"All the Presidents' Gardens: Madison’s Cabbages to Kennedy’s Roses—How the White House Grounds Have Grown with America"--A New York Times Bestseller and AHS Book Award winner

All the Presidents' Gardens: Madison’s Cabbages to Kennedy’s Roses—How the White House Grounds Have Grown with America

The fascinating story of America's first garden! 

The eighteen acres that surround the White House have been an unwitting witness to history—a backdrop for soldiers, suffragettes, protestors, and activists. Kings and queens have dined there; bills and treaties have been signed; and presidents have landed and retreated. The front and back yard for the first family, it is by extension the nation’s first garden. All the Presidents’ Gardens’ tells the untold history of the White House Grounds.  Starting with the seed-collecting, plant-obsessed George Washington and ending with Michelle Obama’s focus on edibles, this rich and compelling narrative reveals how the story of the garden is also the story of America.  Readers learn about Lincoln’s goats, Ike’s putting green, Jackie’s iconic roses, Amy Carter's tree house, and much more. They also learn the plants whose favor has come and gone over the years and the gardeners who have been responsible for it all. Fully illustrated with new and historical photographs and art, refreshingly nonpartisan, and releasing just in time for election year, this is a must-read for anyone interested in the red, white, and green.


Marta McDowell



Marta McDowell teaches landscape history and horticulture at the New York Botanical Garden and consults for private clients and public gardens. Timber Press has published her recent books including The World of Laura Ingalls Wilder: The Frontier Landscapes that Inspired the Little House Books in September 2017. All the Presidents' Gardens made the New York Times bestseller list in 2015 and won an American Horticultural Society book award. Beatrix Potter’s Gardening Life won a 2014 Gold Award from the Garden Writers Association and is in its sixth printing. Marta is working on a revision of her first book, Emily Dickinson's Gardens, due out in a full color edition by Timber Press in 2019.

Marta is one of the founders of the Chatham Community Garden and is on the board of the NJ Historical Foundation at the Cross Estate in Bernardsville.

Her husband, Kirke Bent, summarizes her biography as "I am therefore I dig," and their pet cockatiel is named Sydney.

https://www.martamcdowell.com/