Garden History Quote of the Week

"Democrats favored the formal European approach while Republicans opted for the picturesque English style."

from a discussion of the highly politicized process of selecting a design for Central Park, as described in Witold Rybczynski's "A Clearing In The Distance: Frederick Law Olmsted and America in the 19th Century".

Ah, for a time when political parties argued over preferred landscape styles....

And the outcome?

"The six Republicans, together with the reform Democrat Andrew Green, all cast their votes for the same project: Greensward.

Vaux and Olmsted had won."

[vintage postcard images of Central Park from my files; original source unknown]