On Saturday, Melania Trump unveiled her new Rose Garden renovation and it caused one hell of a stir on social media. The hashtag #RoseGardenMassacre began trending, and people were comparing the result to everything from a cemetery to a parking lot.
But one master gardener, who goes by the name Jaded Cat online, stepped into the heated debate to give her take on the infamous Rose Garden makeover. In a lengthy post, the Imgur user went step by step to expose some of the critical arguments and prove them wrong. The woman concludes that Melania's restoration is, in fact, a “well-done” one even if it doesn't change the fact that Trump is "an annoying orange seagull."
Bored Panda reached out to the master gardener behind the post to find out more about what she has to say about the controversial redesign.
"Melania did not exactly go down to Lowe's and pick up some dirt and plants. Landscaping is not a political job appointment; the professionals hired to handle the situation don't deserve to be tarred with the same brush as the Trump family," she told us. Scroll down for the full interview below.
Image credits: Trying2P
Image credits: White House Museum
Image credits: Andrea Hanks
The master gardener, known by her online name Jaded Cat, is certified in multiple states, and she currently has what she calls “an antique apothecary garden. It's filled with antique flower varieties, climbing English roses, and herbs I use in making all-natural oils and lotions.”
The woman emphasized that “Gardening has been a lifelong love of mine, roses being my specialty.” She also agreed to share with us what she thinks of the social media backlash against Melania’s Rose Garden renovation.
“Like many victims in abusive relationships, we as humans have been injured by Trump's decisions for the country so often that people are becoming conditioned to view anything they do under the filter of 'what now?!'"
Image credits: John. F Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum
However, the gardener believes that this is a risky attitude. “By making him out to be inhuman, we avoid taking responsibility for allowing the country to get to the point where a man like him was elected in the first place. In this case, it could damage the reputations of the professional botanists, historians, and landscapers that actually did the work and restoration Melania is being handed credit for.”
Jaded Cat named a few experts: “Perry Guillot, Inc. and Oehme, van Sweden & Associates/OvS do not deserve to have their names tarnished.”
Image credits: John. F Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum
Image credits: Tara Engberg
The gardener explained that in terms of Melania’s renovation, upgrading the drainage is an excellent choice. “One thing not noted in many articles is that this restoration has been in discussion since the Obama Administration and was approved last year, long before the current set of crises.”
Moreover, “Gardens need refreshing from time to time, especially formal gardens where plumbing and irrigation can degrade over time. The types of plumbing available in 1962 for irrigation purposes are quite possibly leaky and disintegrating after over 50 years.” When an irrigation pipe starts leaking, plant roots that are underground head to the moisture and get into the pipes, which cause even more damage.
The gardener also added that in terms of technology updates, “my guess would be that they added modern wiring for the lighting and improved any plugs for media use so cords don't have to be draped and hidden.”
Image credits: White House Museum
She also said that the White House has a collection of plants from all over the world in greenhouses, but not every plant is on display. “Much like the White House art collection, an incoming president can choose which items and plants they like from the collection.”
However, the ones the current president and first lady don’t like are put back into climate-controlled vaults where they are stored safely. Jaded Cat explained that “The idea of storing plants like trees for future use wouldn't occur to most people since we don't have multiple greenhouses to store stuff we're bored with.”
The gardener said that the main reason she made this post was because “when we use misinformation to attack our opponents, we give our opponents fuel to call into question all of our complaints.”
For example, she continued, “Say I tell a Trump-supporting co-worker 'they ruined the garden,' then my friend does the research I did here and finds I am wildly misinformed, they then bring it up every time I point out something new Trump has done poorly.”
Jaded Cat concluded that it all comes down to a relatively unimportant piece of information which can cast doubt on much more important complaints. “It becomes a case of "well, you were misinformed about the garden, you're probably misinformed this time too.”
First Lady Melania Trump not only wanted to remake the iconic Rose Garden according to Jacqueline Kennedy’s original design, she also wanted to upgrade the infrastructure. Melania renovated the audio-visual equipment, cameras, paving, drainage, and lighting, all likely in need of improvement.
While doing that, she removed ten crab apple trees that lined the colonnade and swapped out the vibrant roses and flowers for roses in white, cream, pale yellow, and pale pink. The most obvious addition to Melania’s Rose Garden makeover is the 3-foot-wide limestone walking path bordering the central lawn.
Melania immediately faced a huge backlash on social media and many people took to Twitter to ridicule her project. Read more about their reactions in our previous article right here.
The White House spokeswoman Stephanie Grisham says Melania Trump will speak live Tuesday night from the redesigned Rose Garden to address the Republican National Convention.
Here's what people had to say
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