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Maplewood Rose Garden
In the center of the city of Rochester, above the bank of the river
which has shaped the region's history, lies a jewel of a garden.
The roses there are an oasis of beauty and the result of decades of
planning and care.
The Beginning
First purchased by the city in 1888, and designated Maplewood Park
in 1904, an area of over 140 acres included the land to the north and east
of the present Rose Garden. The park was developed starting in
1908 under the plans of Frederick Law Olmstead.
Roses were first planted in the park during the 1920's.
In 1949, a rose garden area was selected for development of a formal display. The Rochester Rose Society accepted the responsibility of collecting 6,000 plants in 100 varieties through purchase and donations. The City Parks Department provided the necessary work to establish the park. Work was begun in the Fall of 1949, and the park was dedicated on June 24, 1951.
Over the years, the park grew from the original 2.5 acres by another acre;
and bushes, fences and arbors were added. The fountain and reflecting pool
were dedicated in June 1958 as a gift to the memory of Frank Stecher, noted
Rochester lithographer. The park, under the care of the City Parks Department
and Rochester Rose Society, was the location of annual Rose Day programs,
and saw specimens added and trial gardens established.
From 1975 through 1989, the park was maintained by the Monroe County
Parks Bureau. Due to a serious budget deficit, funding for park care
was cut, and the 4,000 bushes in the city-owned park returned to
the care of the City in July 1989.
Renewal and Revival
In the last 8 years, the Rose Garden has been undergoing significant
renovation. Some of the work involved has been the identification of
roses, changing the shape and position of the beds, and
movement of bushes to organize the beds.
There was restoration of curbing, paths and entrances.
The garden had lost the accreditation of the American Rose Society. With hard work, the beds were brought back to meet standards for watering, dead-heading, weed control and plant identification, to be re-accredited in 1991. Several structures were built, such as arbors for climbing roses, and two gazebos for photograph taking and performances. Key to aiding these improvements were the Maplewood Neighborhood Association, the Greater Rochester Rose Society, and numbers of volunteers.
Today, the resulting 4,100 plants of 300 varieties
are grouped in beds whose contents are documented on computer.
One area of the garden contains bushes donated by persons in memory
of loved ones, including a war veterans bed, along with donated benches.
The entrances have been reworked, with new bushes along the entrance walk
on Maplewood Avenue. A 1996 replacement for the original Stecher fountain
cascades water into the reflecting pool.
Metal arbors have replaced the wooden latticework, providing support for
climbing roses without obstruction of the expanse of the garden.
Care is the Key
As anyone tending several rose bushes in their home garden realizes,
rose care is not simple and quick. I spent some time in the Rose Garden with
Bill DeCoste of City Parks to get a feeling of the effort it takes to
maintain that large a collection of roses.
The city has three staff full-time in the garden, with other manpower brought
in when needed for spraying, etc. Work begins in March and continues
into November. The past years have seen efforts toward improving the
garden, as well as the daily care required of the roses. The early years
after the City resumed responsibility for the garden demanded
tremendous efforts.
Steps have been taked in the renovation of the garden to reduce the
maintainence time while providing the same level of care to the roses.
Flower beds were changed to eliminate "L" shape designs and provide a
straight layout to aid grass cutting, watering and spraying. Steps are still
taken to reduce areas which need mowing. Paul Mitchell, a key individual at
the garden, has established perennial beds around the park to add
color without adding maintenance.
Each Spring, the beds are reviewed and plants which did not survive the Winter are identified. Replacements for many of the varieties in the main beds are planted in reserve around the outline of the park. I have always felt that before buying a rose, one should check that it grows sucessfully at Maplewood. Of course, conditions vary in the region and in each person's garden, so that a variety which returns each year at Maplewood may perish one Winter in your garden! Spring preparation of the Rose Garden requires time as hard pruning is performed and hilling around the crowns is removed.
The roses receive three spray applications per growing season. The applications include fertilizer and a systemic insecticide. Fungicide is applied when necessary in the Summer. Safe materials are used, applied to protect the plants without danger to garden visitors. Watering is performed regularly, providing 1 to 2 inches of water per week.
The garden's main disease problem is blackspot, which can spread rapidly in humid conditions among the garden's many bushes and require fungicide application. The purple varieties of roses tend to pose the most problems for the garden staff. A more disturbing problem is vandalism in many sad forms. Bushes have been broken or pulled from the ground, identification signs removed, and even the metal arches have been damaged after replacing the wooden latticework. Other problems experienced by the garden include the number of plastic grocery bags blowing through the area, to be caught on the thorny canes of the bushes.
Winter preparation begins with the end of dead-heading in August, to slow the rose growth and harden the bushes. The bushes are not pruned for the Winter, and their crowns are protected by hilling up with compost.
For Now and the Future
Every season at the Rose Garden is a mix of maintenance activities
and steps for improvement. In the Fall of 1997, an underground irrigation
system will be installed in the beds. Using flexible pipe buried 8 inches
under the surface, the system will provide water to the bushes without
wetting the foliage, thus preventing one factor in fungal diseases such
as powdery mildew and blackspot. Irrigation will also allow watering
without the need for a staff member walking around the beds with
a hose, and will be done without affecting visitors.
An on-going project is to increase the number of signs identifying beds and the
varieties within. The ideal would be to have varieties grouped so that
hybrids were identified and located near their parent plants. Eventually,
signage would conduct visitors on a 'guided tour' of the gardens.
The garden is an educational resource as well as a display.
For years, rose 'workshops' have been held three times per year.
Free to the public, at these sessions park staff and
local rosarians meet in the park with those interested in learning about
rose care. A first session covers proper pruning, the second reviews
control of pests & disease, and the last presents winterizing of roses.
Any rose questions from attendees will be discussed.
These Saturday morning sessions are an excellent way to learn about roses
in an excellent outdoor classroom! From May through October, you'll see the rose
workshops listed on the
events page
of this Rochester Gardening web site.
Many Hands Make Beautiful Roses
It is clear that the Maplewood Rose Garden owes much of its success to
numbers of volunteers, whether members of the Rose Society or not.
As in your garden, but at a larger scale, are the needs for weeding the
beds and deadheading spent rose blooms to encourage new flowers. Sadly,
the numbers of volunteers currently coming into Maplewood is not enough.
If you could help this garden, for any amount of time, you are encouraged to
participate. You do not have to be a 'rose expert' - but you may become one!
Interested individuals may call Paul at the garden at 647-2379, but you
may find it easier to call the Parks office at 428-6770 and have someone
contact you about volunteering at the Rose Garden. You can find information
about the Greater Rochester Rose Society in our
societies area.
Credits
I'd like to thank individuals who provided information for this
look into the Rose Garden. Credit is due to Jim Farr, Bill DeCoste,
and Terry McEntee of the
City of Rochester Parks Dept., City Councilman Bob Stevenson,
and Nick Zumbulyadis of the Maplewood Neighborhood Association.
In close, I'd like to mention a quote from Wilbur Wright,
City Parks director at the time of the Garden dedication in 1951. His words
remain true today in the daily and yearly efforts of people maintaining
and improving our public rose garden:
Find rose resources here