Proven Winners Announces A New Signature Garden Location
The Kentucky Governor’s Mansion was recently announced as a Proven Winners Signature Garden. One of only six prestigious designations, Kentucky’s Governor’s Mansion joins Mackinac Island’s Hotel Iroquois, Charlotte’s Duke Mansion, The Grand Tradition Estate and Gardens in California, Meadow Brook Hall in Michigan, and the Governor’s Mansion in Illinois with this distinction. Serving as home to the state’s governors since 1914, it is a proud symbol of Kentucky’s history, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is also celebrating its 100th anniversary.
Collaborating with Proven Winners at Kentucky’s Governor’s Mansion is Kentucky native, Jon Carloftis, award-winning garden designer, garden writer, television guest, author, and lecturer. Jon is the owner of the Rockcastle River Trading Company, a popular home and garden store located on his family’s property in Livingston, Kentucky. The beautiful gardens, designed by Jon, that surround the Carloftis home and store have been featured in BMW Magazine, Country Home, Garden & Gun, Outdoor Rooms, and Southern Living. Jon is the author of Beautiful Gardens of Kentucky, Beyond the Windowsill, and First a Garden.
The Proven Winners Signature Garden collaboration represents a continuation of Jon’s efforts to further beautify the grounds of the Mansion and Capital. “It is our goal to enhance the beautiful gardens of our state Governor’s Mansion so that all visitors will share in the pride of our state” said Ann Evans, executive director of the Kentucky Governor’s mansion.
“The way we are going to share that pride with all of the citizens will be to host a Grand Garden Party on the mansion grounds called the ‘Summer Solstice Garden Celebration’ on Saturday June 21, 2014. The daylong celebration will include food and drinks that are special to the state as well as behind the scene tours of the different gardens that make the mansion so special. There will be guest lectures by world class horticulturists from across the state to share what makes the gardens in our state special.”
The Governor’s Mansion is both a private home and a public building. It serves as the center of the first family’s ceremonial, social and political activities. Kentucky’s Governor’s Mansion is one of only a handful of executive residences in the United States to be open to the public for tours. Thousands of visitors from across the Commonwealth and around the world visit the Governor’s Mansion every year.
The current garden layout was taken from the original garden plans drawn during the 1912 construction and planning phase. Complementing existing plant beds will be Proven Winners varieties such as Diamond Frost Euphorbia, Goldilocks Rocks Bidens, and Senorita Rosalita Cleome. Several major plantings will also extend onto the grounds of the adjoining Capital.
For more information about events, go to: www.provenwinners.com or www.joncarloftis.com.
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