The First Garden

Aside from the Oval Office, the South Lawn and Richard Nixon's bowling alley, the White House is also famous for its gardens. Press conferences brief or lengthy are often held in the Rose Garden, which was first planted in 1913 by Ellen Wilson, wife of President Woodrow Wilson. The Jacqueline Kennedy Garden, planted at the direction of the eponymous First Lady, was planted to help balance out the Rose Garden.

The grounds of the White House got its first functional kitchen garden when Eleanor Roosevelt planted her "Victory Garden" to encourage Americans to grow their own fruits and vegetables at home to aid the war effort.

Speaking of Victory Gardens, check out this period propaganda created by the people who brought you Loony Toons, including Mel Blanc. They, uh, probably aren't going to make any more cartoons like this one.

First Lady Michelle Obama helped to establish the current White House Kitchen Garden to help outline the benefits of organic gardening and, well, eating your vegetables.

As you can see, this garden makes use of companion planting, organic soil remediation, heirloom seeds taken from President Jefferson's Monticello, and a little bit of community garden philosophy by involving area kids.

Plus, any garden you can land Marine One next to is pretty damn cool in my book.