20, 6:45 PM
Meade said...: Now I'm seeing ALP's comment at 5:29. Splendid. With clear echoes of Thomas Church.; 8/22/20, 6:49 PM
PubliusFlavius said...: KosHacks ....; 8/22/20, 6:50 PM
WWIII Joe Biden, Husk-Puppet + America's Putin said...: Agree Meade - and yes to Joan's comment at 2:07 (I missed it)

So the Trump's make the garden and path more accessible, with more media accessibility, too - and the collective temper tantrum left have another temper tantrum.

*are we shocked*?; 8/22/20, 7:03 PM
MayBee said...: This reminds me of what it was like to have the Obamas in the White House. Do you remember the adoring coverage of Michelle working in the garden in her expensive clothes? The food policy they wanted to be in charge of, and how they once used the word "eaters" and that got the food policy people all thrilled? All the farm to table and eat local activism?
How they used to fly in famous chefs for dinners and parties?

How deeply and thoroughly their state dinners were covered, with outdoor tents and Beyonce.
The time they flew a helicopter up to New York City for "date night"?

OMG it was all so insufferable. Democrats, don't you prefer having someone you can hate in the White House? Loving people so slavishly as you all did with the Obama is so exhausting.; 8/22/20, 7:04 PM
Meade said...: Nice information in StephenFearby comment at 3:34.; 8/22/20, 7:08 PM
Ralph L said...: I like my boxwoods to have their natural forms, but these will soon be overgrown if they're not clipped.

The cute little trees don't help a rose garden. Roses like full sun.

True, but they might have reduced the glare from all that white paint. That may be why they were planted in the first place.

Part of my street in the 70's was lined with crabapples. Like cherries, they look great for a few days a year, not so hot the rest of the year. The groundsmen won't miss the messes of petals and leaves.; 8/22/20, 7:15 PM
Ralph L said...: These lushly composed landscapes instead rely on an edited palette of plantings

What? They're not curated?; 8/22/20, 7:18 PM
Meade said...: "I just cut down a bunch of shrubs on my property - high desert climate. I hate to remove plants, but these were all volunteer four-wing saltbush and were crowding out some of my cactus or growing too close to the driveway. "

You did the right thing.; 8/22/20, 7:28 PM
Joe Smith said...: Really? I don't think the Orange Man has day-to-day responsibilities for the fucking Rose Garden.

These people are sick.; 8/22/20, 8:01 PM
dustbunny said...: Oh my., I can’t read through all this, I just want to know Meade’s take, as then, I know I am in a realm of sanity.; 8/22/20, 8:21 PM
Dave Begley said...: Meade:

Good one. Wheelbarrow.

Your wife should frontpage that comment.; 8/22/20, 8:34 PM
Drago said...: Supposedly, it recreates Jackie Kennedy's 1962 Rose Garden, designed by landscape architect Bunny Mellon.

So all lefties and LLR-lefties will immediately criticize this recreation of that design while simultaneously praising in the most glorious terms JFK's garden.

Because of course they will.; 8/22/20, 8:39 PM
Birches said...: The Daily Mail article linked above shows a picture of the Rose Garden in July this year. The new one is much more interesting. And it looks like a Rose Garden.; 8/22/20, 9:15 PM
DEEBEE said...: Mark is was perhaps looking down towards his crotch when he exclaimed.; 8/22/20, 10:12 PM
Ambrose said...: Good. Elections matter, Dig it up.; 8/22/20, 10:24 PM
BUMBLE BEE said...: Meade has it right. The trees too busy, The flowerbeds are for those little dollar store elves. The old "landscape" interrupts the architectural symmetry. The old one makes a statement... Attention K-Mart Shoppers.; 8/23/20, 5:04 AM
MikeR said...: "'Elasticity' of liberal discourse": https://twitter.com/ggreenwald/status/1297315241584398336; 8/23/20, 7:05 AM
boatbuilder said...: Everyone should read “The Essential Earthman” and “One Man’s Garden” by Henry Mitchell, the late WaPo gardening columnist. Funny and perceptive about the never-ending battle with nature that is gardening everywhere, and DC in particular . I read him because my wife, the gardener, suggested it. I recommend these books even if you don’t know anything about gardening.; 8/23/20, 8:40 AM
pchuck1966 said...: "Springtime for Obama" now playing in the Rose Garden of Michael Beschloss' mind.; 8/23/20, 8:41 AM
pchuck1966 said...: "Springtime for Obama" now playing in the Rose Garden of Michael Beschloss' mind.; 8/23/20, 8:45 AM
Ingachuck'stoothlessARM said...: "Garden-gate"; 8/23/20, 10:45 AM
MadisonMan said...: This is just such a baffling thing to complain about. These trees were 60+. They don't live forever. Change is natural in a garden. Sheesh.; 8/23/20, 10:59 AM
Bruce Hayden said...: “Meade has it right. The trees too busy, The flowerbeds are for those little dollar store elves. The old "landscape" interrupts the architectural symmetry. The old one makes a statement... Attention K-Mart Shoppers”

My designer partner concurs. Too busy. Eyes jumping all over the place. Nothing really unifying. Very plebeian. What someone with out training or a good eye would do to try to look elegant.; 8/23/20, 11:23 AM
Terry Ott said...: Kos, you failed to make the key accusation. The administration is making some space on the lawn for storing the thousands of mailboxes removed from all 50 states. Keep up with the current talking points!; 8/23/20, 11:54 AM
Bunkypotatohead said...: Markos Moulitsas' ugly mug makes an appearance at the Althouse blog.
"It's been ruined"; 8/23/20, 12:59 PM
hstad said...: Blogger chuck said...
I always thought tulips blooming in August were the best part of late summer :)

8/22/20, 3:25 PM

Tulips bloom in Spring!; 8/23/20, 2:34 PM
Stepper said...: Melania's garden looks more bee & butterfly friendly. It's probably more fragrant than the previous iteration too. I like it.; 8/24/20, 11:56 AM