Photo by: Courtesy The New York Botanical Garden
This beautiful photograph of the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller garden (located in Seal Harbor, Maine) in full spring bloom is featured as part of the new exhibit. The garden was designed by Beatrix Farrand in 1926 at the summer home Abby shared with her husband, philanthropist, John D. Rockefeller, Jr. Between 1900 and 1930, landscape design achieved a new prominence in American life as estate owners created lavish flower gardens and landscaped public spaces.
Photo by: Courtesy The New York Botanical Garden
The Moon Gate at the iconic Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Garden is part of the horticultural exhibition, which is inside the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory. The designer, Beatrix Farrand, was the only female founding member of the American Society of Landscape Architects in 1899 and one of two professional advisors at the first meeting of The Garden Club of America in 1913. She chose a summer garden palette of annuals, perennials, and bulbs with Asian architecture including a Moon Gate in the tile-capped enclosing wall.
Photo by: Courtesy The New York Botanical Garden
The Blue Garden at Beacon Hill House (located in Newport, Rhode Island) was photographed by Frances Benjamin Johnston in 1914. Johnston was a pioneer of garden photography, her career spanned 60 years, and she would later become an important documentarian in the field of American historic preservation. Such photographs are the only record of many early gardens and this exhibition shows the rare, early residential works of the designers through vintage images.
Photo by: Garden Design magazine
Photo by: Courtesy The New York Botanical Garden
The horticultural exhibition at New York Botanical Garden showcases images of the Rockefeller garden that feature borders designed by Beatrix Farrand in 1926. For this part of the garden, she chose a palette of annuals and perennials, with lilies and bulbs.
Photo by: Courtesy The New York Botanical Garden
This rose garden was designed by Beatrix Farrand for Peggy Rockefeller. The old roses are a living museum combined with testing locations for new introductions. Though designed early in the 20th century, the entire rose garden was not built at that time. When Peggy Rockefeller passed away, her husband, David Rockefeller, donated a generous gift in her name to fund the completion of the garden.
Photo by: Courtesy The New York Botanical Garden
This photograph of a garden designed by Beatrix Farrand is part of the historical exhibition, Gardens for a Beautiful America: The Women Who Photographed Them. The exhibition is located in the LuEsther T. Mertz Library's Rondina and LoFaro Gallery where a collection of vintage photographs highlight the landmark work of pioneer female photographers. They played dynamic roles in popularizing the landscaped garden and defining landscape architecture as a profession.
Photo by: Courtesy The New York Botanical Garden
Many of the great gardens designed in the early 20th century no longer exist. Archival photography is the only way to study the work of Beatrix Farrand and other landscape architects. This lovely reflection pool and surrounding plantings at the White House is shown in this vintage photograph which reveals the original intent of the designer. After plants age and the grounds change with the times, these photographs are the only record to define the roots of this modern American garden.
Photo by: Courtesy The New York Botanical Garden