In 1961, President John F. Kennedy asked Mellon to redesign the White House Rose Garden. Mellon created more open space for public ceremonies and introduced American species of plants, as well as "Magnolia soulangeana". She next began to work on the White House's East Garden, but her work was interrupted by Kennedy's assassination. After his funeral, for which Mellon arranged flowers, Lady Bird Johnson asked Mellon to resume her work on the White House grounds.