(Picture from “The Eloquence of Silence”. Credit Charlotte Moss)

I’ve been whining to The Man that our garden is becoming overgrown and messy. Many of the trees branches are growing into each other, are creating too much shade in some areas and are blocking the view in others. Some plants are growing too fast and wild (crocosmia, peas, favas) and then falling over or spreading out and pushing other plants out of the way (hydrangeas). The Man thinks that I have “formal garden envy” and he might be right.

I’ve been admiring photos of the late Rachel (Bunny) Mellon’s gardens. The photo that caught my eye (above) was from an article called  The Eloquence of Silence and is more about her Oak Springs house than the garden. An earlier article published in Vanity Fair, has a slide show with photos of her  enormous gardens. I have included the web addresses below if the links above don’t work. The things I absolutely love the most are the arbour and the trompe l’oeil mural in her garden shed, but all of the garden photos appeal.

The fact that Bunny Mellon had more than 100 staff to help her keep her home and garden immaculate makes me feel a little better about the current state of my home.

Here are the articles – you can click on them or cut and paste them into your browser.

New York Times Magazine: http://tmagazine.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/06/12/rachel-bunny-mellon-final-interview-virginia-estate/?_php=true&_type=blogs&_r=0

Vanity Fair article: http://www.vanityfair.com/style/features/2010/08/bunny-mellon-garden-slide-show-201008_slideshow_item12_13

And if you can’t get enough, here is a website that looks at all her different homes and gardens: http://mylusciouslife.com/a-luscious-life-rachel-bunny-lowe-lambert-mellon/