San Jose Municipal Rose Garden
Introduction
Text-to-speech Audio
Images
An aerial shot of the gardens and fountain.
A shot of the fountain in the middle of the Rose Garden.
Backstory and Context
Text-to-speech Audio
Today, the San Jose Municipal Rose Garden encompasses an area of 5.5 acres and stands at the intersection of Naglee and Dana Avenues in the Rose Garden Neighborhood. Originally a prune orchard, the land was purchased by the city in 1927 and today is exclusively devoted to roses. The gardens feature over 3,500 shrubs and up to 189 rise varieties.
The San Jose Municipal Rose Garden is an official display garden for the All-America Rose Selections (AARS) and so receives AARS award-winning roses in advance of public release. The Gardens were placed on probation in the early 2000s and city budget cuts impacted the garden negatively.
In 2007, a volunteer nonprofit organization called Friends of the San Jose Rose Garden (FSJRG) was established with a mission to restore and renovate the garden. In 2008 the AARS lifted the garden from probation and restored full accreditation, allowing over 800 new roses to be planted as part of the restoration project in the following year.
On May 2, 2009 it was rededicated as an official AARS test garden, one of 23 in the US and the only one in Northern California, and was named "America's Best Rose Garden" in 2010. The winning garden was selected based on beauty, creativity and community involvement.
Sources
San Jose Municipal Rose Garden. City Parks Alliance. Accessed June 04, 2017. http://www.cityparksalliance.org/why-urban-parks-matter/frontline-parks/parks/310-san-jose-municipal-rose-garden.