Proven Winners added a new name to its Signature Garden roster: Kentucky’s Governor’s Mansion.
Making it the sixth location of a Proven Winners Signature Garden, Kentucky’s Governor’s Mansion holds the designation with Hotel Iroquois in Mackinac Island, Mich.; The Duke Mansion in Charlotte, N.C.; Grand Tradition Estate & Gardens in San Diego; Meadow Brook Hall in Rochester, Mich.; and the Governor’s Mansion in Illinois.
Collaborating with Proven Winners at Kentucky’s Governor’s Mansion is Jon Carloftis, award-winning garden designer, garden writer, television guest, author and lecturer. Carloftis is the owner of the Rockcastle River Trading Co., a home and garden store located on his family’s property in Livingston, Ky. Gardens designed by Carloftis have been featured in BMW Magazine, Country Home, Garden & Gun, Outdoor Rooms and Southern Living. Carloftis 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 Carloftis’s efforts to further beautify the grounds of the mansion and capital, said Ann Evans, executive director of the mansion.
“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,” Evans said. “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 June 21. 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 a private home and a public building. It serves as the center of the first family’s ceremonial, social and political activities and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The current garden layout was taken from the original garden plans drawn during the 1912 construction and planning phase. The mansion celebrates its 100th anniversary this year.
