Please note that the following is a digitized version of a selected article from White House History Quarterly, Issue 58, originally released in print form in 2020. Single print copies of the full issue can be purchased online at Shop.WhiteHouseHistory.org No part of this book may be reproduced or distributed in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. All photographs contained in this journal unless otherwise noted are copyrighted by the White House Historical Association and may not be reproduced without permission. Requests for reprint permissions should be directed to rights@whha.org. Contact books@whha.org for more information. Š 2020 White House Historical Association. All rights reserved under international copyright conventions.
A WHITE HOUSE of Acorn Caps and Grapevines A Holiday Display at the U.S. Botanic Garden on the eastern end of the national mall, a second White House can be found every year for the months of November and December, set among banana leaves and coffee trees. The U.S. Botanic Garden displays a model of the White House each holiday season that swaps stone and metal for botanical materials such as acorn caps and grapevines. Since 2004, the Botanic Garden, which in 2020 is celebrating its two-hundredth anniversary, has worked with garden railway designers from Applied Imagination in Kentucky to create an annual holiday display of miniature buildings made from plant parts. In the second year of this collaboration, Applied Imagination created models of famous buildings around the National Mall, including the U.S. Capitol and the Washington Monument, and so began a collection of Washington landmarks. In 2006, Applied Imagination created more local buildings, including the botanical White House. “We love connecting our visitors with plants in new and surprising ways,” said Saharah Moon Chapotin, executive director. “The models’ intricate details replicated with plant parts are delightful to see in the garden and also challenge our visitors to think differently about
30
67087_Text.indd 30
plants and their parts.”1 The U.S. Botanic Garden’s model of the White House measures 54 inches wide, 28 inches deep, and 28 inches tall. There are bas-relief columns made from palm frond stems with cinnamon curls, and the porch columns are made from honeysuckle branches, bear paw pods, and hemlock cones. Viewers might find a few recognizable plant parts in the window decorations, such as pinecone scales and sycamore bark. Other plants used for details include sea grape leaves, screw pods, shelf fungus, seagrass rope, and horse chestnut bark. The balustrade has rails made from Indian screw tree fruits and tops made from cinnamon sticks. Applied Imagination’s creative process for making a new botanical model begins with studying architectural drawings and photographs of the building. A pattern, not to scale, is cut from acrylic foam to form the frame. Windows are formed by pouring a casting resin in the window cutouts. Some wall surfaces are finished at this point with sand-based grout. The architectural details are created with a diversity of dried plant materials to add a fanciful and charming style, then sealed with a polyurethane resin for waterproofing.
W H I T E H O U S E H I S T O R I C A L A S S O C I AT I O N
dev i n do t s o n
white house history quarterly
10/28/20 10:04 AM
U. S . B O TA N I C G A R D E N
Made entirely of plant materials, the U.S. Botanic Garden’s model of the White House (above) is part of an annual holiday display of Washington, D.C., area landmarks (opposite).
More than one hundred different plants, ranging from wheat to willow to acorns, are used to create the botanical buildings. In recent years, the Botanic Garden has gathered plant parts from its gardens and grounds for Applied Imagination to use in making new models. In the last three years, barn silos and a “flamingo topiary” were created using cacao pods from the garden. This year, staff at the garden have gathered lots of potential plant model ingredients, ranging from Kentucky coffee tree seed pods to cycad fronds. Despite only being on view for two months per year, more than 3 million people have visited the botanical White House since its creation in 2006. More than 250,000 visitors come to the Botanic Garden each holiday season. The annual Season’s Greenings holiday exhibit also celebrates plants through
several thousand poinsettias and decorated trees and wreaths.2 The Botanic Garden’s collection of Washington landmarks has now grown to thirteen models. From a miniature Abraham Lincoln with an acorn head inside the Lincoln Memorial to the intricate exterior of the National Museum of African American History and Culture fashioned from crosscut sections of walnuts, the Botanic Garden celebrates the holidays with botanical flair. notes 1. Interview by author, summer 2020. 2.
For a description of the 2019 Season’s Greenings, see “Holiday Show Celebrating America’s Gardens Opens Thanksgiving Day at U.S. Botanic Garden,” U.S. Botanic Garden website, www.usbg.gov.
white house history quarterly
67087_Text.indd 31
31
10/28/20 10:04 AM