First Lady Melania Trump on Saturday unveiled the first renovation in nearly 60 years of the White House Rose Garden.
The renovated garden features a large green grass center and new limestone pathways. The main rose variety is the "JFK rose", a white flower. The garden also includes smaller pink roses, several "peace" roses and the "Pope John Paul II" rose in honor of the first time a pope visited the White House in 1979, according to a pool report.
While the new design brings back a diamond-like pattern of boxwood trees, according to a pool report, 10 crabapple trees were removed because they were casting too much shade over the rest of the flowers. The trees were taken to the White House greenhouse and are expected to be replanted on White House grounds in the future.
The White House has not released the cost of the restoration, but according to a pool report, it was funded by private donations. Melania Trump and Vice President Mike Pence will host a reception celebrating the renovated rose garden Saturday evening and the first lady will give her Republican National Convention speech from the garden on Tuesday.
When the restoration was announced, the first lady's office said in a statement it would renew Rachel Lambert Mellon's original 1962 design and improve drainage, infrastructure and Americans with Disabilities Act accessibility.
