In a letter to Mildred Bliss on July 7, 1922, Farrand discusses her thoughts on the color schematics of the Rose Garden: “I should quite frankly cut out almost all of the pinks and grow them in the cutting garden . . . like you, I see a medley of soft yellows, oranges, and orange-salmon colors, blacks and creamy whites, and none of that horrid shade known as ‘cerise’ by the milliners.” These ideas would evolve into a planting plan that created a spectrum of color that deepened in hue from north to south.
The Rose Garden is one of the most labor-intensive garden rooms. A plant list from 1952 lists thirty-three different varieties of roses, each requiring meticulous care. In 1997, the garden staff replanted over nine hundred different rose bushes as close to Farrand’s original color specifications as possible.
Image: Ursula Pariser, 1970
More Exhibit Items
Oral History Interview with Holly Shimizu, undertaken by Anna Bonnell-Freidin, Clem Wood, and Joe Mills in the Dumbarton Oaks Guest House (Fellows Building) on August 7, 2008. At Dumbarton Oaks, Holly Shimizu was involved with the restoration of the Rose Garden in the 1990s.