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Rose Garden row: Internet turns to Biden for help as Melania rips up Jackie Kennedy's oasis of color

Melania and Vice President Mike Pence will host a reception celebrating the renovated rose garden Saturday evening

First lady Melania Trump tried her hand at horticulture and led recent renovations to the White House Rose Garden for the first time in almost 60 years. Unveiled on Saturday, August 22, it soon became the talk of the town but many folks on the Internet can't stop wondering if everything in the garden is rosy. As per a Guardian report, FLOTUS earlier said, “Planting a garden involves hard work and hope in the possibility of a bright future.”

Wrapped up in time for her speech from there on Tuesday night at the Republican National Convention, pictures of the newly-renovated Rose Garden were shared on Twitter. Moreover, Melania and Vice-President Mike Pence will host a reception celebrating the renovated rose garden on Saturday evening. “Excited to honor history & celebrate the future in our beautiful @WhiteHouse Rose Garden this evening. Thank you to all who helped renew this iconic & truly gorgeous space,” she wrote and her tweet soon garnered over 8,000 retweets and 31,000 likes. 

So what has changed in the Rose Garden now? With more focus on neutral colors and the white "JFK rose", the garden now features a large green grass center, a diamond-pattern of boxwood trees, and new limestone pathways. According to an ABC report, there are 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. 

The same report details how 10 crabapple trees were chopped down as they were “casting too much shade over the rest of the flowers". Reportedly, the trees were taken to the White House greenhouse and are expected to be replanted on White House grounds in the future. What is the cost of the renovations? While the price has not been revealed, ABC reports it was funded by private donations. 

In no time photos of the garden started floating around on social media and it sparked many comparisons with the garden designed by Jacqueline Kennedy during her time as FLOTUS. Calling Jackie's garden a "melting pot of color and diversity", one Twitter user wrote, "White House Rose Garden Left: Designed under direction of Jackie Kennedy, a floral melting pot of color and diversity Right: Melania's newly installed White Power garden." Another said, "You ruined it."

One harsh critic went on to say: "The Rose Garden now looks like a cemetery, which perhaps is actually appropriate given what your husband has done to our country." Slamming her for getting trees removed, one said, "You ruined it! It's now cold and clinical. Your attempt to one up Jackie Kennedy is an epic fail. Who chops down trees???"

While many chastised her, several others praised her for the renovations. "I hate Trump SO much, but have say that the garden on the right has pollinator friendly plants that will serve the White House bees (Michelle Obama installed hives, Melania allowed them to stay), as well as other pollinators. Also, Tulips only bloom for a moment in spring," one tweet read and another said, "It is pretty. Of course not colorful. Just white.  And isn’t DC famous for its cherry blossoms? I guess that’s what those trees are or were?"

However, many more couldn't help but slam her for "ruining" Jackie's garden. "I'm really pissed about the Rose Garden. It's a minor thing, I know, but it's our house not Melania's and the garden was designed by Jackie Kennedy and was still beautiful. She ruined it," one tweet read. Another said, "The point is not that Melania ruined Jackie Kennedy's garden. It's that she ruined Jackie Kennedy's garden while spending taxpayer money in the middle of a pandemic that has killed over 175,000 Americans to date."

What's more, one even reached out to Joe Biden to fix it. "Dear @JoeBiden, America is heartbroken over what Melania did to Jackie Kennedy's Rose Garden. I know you'll have a lot on your plate, but when you move in, can you please put it back the way it was?" Another said: "Please @JoeBiden if you are elected please restore The Rose Garden Jackie Kennedy created and has there as a legacy until Melania Trump destroyed it."