“She did not like being a public person. She was happiest in her garden, at her country home.”

Bunny Mellon is one of the most interesting people in history that you have probably never heard about. Mrs. Mellon came onto my radar after I read Frank Langella’s subpar memoir during Cannonball 9 and the several Kennedy biographies I’ve read over the years but Meryl Gordon’s exhaustive biography was so much more interesting than I could have imagined.

Bunny wanted to exert control over her environment yet give the illusion that everything was effortless. Her favorite saying was: “Nothing should be noticed.”

Rachel “Bunny” Lowe Lambert was born wealthy, her grandfather invented Listerine and her father invented halitosis to market it, but it wasn’t until her second marriage to Paul Mellon that her wallet became truly bottomless. Bunny’s father prohibited his daughter from getting a college education but she was incredibly sharp and became one of the most accomplished amateur landscape designers in America. She just happened to garden in couture Balenciaga. Bunny’s gardens and Paul’s thoroughbred horses were so legendary that they warranted a visit from a young Queen Elizabeth during her first American tour in 1957. The couple also had, to put it mildly, an extensive art collection ranging from Mark Rothko to Picasso to Monet; much of their collection was donated to the National Gallery of Art (which Paul’s family founded and he ran until retirement) or sold through Soethby’s after Bunny’s death. Despite these excesses in wealth Bunny’s motto of “nothing should be noticed” led to some eccentricities like purposely snagging expensive furniture to make it look worn and telling landscapers to display piles of raked leaves or keep fallen apples under the trees.

As Bunny recalled, President Kennedy used their proximity to inquire, “Bunny, where is my garden plan?” She replied, “I’m afraid it is still in my head, Mr. President, not yet on paper, but I will finish it soon and send it to you soon.” The impatient president smiled and responded, “That’s the story of my administration.”

Bunny’s finances aren’t what made her so incredibly interesting but it certainly contributed to the people she met and circumstances she found herself in, most famously her design of the White House Rose Garden which was a personal favor to her friend Jacqueline Kennedy and her husband. If you don’t know Bunny’s name from her association with the Kennedy’s you may have heard it floating around John Edwards, his failed campaign for president and his attempt to cover up his love child with Rielle Hunter.  Bunny lived to be 103 years old and traveled in elite circles so it would be impossible for her life to be without any scandal. Gordon does an excellent job of balancing admiration for her subject with accurate reporting; I’d recommend this one to any American history buff.