As this long, hot, and mostly dry (till this past week) gardening season stretches on towards Fall, I can’t help to think about all the folks that have shared their time to help out since the garden began to wake up. If you are a new subscriber to my stories, maybe I should fill you in a little on what happens in my life. I have been an avid rose grower for these last 35 years, and a rose lover for as long as I can remember.

There are about 200 roses in my gardens at home. When I’m finished spinning this yarn today, I’ll be going outside to deadhead. I grow all kinds of roses…hybrid teas, floribundas, climbers, minis, mini-floras, and old garden roses. There is something to be done in my gardens every single day, whether it be fine pruning, deadheading, watering…you get the idea. This many roses keep me pretty busy in my spare time!! I love it when my grandsons come over to help, and their company is much appreciated.

Elizabeth Park Rose Garden

What you may not know is that I am the Consulting Rosarian for the Elizabeth Park Rose Garden in Hartford, CT. Our Rose Garden is 2.5 acres and contains about 15,000 rose bushes of all types. The Rose Garden opened to the public in the spring of 1904, and as such, we are America’s oldest municipal rose garden, and we are very proud of that fact. Part of my job is to take people on garden tours during the month of June, and it is my pleasure to do so!

When I became mistress of this beautiful place, I decided I would dress the part when touring with folks or visiting with garden clubs and such to tell the story of our national treasure. (I always felt I was born in the wrong century, anyway…it’s fun to dress in Victorian style!) I work for a group called the ‘Friends of Elizabeth Park,’ and our orginazation helps to raise awareness and funds to keep the 102 acres of Elizabeth Park in good shape.

The park itself was an estate that was bequeathed to the City of Hartford in 1897. Over the years, the economy rises and falls, and during rough economic times places like parks, cemeteries, and school systems always seem to suffer. By the time the mid-1970’s hit, the City of Hartford could no longer maintain our rose garden and decided they were going to plow it under. A couple of garden clubs joined forces with the foreman of the park and prevented the bulldozers’ entry, and the Friends of Elizabeth Park group was born.

Current Day

Over the recent past, the economy has suffered another huge downturn, and our work force of city gardeners has dwindled. Back in the day when the park was created, I have read that there were over a hundred gardeners that kept up the gardens…in addition to the rose garden, there are shade, perennial, annual/tulip, herb, dahlia, iris, heritage rose gardens and countless groves of specimen trees to maintain. Early in the park’s history, the lawns were maintained by grazing sheep, but these days there is much mowing to do. Hard times bring on big lay-offs, and that is what happened at Elizabeth Park. These days, there are only 3 city gardeners to maintain our 102 acres. Sometimes they send gardeners to other areas of the city to work, as well. Doesn’t this seem like an impossible scenario? It could be; sometimes it feels like it, but for…

Volunteers! This word makes me think of Christmas and birthday presents and parties with best friends and the first warm day of Spring and a little bit of heaven right here on Earth!

Garden Help

We have helpers that sacrifice their spare time for the beauty of our gardens. I have a group of folks who have been working in the rose gardens for years, and every year new folks jump in. These people are the true Friends of Elizabeth Park. They unselfishly donate their precious down-time by doing the mundane tasks. I love working with our volunteers. There is nothing quite like working hip-to-hip, weeding and pruning and edging and mulching. We get to know and love each other. Together, we have become extended family!

We look forward to the time we get to spend together, and the hard work just seems to feel not-so-hard in the presence of all this joy. If you are a person that would like to make a difference in this world, please consider volunteering. If you have a municipal garden close by, or a big brothers and sisters group, or a scout group…your time will be worth more than twice the time spent in a regular job. A few hours a month will make a huge difference in some Rosarian’s life, or a kid’s formation as a person, or a public park. And, you can be sure, Heaven will take notice.